Integrated sustainability assessment framework with mitigation strategy for palm oil mill

Over the past decades, palm oil mills have been proven to be a profit-making industry. The rapid advancement of this industry poses many challenges from non-government organisations and society to ensure that the operation and production of the palm oil mills remain sustainable. Therefore, many palm oil industries are now committing to adhere to certification schemes to further improve their mill management towards sustainability and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the current palm oil certification scheme has several drawbacks and limitations that burden the industry. This study presents the development of an integrated palm oil mill carbon footprint and accounting (POMCFA) and a novel palm oil mill sustainability index (POMSI) framework that incorporates mitigation strategy selection tool. This framework enables millers to assess the carbon footprint and sustainability performance of their palm oil mills using one palm oil mill inventory. First, this study developed the POMCFA parameters and indicators to calculate the carbon emissions of the mill. This measurement was based on the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). The parameters and indicators of POMCFA were then included as part of the POMSI database. Following that, the POMSI assessment was performed via the adoption of a proximity-to-target approach that measures the current sustainability performance of an industry relative to the policy targets. The POMCFA performance was obtained in terms of total CO2e and GHG profile. The POMSI performances were then translated into five rating systems to describe the sustainability performance levels of the industries i.e. excellent, good, fair, poor, and very poor. An industry-comparable performance was observed using a graphical method. Selected palm oil mills in Malaysia were used as case studies to demonstrate the applicability of the framework. Based on the result, it was found that several indicators of POMCFA and POMSI did not perform efficiently. By identifying the weak-performing indicators, profound recommendations for integrated improvement measures were proposed. In particular, a mitigation selection tool was developed to select the technology to improve upon the weaknesses in the model. Then, the POMCFA and POMSI scores were recalculated to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy on the sustainability performance and/or CO2e emission of the mill. This method enables the industry to continuously measure and keep track of emissions performance and sustainability practices. The assessments give the impetus for every mill to compete towards better improvement and to learn from each other, besides working to improve industry performance as a whole. In addition, the comprehensive assessment offered by the mitigation model in this study results in a better analysis

An analysis of the legislative framework for mobile digital signature in Malaysia / Erickka Farrise Amir ... [et al.]

This research provides an analysis on the Legislative Framework for mobile digital signature in Malaysia. This analysis focuses on the issue whether the legislative framework for digital signature is adequate in governing mobile digital signature in Malaysia. This research is significant in view of the fact that electronic commerce transactions are on the verge of advancements in Malaysia nowadays. The law referred for this study are namely, the Digital Signature Act 1997, the Digital Signature Regulation 1998 and the Electronic Commerce Act 2006. Essentially, in comparative analysis, the laws in other countries are also referred to such as the Korean Digital Signature Act 2001 and Taiwan Electronic Signature Act. A series of literature are reviewed in this research as we analysed the comparisons between the Malaysian laws and the laws in other jurisdictions. As this topic of research is rather complex as it relates to the understanding of mobile digital signature technology, the comparative analysis would be a great help. This research proposes that the current legislative framework is inadequate in governing the issue of mobile digital signature in Malaysia. There are several recommendations provided by this research ranging from the amendment to the Digital Signature Act 1997, the improvement on the procedural aspect of the law, the enhancement on the role of judiciary and legal practitioners to the suggestion of alternative dispute resolutions. It is hoped that the findings of this research would provide a better understanding on the laws governing mobile digital signature. It is also our hope that this research would assist the policy makers in a review of the current legislative framework for mobile digital signature in Malaysia

Cost-Effective Prosthetic Hand for Amputees: Challenges and Practical Implementation

According to statistics, approximately 160,000 people in Malaysia, out of the current population of 32 million, need prosthetic or orthotic equipment. For individuals who have experienced upper extremity amputations, significant challenges are posed by the loss of functionality and the desire for a cosmetically appealing solution. To address this issue, a cost-effective prosthetic hand was proposed and developed. An overview of existing prosthetic hands is also offered, with an emphasis on cost-effectiveness, challenges, strengths, and weaknesses. The developed prosthetic hand incorporates a practical and underactuated finger mechanism. It is equipped with controllers based on EMG sensors to ensure that optimal responses are achieved during the grasping and releasing of objects. A suitable motor was carefully chosen to facilitate effective grasping and ungrasping activities. The proposed design was realized using SolidWorks and a 3D Printer. The capabilities of the prosthetic hand were demonstrated through a series of tests involving various objects, including pliers, a screwdriver, and a phone. The results indicate that objects of different sizes and shapes can be effectively grasped and ungrasped by the prosthetic hand. The unique bending angles in each finger result from the way tendons are connected via flexible cords and fishing lines to the servo motor. This design allows for a dynamic response based on the user's muscle flex and strength. The affordability of this cost-effective prosthetic hand demonstrates its potential as a practical and viable solution for amputees aiming to restore their grasping functionalities

Cost-Effective Prosthetic Hand for Amputees: Challenges and Practical Implementation

According to statistics, approximately 160,000 people in Malaysia, out of the current population of 32 million, need prosthetic or orthotic equipment. For individuals who have experienced upper extremity amputations, significant challenges are posed by the loss of functionality and the desire for a cosmetically appealing solution. To address this issue, a cost-effective prosthetic hand was proposed and developed. An overview of existing prosthetic hands is also offered, with an emphasis on cost-effectiveness, challenges, strengths, and weaknesses. The developed prosthetic hand incorporates a practical and underactuated finger mechanism. It is equipped with controllers based on EMG sensors to ensure that optimal responses are achieved during the grasping and releasing of objects. A suitable motor was carefully chosen to facilitate effective grasping and ungrasping activities. The proposed design was realized using SolidWorks and a 3D Printer. The capabilities of the prosthetic hand were demonstrated through a series of tests involving various objects, including pliers, a screwdriver, and a phone. The results indicate that objects of different sizes and shapes can be effectively grasped and ungrasped by the prosthetic hand. The unique bending angles in each finger result from the way tendons are connected via flexible cords and fishing lines to the servo motor. This design allows for a dynamic response based on the user's muscle flex and strength. The affordability of this cost-effective prosthetic hand demonstrates its potential as a practical and viable solution for amputees aiming to restore their grasping functionalities

Test-retest reliability of level-specific CE-Chirp auditory brainstem response in normal-hearing adults

Background and Objectives: There is growing interest in the use of the Level-specific (LS) CE-Chirp® stimulus in auditory brainstem response (ABR) due to its ability to produce prominent ABR waves with robust amplitudes. There are no known studies that investigate the test-retest reliability of the ABR to the LS CE-Chirp® stimulus. The present study aims to investigate the test-retest reliability of the ABR to the LS CE-Chirp® stimulus and compare its reliability with the ABR to standard click stimulus at multiple intensity levels in normal-hearing adults. Subjects and Methods: Eleven normal-hearing adults participated. The ABR test was repeated twice in the same clinical session and conducted again in another session. The ABR was acquired using both the click and LS CE-Chirp® stimuli at 4 presentation levels (80, 60, 40, and 20 dBnHL). Only the right ear was tested using the ipsilateral electrode montage. The reliability of the ABR findings (amplitudes and latencies) to the click and LS CE-Chirp®stimuli within the same clinical session and between the two clinical sessions was calculated using an intra-class correlation coefficient analysis (ICC). Results: The results showed a significant correlation of the ABR findings (amplitude and latencies) to both stimuli within the same session and between the clinical sessions. The ICC values ranged from moderate to excellent. Conclusions: The ABR results from both the LS CE-Chirp® and click stimuli were consistent and reliable over the two clinical sessions suggesting that both stimuli can be used for neurological diagnoses with the same reliability

Evaluation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells growth in vitro for cartilage tissue engineering

Stem cell has been widely researched during the last decade due to its potential to differentiate into many cell types. This study attempts to compare the growth of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSC) aspirated from rabbits’ iliac crest and femur in two culture media i.e. (1) α-Minimum Essential Medium (α-MEM) and, (2) the mixture of Ham F12 Nutrient Mixture and Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (FD). Growth kinetics assessment used in this study includes cell viability, total cell yield, growth rate, population doubling time and total number of cell doubling. FD was found to be an appropriate culture medium to promote better BMMSC growth. BMMSC from iliac crest region showed better proliferation potential than the femur region. Hence, it can be inferred from this study that BMMSC harvested from the iliac crest site and cultured in FD medium is better than femur samples in terms of growth profile

An integrated carbon footprint accounting and sustainability index for palm oil mills

Palm oil industry has received criticism from various parties on the issue of sustainability and the greenhouse gases. Carbon footprint accounting are widely used as a metric of climate change impacts and the main focus of many sustainability policies among companies and authorities. However, carbon footprint accounting has limitation to represent sustainability as a whole and may resulting inaccurate selection of further mitigation. This paper evaluates sustainability and greenhouse gases simultaneously using an integrated palm oil mill carbon footprint accounting (POMCFA) and palm oil mill sustainability index (POMSI) method. The integration was performed via the adoption of data synchronization of the carbon footprint accounting and sustainability assessment. The analysis shows that highest carbon dioxide equivalent emission was contributed by palm oil mill effluent followed by diesel consumption and water consumption. In terms of sustainability scoring, the results show that the environmental aspect achieved the lowest scores compared to other aspects (social and economy). Weaknesses identified include diesel consumption, palm oil mill effluent and boiler emission. The assessment analysed in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent and sustainability scoring demonstrates its potential to provide comprehensive mitigation selection purposes

Women empowerment in rural areas through village relocation programme: a case study in Perumahan Nelayan Muafakat, Kedah

Women are the asset of a country because they play indispensible role in the economic development. Verily, empowerment of women will be able to uplift their livelihood by accelerating their living standards, income, and well-being, particularly in rural areas. The involvement and engagement of rural women in economic and political aspects are vital to go hand in hand with men in decision making, delivering critical idea, and linking in multi-dimensional sectors. By participating in all spheres of life, it could facilitate them to escape from the rural poverty that they are facing now