Effect of Different Wheatstone Bridge Configurations on Sensitivity and Linearity of MEMS Piezoresistive Intracranial Pressure Sensors

Monitoring of intracranial pressure for traumatic brain injured patients is very critical.  Many intracranial pressure monitoring systems use the MEMS piezoresistive pressure sensor to measure the signal.  The piezoresistive pressure sensor is very sensitive to temperature change.  Hence, the Wheatstone bridge circuit is normally employed in this type of sensor to lessen the effect of temperature variation.  This paper presents the effect of using different configurations of Wheat-stone bridge on the sensitivity and linearity performances of the piezoresistive intracranial pressure sensor.  Six designs comprise of 3-turns meander shaped piezoresistors ranging from full-bridge to quarter-bridge were simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics.  Based on the simulation results, the number and position of active piezoresistors were found to greatly influence the sensitivity of the sensor.  The latter also influenced the sensors’ linearity error.  The active perpendicular piezoresistor produced the higher change in resistance which gave rise to higher sensitivity, while at the same caused the higher nonlinearity performance.  Overall, the piezoresistive intracranial sensor comprises of full-bridge Wheat-stone circuit produces the highest sensitivity and medium linearity

Identifying Predictors of Academic Success for Part-Time Students at Polytechnic Institutes in Malaysia

A central challenge for higher education today is to understand the diversity and complexity of nontraditional students’ life experiences and how these factors influence their academic success. To better understand these issues, this study explored the role of demographic characteristics and employment variables in predicting the academic success of part-time students at four polytechnic institutes in Malaysia. Demographic characteristics studied included respondent’s age, gender, marital status, number of children, parent’s educational level, and financial resources. Employment variables assessed were number of years working, job relatedness to the program, job satisfaction, and monthly salary. A total of 614 part-time students completed the survey. Results indicated that being an older student, being female, paying for their own education, and having high job satisfaction were statistically significant predictors of part-time students’ academic success. Understanding the effects of demographic characteristics and employment variables on students’ academic success might help administrators and educators to develop teaching and learning processes, support services, and policies to enhance part-time students’ academic success

The mediating role of overall equipment effectiveness on the relationship between fit manufacturing and business performance

Advanced manufacturing technology systems have replaced traditional manufacturing systems as manufacturing industry have many technological developments in recent years. Now, the primarily concern is effectiveness of the equipment for the modern manufacturing technology systems. Though, there is a lack of empirical studies confirming this impact on business performance. Recently, manufacturing industries have adapted fit manufacturing strategies in order to enhance the system effectiveness to get competitive advantage. These strategies are mainly, lean, agile and sustainable manufacturing. This paper aims to systematically review the literature on the existing fit manufacturing strategies and their relationship with business performance from year 2009 to 2015, also to find the possible intervening variable that can influence the inconsistency of the relationships between the fit manufacturing strategies and business performance. On the basis of the findings from the systematic literature review, we suggest researchers on the in the field of operations management to investigate the mediating relationship of overall equipment effectiveness between the relationship of the fit manufacturing strategies and business performance

Feasibility study on the extraction methods of essential oil from pineapple peels

The pineapple industry produces a substantial amount of solid waste like peels, cores, stems, crowns and pulp. Pineapple waste disposal can cause to microbial spoilage and environmental problems due to the waste material containing high moisture and sugar content. Utilization of pineapple waste, focusing on the peels, to produce a high value added product of essential oil is a good option. However, up to date, there are only a very limited studies specifically aimed on the extraction methods of essential oil from pineapple peels. Therefore, the aim of this study was to demonstrate a feasible method for extraction of essential oil from pineapple peels. Three methods used in the study were (1) hydro- distillation (HD), (2) hydro-distillation with enzyme-assisted pretreatment (HDEA) and (3) supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). Among the methods used, only SFE method resulted in the formation of essential oil with 0.17% (w/w) yield, whereas HD and HDEA methods only produced the hydrosol. The microscopic observation using scanning electron microscope of the sample’s cell wall substantiated that only SFE method resulted in the rupture the essential oil gland after the extraction. The GC-MS analysis showed that volatile compounds mainly identified in the essential oil produced through SFE method were propanoic acid ethyl ester (40.25%), lactic acid ethyl ester (19.35%), 2-Heptanol (15.02%), 3-Hexanone (2.60%) and butanoic acid ethyl ester (1.58%). The analysis results show that pineapple peels contained of important volatile compounds, thus indicating its’ potential to be used as substrate for the aromatic essence production

Pengambilan makanan dalam kalangan warga emas yang mengalami ketakjaminan makanan di penempatan pertanian di Lubuk Merbau, Kedah

Ketakjaminan makanan dikaitkan dengan pengambilan nutrien yang tidak mencukupi dalam kalangan warga emas. Oleh itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan pengambilan makanan dalam kalangan warga emas yang mengalami ketakjaminan makanan di kawasan penempatan pertanian iaitu di FELDA Lubuk Merbau, Kedah. Seramai 70 orang warga emas telah dipilih secara subsampel dari kajian sebenar (n = 289: purata umur 69.2 ± 7.4 tahun) untuk mengisi maklumat bekalan makanan selama seminggu. Kajian ini dijalankan melalui lawatan dari rumah ke rumah, dengan responden ditemu ramah untuk mendapatkan maklumat sosiodemografi dan ketakjaminan makanan. Pengambilan makanan direkodkan mengunakan soal selidik bekalan makanan untuk seminggu. Ketakjaminan makanan dinilai menggunakan soal selidik ketakjaminan makanan untuk warga emas. Hasil kajian mendapati seramai 19.7% responden mengalami ketakjaminan makanan. Pengambilan tenaga didapati lebih tinggi dalam kalangan responden wanita dengan ketakjaminan makanan (2329.0 ± 814 kcal/hari) berbanding mereka yang tidak mengalami ketakjaminan makanan (1836 ± 447 kcal/hari) (p < 0.05). Walau bagaimanapun selepas digugurkan responden yang terlebih lapor, pengambilan tenaga antara kedua kumpulan adalah tidak berbeza secara signifikan (1890 ± 208 kcal/hari dan 1643 ± 233 kcal/hari). Jumlah pengambilan makanan dari kumpulan makanan lemak, minyak, gula dan garam adalah tinggi dalam kalangan subjek dengan ketakjaminan makanan (106.6 ± 60.0 g/hari) berbanding dengan mereka yang tidak mengalami ketakjaminan makanan (80.3 ± 30.1 g/hari)(p < 0.05). Kesimpulannya, satu perlima daripada responden mengalami ketakjaminan makanan dan dikaitkan dengan pengambilan makanan yang kurang sihat iaitu tinggi lemak, minyak, gula dan garam. Terdapat keperluan untuk merangka program intervensi bagi meningkatkan kualiti diet warga emas yang berisiko mengalami ketakjaminan makanan

Assessing the Effect of Digital Social Media towards Face to Face Communication during Pandemic COVID-19 in Higher Educational Institutions

This paper will assess the effect of social media on face-to-face (F2F) communication among students in a higher education institution. Previous scholars found that social media is a platform to connect people, especially in the current pandemic COVID-19. However, another study has shown the negative effect of social media among university students because it hampers students' real-life experiences. A literature survey has been selected to explore the effect of social media on F2F communication among students in a higher education institution. This paper also highlights the significant role of social media in higher education institutions during the pandemic of Covid19. Keywords: F2F communication, social media, Social Networking Sites (SNS), technology eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by E-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC  BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behavior Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioral Researchers on Asians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behavior Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Role of sensation seeking and aggression on risk riding behaviors among motorcycle street racers in Malaysia

In Malaysia, Illegal motorcycle street racers (locally known as Mat Rempit) is a well known phenomena. Racing on the public roads and performing dangerous stunts action not only endangered themselves but also threaten other road users. This article examines the relationship between impulsive traits, sensation seeking, aggression and risk taking behaviors among illegal motorcycle street racers in Malaysia. Some 564 motorcyclists (identified as Mat Rempit) were interviewed and requested to complete self-reported questionnaires on aggression, sensation seeking, and risky riding. This study found that the Mat Rempit who participated in illegal street racing scored higher on aggression, sensation seeking, and risk taking behaviors as compared to the group of respondents not involved. Results also revealed that those higher on overall impulsive sensation seeking traits also scored relatively high on aggression and risky riding. Regression analysis showed aggression, and sensation seeking behaviors contributed to 16.1% of the total variance in risky riding. This study suggested that effective enforcement as well as special rehabilitation program is needed for this group

Obesity is associated with more sick leave and lower quality of life among Malay male security officers

Obesity is a risk factor for chronic diseases which can affect work productivity and physical function of employees particularly among those in security sector. The study aimed to determine the association between obesity with total days of sick leave and health related quality of life (HRQoL) among Malay male security officers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among Malay male security officers working in a Malaysian higher learning institution. Subjects were evaluated using anthropometric measurements, quality of life and number of sick leave taken within two months prior to the study. A total of 194 subjects (mean age 40.12 ± 11.41 years) were recruited. A total of 30.4% were obese, 39.7% were pre-obese and only 29.9% had normal body weight or underweight. Central obesity was observed in 57.7% of them and 87.1% shown excessive body fat percentage. Number of sick leave days was positively correlated with Body Mass Index (BMI) (r = 0.162, p = 0.024) and waist circumference (r = 0.181, p = 0.012). Score of the general health component was negatively correlated with BMI (r = -0.161, p = 0.025), waist circumference (r = -0.194, p = 0.007) and body fat percentage (r = -0.191, p = 0.008). Physical functioning score was lowest in obese subjects than normal and pre-obese subjects (p = 0.046). Score of the bodily pain component was positively correlated with waist circumference (r = 0.156, p = 0.030). Obesity is associated with number of sick leave days and quality of life in the studied group. Hence, body weight of the security staff should be monitored and appropriate intervention should be conducted to improve their work attendance and quality of life