Performance analysis of turbocharger effect on engine in local cars

The performance of a gasoline-fueled internal combustion engines can be increased with the use of a turbocharger. However, the amount of performance increment for a particular engine should be studied so that the advantages and drawbacks of turbocharging will be clarified. This study is mainly concerned on the suitable turbocharger unit selection, engine conversions required and guidelines for testing a Proton 4G92 SOHC 1.6-litre naturally aspirated gasoline engine. The engine is tested under its stock naturally aspirated condition and after been converted to turbocharged condition. The effect of inter cooled turbocharged condition is also been tested. Boost pressure is the main parameter in comparing the performance in different conditions as it influences the engine torque, power, efficiency and exhaust emissions. The use of a turbocharger on this test engine has clearly increased its performance compared to its stock naturally aspirated form. The incorporation of an intercooler to the turbocharger system increases the performance even further. With the worldwide effort towards environmental-friendly engines and fossil fuel shortage, the turbocharger can help to create engines with enhanced performance,minimum exhaust emissions and maximum fuel economy

Remote sensing in urban sprawl modeling: Scenario and way forward in developing countries

In recent years, the developing countries was deal the use of computer based models of land use changes and urban sprawl which have greatly increased and tend to become important tools in supporting urban planning and management. The modeling recently used in various planning specialization such as economics, transportation, spatial planning, urbanization, ecology, and other social science aspects. However, modeling sprawl phenomena which convergence to remote sensing data has not fully demonstrated lack of common ground and testable concepts. Remote sensing data products have often been incorporated into urban modeling applications as additional sources of spatial data primarily for historical land use history. The objectives of this study to identify recent scenario and way forward of remote sensing tools in urban sprawl modeling based on reviewed of previously studied and urban planning situation in developing countries and Malaysia contexts specificall

The impact of TMpoint service quality on the customer satisfaction at TMpoint Setapak / Noor Shazila Mohd Alias

This study focuses on " The Impact of TMpoint Service Quality on the Customer Satisfaction". The objectives of the study are to analyze the respondent's level of satisfaction towards service quality of TMpoint, to identify which factors of TMpoint service quality such as people, process and facilities will highly influence customer satisfaction and also to determine whether the respondent's gender, age and monthly income influence their satisfaction level towards TMpoint service quality in term of facilities. The research methodology used in tllis study was convenience sampling technique where 100 respondents were chosen to answer the questionnaire. The result of the finding shows that out of the three factors of service quality provided by TMpoint, the respondents are highly influenced with the process provided by TMpoint On the other hand, respondents are less influenced by the facilities at TMpoint especially in terms of location and the parking area. Because of that, TMpoint should improve their facilities and always try to get more customers to come to the outlet from time to time

Tourists' willingness-to-pay for George Town, Penang World Heritage Site conservation

The purpose of this research is to study the benefits of cultural tourism to the stakeholders for preserving their cultural heritage and to show how these benefits can be captured as well as utilized to justify further investments in the conservation of the George Town, Penang World Heritage Site (GTWHS). The paper attempts to evaluate the tourists’ attitude as well as responses towards the willingness-to-pay (WTP) value for GTWHS conservation. A total of 147 tourists at the George Town Conservation Zone area were interviewed in 2012. The questionnaire was developed based on the credible Contingent Valuation (CV) methodology. The results of the study have revealed that the attitude of the tourists was found to be positive on the importance of the non-use and their WTP value for the conservation of the world cultural heritage. The highest mean WTP value of the cultural heritage among the tourists was RM42.54 per visit and that a majority of 87% of the tourists have stated that they would be willing to pay for the GTWHS conservation. This positive attitude has contributed to a collective sense of responsibility for the World Heritage Site (WHS) and thus could enhance cultural and economic connections between the public, tourists and the heritage. The study has suggested that there should be dialogue, cooperation and collaboration among the various stakeholders involved. Good conservation of heritage site and proper professional management of tourists were found to enhance the benefits from tourism and thus reducing the social impacts on both the site and the host community

Density Indexes in Determining an Urban Sprawl using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques.

Urban density represents the amount of land occupied by a number of residents and an important factor in understanding how cities function. It is one of the essential components in measuring urban sprawl. The urban density index provides a measure of how much land is consumed per capita for a patch of new development. It is commonly asserted that higher density cities are more sustainable than low density cities because it consumes more land for each resident leaving less of the landscape able to function in other capacities. While some researcher argue that low-density urban area contributed to sprawl, others have counter that higher density results in more negative impact. Characterizing urban sprawl by using density index requires suitable and proper technique. This research attempts to study the measurement of sprawl by using density index with Remote Sensing and Geo-information System (GIS) approach. The SPOT-5 images with 2.5 meters resolution were used and combined with GIS database to analyse the growth of sprawl in Kuala Lumpur metropolitan due to its high-density development. To achieve a better urban development and infrastructure planning in the future, it is crucial for the City Hall to know sprawl phenomenon in Kuala Lumpur, its types, distribution, factors, and the way it is likely to move in the years to come. By using Remote Sensing and GIS, high density area and low density area in Kuala Lumpur can be analysed and compared. The findings show that Kuala Lumpur is a sprawling city. Suitable measures can be adopted by responsible authority to overcome urban sprawl issues in Kuala Lumpur. It is anticipated that this research will provide a new direction in urban sprawl studies and represent a robust analytic approach for characterizing urban development in the city scale at once as well as promoting a city via Remote Sensing and GIS technology

Land cover change detection analysis on urban green area loss using GIS and remote sensing techniques

The loss of green area has been rising all over the world particularly in big cities. For a number of decades, urban sprawl and developments have changed the natural landscapes of urban areas where areas with green areas have been converted into built up developments and other land uses. Thus this research intends to study the changes of green areas in Kuala Lumpur based on land use detection analysis approach where 3 series of remote sensing images namely SPOT2, SPOT4 and IKONOS for year 1990, 2001 and 2010 have been used to acquire the data on the green area changes aided by ERDAS IMAGINE 2011 and ARGIS 9.2. The finding of the study shows that there is a decrease in the size of green area in Kuala Lumpur from year 1990-2010 due to pressure of urban developments. Two significant factors which contribute to the changes of green area in Kuala Lumpur have been identified in the study, which are the increase in built up areas and sprawl development pattern

Developing dengue index through the integration of crowdsourcing approach (X-Waba)

This research aims at improving the existing dengue indices by developing an algorithm that would use the variables affecting positively the vector’s lifecycle and monitoring them daily to generate an improved Dengue Index that would help forewarn on the high possibility of a dengue outbreak. Researchers attempted to identify the factors influencing the behaviour of the mosquito carrier of the virus in the epidemiological context by generating indices based on the number of mosquitos caught in a given number of traps set within a small urban area or based on the number of mosquitoes found in a household. The House (premises) Index (HI), the Container Index (CI) and the Breteau Index (BI) have been described as not effective in predicting dengue outbreaks. The main drawback of these methods is the fact that they do not consider other variables associated with the vector’s lifecycle, landing habit and geographical extents. The developed index would use crowdsourcing data as an additional tool for the citizens to get involved in providing spatial information and specific attributes for more accurate predictions. Using the data published by the ministry of health Malaysia in the years of 2014 and 2015 for the state of Selangor, the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya compared with other data; namely, the temperatures, rainfall and moon cycles. Our findings using the time series method of the improved dengue index show a correlation with the dengue cases time series. The crowdsourcing app would in the future further enhance the identification of the hot spots with high dengue fever probabilities. In conclusion, displaying spatially on a map such forecasts approximately 50 days before the occurrence of the outbreak would be beneficial for authorities to carry out preventive measures

Design and development of auxiliary components for a new two-stroke, stratified-charge, lean-burn gasoline engine

A unique stepped-piston engine was developed by a group of research engineers at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), from 2003 to 2005. The development work undertaken by them engulfs design, prototyping and evaluation over a predetermined period of time which was iterative and challenging in nature. The main objective of the program is to demonstrate local R&D capabilities on small engine work that is able to produce mobile powerhouse of comparable output, having low-fuel consumption and acceptable emission than its crankcase counterpart of similar displacement. A two-stroke engine work was selected as it posses a number of technological challenges, increase in its thermal efficiency, which upon successful undertakings will be useful in assisting the group in future powertrain undertakings in UTM. In its carbureted version, the single-cylinder aircooled engine incorporates a three-port transfer system and a dedicated crankcase breather. These features will enable the prototype to have high induction efficiency and to behave very much a two-stroke engine but equipped with a four-stroke crankcase lubrication system. After a series of analytical work the engine was subjected to a series of laboratory trials. It was also tested on a small watercraft platform with promising indication of its flexibility of use as a prime mover in mobile platform. In an effort to further enhance its technology features, the researchers have also embarked on the development of an add-on auxiliary system. The system comprises of an engine control unit (ECU), a directinjector unit, a dedicated lubricant dispenser unit and an embedded common rail fuel unit. This support system was incorporated onto the engine to demonstrate the finer points of environmental-friendly and fuel economy features. The outcome of this complete package is described in the report, covering the methodology and the final characteristics of the mobile power plant

Urban land use spectral using high resolution imagery and GIS approach in sustaining urban planning spatial databases

Remote sensing technology is useful for urban planning due to its capability in examining detailed spectral characteristic of urban land uses. This study attempts to review a relevant studied have been done in identified an appropriate spectral for urban land use using high resolution remote sensing images and GIS approach. The detailed spectral for urban land uses consist of residential, industrial and commercial in metropolitan and city center urban hierarchy will be discussed. The segmentation techniques through object oriented and the use of field measurement was highlighted, at once demonstrates the usability of such infrastructure to facilitate further progress of remote sensing and GIS application in urban planning in Malaysia. Finally, a discussion of the needs for further research is presented

In vitro somatic embryos multiplication of Eurycoma longifolia Jack using Temporary Immersion System RITA®

Temporary immersion system, Recipient for Automated Temporary Immersion® (RITA®), is one of the innovative systems that allow the production of large number of somatic embryos or plantlets via in vitro plant propagation. It has been widely used to avoid associated problems such as low multiplication rate of somatic embryos and hyperhydricity during plant propagation. Thus, an attempt was made to investigate optimal parameters such as immersion time and immersion frequency, for the multiplication of direct somatic embryogenesis from cotyledon culture of Eurycoma longifolia Jack using RITA®. Four periods of immersion time (1, 5, 10 and 15 min every 4 h) were evaluated for the efficiency in somatic embryos multiplication. In order to optimize repetitive somatic embryogenesis, three different immersion frequencies (5 min immersion every 2, 4 and 8 h) were applied. The highest number of secondary embryos (69.67 ± 9.73) was found significant when immersing the globular, primary embryos for 5 min every 4 h as compared to other immersion time tested. The secondary somatic embryos obtained in this study could be further used for the development of plantlet regeneration of E. longifolia