The impact of exchange rate volatility on real total export and sub-categories of real total export of Malaysia

This study aims to investigate the impact of exchange rate volatility on real export in Malaysia. The moving standard deviation with order three (MSD(3)) is used for the measurement of exchange rate volatility. The conventional and partially asymmetric autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models are used in the estimations. This study finds exchange rate volatility to have significant impact on real total export and some sub-categories of real total export. Moreover, this study finds that the positive or negative exchange rate volatility tends to have positive or negative impact on real export. Exchange rate volatility can be harmful to export of Malaysia

A study on vehicular ad hoc networks

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) are special class of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) formed by vehicles equipped with wireless gadgets. The communication in VANET occurs between Vehicle 2 Vehicle mode and Vehicle to road side unit forming an intelligent transport system. Routing plays an important role in forwarding the required data to the nodes or vehicles. In this paper we investigate the performance evaluation of reactive routing protocols such as AODV and DSR and proactive routing protocols such as OLSR in urban city traffic scenario using SUMO and network performance using NS3 to find an appropriate protocol by using network parameters such as packet delivery ratio, throughput and delay. From the simulations we observed that AODV fared well over other routing protocols in VANET scenarios

A study of process identification, frequency response analysis and optimum proportional-integral tunings for an identified temperature control system

Single loop feedback control is commonly used in many industrial applications due to low cost. However, it still deserved an optimum control for the good performance of the controlled process to avoid failures and shutdown of the plants. A good control should have a proper process identification to imply the process dynamic behavior. This paper presents the process identification, frequency response analysis and an optimal PI tuning of a single loop controlled system without involving the complicated stage in determining the best PI tunings for both the servo and regulatory control problems at a nominal point. In realizing the objective, a temperature control function of the Process Control Simulator is chosen. Process identification of the First Order Plus Dead Time is obtained through the developed algorithm. Meanwhile, frequency analysis and the optimal PI tunings are studied by using MATLAB simulation tools. It is found that the produced responses are varied by adjusting the compensator ratio where the optimal PI tunings for a stable and aggressive control is eventually determined

Block Matching Algorithm (BMA) of the Hybrid Adaptive Rood Pattern Search (ARPS) Based on Its Motion Speed

There are several numbers famous proposed Block Matching Algorithm (BMA) in video coding technique and among it, the ARPS is a well known BMA technique that produce lower computational complexity and higher quality of the encoded video at the same time. In general, a video will has a lot of temporal redundancy among its neighborhood frames especially for a low motion video which make encoding a low motion video with smaller MB and bigger p size seemed impractical and vice versa. In this paper, the hybrid version of ARPS technique is used depending on its motion video type either low, medium, or high motion video. Basically this hybrid model works by setting the Macro Block (MB) and Search Range Size, p according to the motion type. Low motion video will be use higher size of MB and smaller size of p, medium motion has medium size of MB and p, and high or fast motion video will use smaller MB and bigger p size. The experimental result shows that by using the hybrid BMA technique, it can produce a better quality of the constructed frame and also it achieve less computational complexity at the same time

Bioplastic classifications and innovations in antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant applications

Conventional plastics exacerbate climate change by generating substantial amounts of greenhouse gases and solid wastes throughout their lifecycle. To address the environmental and economic challenges associated with petroleum-based plastics, bioplastics have emerged as a viable alternative. Bioplastics are a type of plastic that are either biobased, biodegradable, or both. Due to their biodegradability and renewability, bioplastics are established as earth-friendly materials that can replace nonrenewable plastics. However, early bioplastic development has been hindered by higher production costs and inferior mechanical and barrier properties compared to conventional plastics. Nevertheless, studies have shown that the addition of additives and fillers can enhance bioplastic properties. Recent advancements in bioplastics have incorporated special additives like antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant agents, offering added values and unique properties for specific applications in various sectors. For instance, integrating antibacterial additives into bioplastics enables the creation of active food packaging, extending the shelf-life of food by inhibiting spoilage-causing bacteria and microorganisms. Moreover, bioplastics with antioxidant additives can be applied in wound dressings, accelerating wound healing by preventing oxidative damage to cells and tissues. These innovative bioplastic developments offer promising opportunities for developing sustainable and practical solutions in various fields. Within this review are two main focuses: an outline of the bioplastic classifications to understand how they fit in as the coveted conventional plastics substitute and an overview of the recent bioplastic innovations in the antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant applications. We cover the use of different polymers and additives, presenting the findings and potential applications within the last decade. Although current research primarily focuses on food packaging and biomedicine, the exploration of bioplastics with specialized properties is still in its early stages, offering a wide range of undiscovered opportunities

Internet of things based real-time coronavirus 2019 disease patient health monitoring system

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has led to many infected worldwide and has become a global crisis. COVID-19 manifests in the form of shortness of breath, coughing and fever. More people are getting infected and healthcare systems worldwide are overwhelmed as healthcare workers become exhausted and infected. Thus, remote monitoring for COVID-19 patients is required. An internet of things (IoT) based real-time health monitoring system for COVID-19 patients was proposed. It features monitoring of five physiological parameters, namely electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), oxygen saturation (SpO2) and body temperature. These vitals are processed by the main controller and transmitted to the cloud for storage. Healthcare professionals can read real-time patient vitals on the web-based dashboard which is equipped with an alert service. The proposed system was able to transmit and display all parameters in real-time accurately without any packet loss or transmission errors. The accuracy of body temperature readings, RR, SpO2 and HR, is up to 99.7%, 100%, 97.97% and 98.34%, respectively. Alerts were successfully sent when the parameters reached unsafe levels. With the proposed system, healthcare professionals can remotely monitor COVID-19 patients with greater ease, lessen their exposure to the pathogen, and improve patient monitoring

Comparative study on passive aerated in-vessel composting of food wastes with the addition of Sabah ragi

The aims of this study are to determine the effect of Sabah ragi on food waste and dry leaves composting as well as to compare the composting performance from a previous study that had no addition of Sabah ragi. The composting process was conducted using an in-vessel passive aerated bioreactor with turning every 3 days for 40 days. Based on the physiochemical analysis, the stability and maturity of the compost were evaluated. Parameters such as temperature, total organic carbon, moisture content, pH, conductivity, and C/N were monitored. During the composting process, the highest temperature of 54.2 °C and the highest heat generation rate per initial mass of compost dry matter of 4098 kJ kg−1 day−1 was achieved on day 7. Furthermore, when compared to previous studies, this study achieved a faster thermophilic phase (≥45 °C), a longer thermophilic period (4 days), and a higher cumulative temperature. Elementary kinetic analysis was performed based on the TOC profile and evaluated using coefficient correlation (R2). In this study, application of the second-order model resulted in good responses. Low pathogen levels and higher nitrogen content were detected in the final compost, while some of the nutrients were not in the recommended range. An estimated ragi cost of RM 1.22 was required for every 1 kg of compost with a selling price of RM 6.00/kg of compost

Frequency response analysis and optimum tuning for temperature control system

The paper presents frequency responce analysis of temperature control system through Bode Diagram. From the open loop manual test, First Order Plus Dead Time model reflects open loop process behavior. SISOTOOL function in Matlab is utilized for designing the Proportional and Integral Controller. Besides, this paper proposes Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion to calculate stability margin and Compensator Ratio for obtaining optimized controller settings and the analysis were justified through Process Control Simulator, SE-201. It was found that Compensator ratio of 0.095 is the optimized tuning, which gives proportional gain of 16.2% and time constant is 65s for both servo and regulatory control

Non-invasive blood pressure and heart rate sensing using photoplethysmogram sensor

The non-invasive and cuffless blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) monitoring device is designed to help people to monitor their BP and HR regularly. A Photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor was used to obtain the PPG signal needed for the BP and HR calculations. The performance of the BP and HR monitoring device was tested based on the accuracy of the readings obtained by comparing readings from the proposed device with the readings obtained by clinical instruments. The factors that are affecting the accuracy of the sensor are also discussed in this paper