UMT Journal Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
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Strength and Durability of Kenaf Fiber Reinforced Concrete for Marine Structures
No full textNowadays, Kenaf fiber is sustainably useful in marine structures and has become one of the materials that may be high in demand as it is light, biodegradable and environmental friendly. This study investigates the effect of fiber percentage on compressive strength of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) and the relationship between compressive strength and time of FRC immersion in seawater. FRC concrete cubes were prepared using four different percentage of fiber (0%, 1.5%, 3.0% and 4.5%). These FRC were immersed in seawater for 7, 14 and 21 days for three consecutive weeks. Based on the experiment, it was found that there was improvement in compressive strength of FRC when compared to plain cement concrete. The results showed that 3.0% of KF to cement matrix concrete determined the highest compressive strength of 205.43 Pa while 0% of KF fiber to cement concrete matrix (control specimen) showed the lowest compressive strength of 158.28 Pa. Also the addition of Kenaf fiber to cement concrete decreased the seawater absorption more than concrete with absolutely 0% of KF fiber to cement concrete (control specimen). In conclusion, the results did show significant improvement and a consistent trend on strength with the addition of FRC. This study also revealed that the percentage of water absorption was on the increase for 0, 7 and 14 days and become constant after day 21. This is due to manufacturing defects that occurred which block the water from entering the material and making the material absorb less water
Distribution and Diversity of Foraminifera in the Northwest of Sarawak Offshore Waters, Malaysia
No full textA study on distribution and diversity of benthic foraminifera in surface sediments was carried out in Northwestern Sarawak waters, Malaysia. The range of water depth at the study site was between 43 m and 71 m. A total of seven sediment samples were taken for this study. As a result, 11 genera were identified from a total of 1,222 individuals of foraminifera. 200 individuals were picked out from each sample. The 11 genera that were identified from the study site included Heterolepa spp., Textularia spp., Quinqueloculina spp., Operculina spp. Pseudorotalia spp., Amphistegina spp., Cylindroclavulina spp., Elphidium spp., Ammobaculites spp., Asterorotalia spp. and Bolivina spp.. The common genera found in the sediments of the study areas were Heterolepa, Textularia, Quincoloculina, Operculina and Pseudorotalia. The highest and lowest values of Fisher alpha and Shannon-Wiener indices were shown at Station C287 and Station B482 respectively. The highest value of Fisher alpha was 3.23 and the lowest value was 1.97. The highest and lowest values of Shannon-Wiener were 2.30 and 1.91. The highest index value of diversity was 3.23 at depth 67.76 m and the lowest value was 1.53 at depth 45.54 m and 68.45 m. From this study, depth is not the main factor that influences the diversity of benthic foraminiferal in northwestern Sarawak waters
Gold Price Forecasting using Box-Jenkins Method
No full textIn general, the nature of gold that acts as a hedge against inflation and its stable price over the course of the financial crisis has made it a unique commodity. Price forecasts are a must for gold producers, investors and central bank to know the current trends in gold prices. Forecasting the future value of a variable is often done with time series analysis method. This study was conducted to determine the best model for forecasting gold commodity prices as well as forecasting world gold commodity prices in 2018 using Box-Jenkins approach. The data used in this study was obtained from Investing.com from 2015 until 2017. This study shows that ARIMA (1,1,1) is the best model to predict gold commodity prices based on Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). MAPE value for ARIMA (1,1,1) is 0.02%, where this value proves that forecasting using ARIMA (1,1,1) is the best forecasting because MAPE value is less than 10%
Accounting for Trash Management at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
No full textThis paper provides preliminary evidence of the need for accounting for trash management in public organizations, in particular, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). It has two objectives: to solicit opinions from students regarding their behaviors and perceptions towards recycling habits, and to provide data on the extent of accounting for trash management at UMT. A survey among 155 UMT students indicated that they recycled the trash and were aware of environmental issues caused by the waste. However, they were not informed about the benefits of environmental management accounting practice particularly regarding trash management. Interviews with UMT management also revealed that while UMT supported recycling activities by funding the projects and providing facilities, the data on the opportunity cost involved in the current practice was never integrated into UMT accounting system. As a result, the management had no idea of how much was lost (or gained) during the process. Based on the findings, this study calls for the implementation of accounting for trash management in a public university
Expert System to Diagnose Dengue Fever
No full textExpert system is a system that emulates experts to aid in decision making. This system can be applied in various categories such as diagnosis, prediction, interpretation, and others. Expert System to Diagnose Dengue Fever is a web-based system which is integrated with prolog language in order to provide rules for dengue fever detection. The aims of this research are to study dengue fever symptoms and other illnesses related to the fever, to design an inference engine, and to build an expert system. The challenges faced while developing this expert system were the complexity of prolog codes and their integration with the web development. In this system, rules were developed by prolog language which define dengue fever and accuracy based on input from the user. This system is expected to aid users in self-detecting early symptoms of dengue fever before seeing the doctors
Effects of Different Exposure Times of Led Lights on Postharvest Performances of Fresh-Cut Pineapple (Ananas comosus L. cv. Josapine)
No full textPineapple is one of the most important commercial fruit crops served in fresh-cut form which is convenient for the consumers. However, fresh-cut pineapple induces the activity of phenolic compounds which triggers the generation of brown or dark pigments. Browning incidence (BI) directly influences the fruit’s acceptability and marketability. Therefore, different exposure times (5mins, 10mins, 15mins and 20mins) and types of LED lights (white, red and blue) were applied on fresh-cut pineapple stored at 5oC storage for twelve days to reduce BI. A significant interaction between the two factors was recorded in lightness coefficient, chroma, total phenolic and ascorbic acid (AA) contents. Regardless of exposure times, all types of LED lights, mainly the blue light, succeeded in delaying BI in fresh-cut pineapple. In conclusion, blue light had a tendency to delay BI and maintain the other postharvest quality attributes of fresh-cut pineapple
Effects of Salicylic Acid and Sucrose Solution on Vase Life of Cut Antigonon leptopus Inflorescences and Their Potential as Cut Flowers for Flower Arrangement
No full textPink Antigonon leptopus have potential to be commercialized as cut flowers for flower arrangement. In order to determine cut inflorescences' vase life, vase solution treatments containing Artificial Tap Water as control, salicyclic acid (SA) at 100, 200, 300 mg/L and combination of 100, 200, 300 mg/L SA with 2% sucrose were conducted. Parameters observed were vase life, relative fresh weight (RFW), vase solution uptake (VSU), flower drop (FD), flower colour, relative water content (RWC) and pH. The results showed that cut inflorescences in vase treatment containing 200 mg/L SA + 2% sucrose and 300 mg/L + 2% sucrose had 1.6 fold longer vase life than the control, showing higher water uptake and reduced flower drop by 28%
Macrofungi of Pulau Bidong
No full textStudies on fungal taxonomy and fungal diversity are crucial for a better understanding of the interactions between fungi and their habitats. To date, there is no published record on macrofungal diversity in Pulau Bidong, Terengganu. Therefore, this study aimed to identify macrofungi species found with their respective substrates and to determine the macrofungal diversity in the island. The study was conducted at two different occasions and comprised of two trails near Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Research Station in Pulau Bidong, Terengganu. Collection of fresh macrofungi was made and additional data including host information, distinctive features of each fungal sample and several environmental parameters was also recorded. Fresh specimens were later observed and identified before being dried prior to storage. Overall, 65 macrofungal species with 2 unidentified species belonging to 21 families and 34 genera were recorded. Trail A and trail B recorded diversity index of 2.67 and 3.14 for Shannon Index while Simpson index recorded 0.90 and 0.94 respectively. The macrofungal diversity was dominated by family Polyporaceae while rare species discovered were from family of Tricholomataceae, Hericiaceae, Stereaceae, Schizophyllaceae, Sclerodermataceae, Dacrymycetaceae, Tremellaceae, Russulaceae and Clavulinaceae. The most common macrofungal substrates was decayed branches while other macrofungal substrates found were decayed trunks and leaves, soil, termite mounds, and living tree. In conclusion, the macrofungal species were randomly distributed with high diversity in both trails. Therefore, it is recommended that an increase in sampling trips, sampling efforts and areas covered be provided to increase the number of macrofungal species discovered and accuracy of diversity studies in the future
Preliminary Assessment of the Distribution of PM2.5-Bound Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Primary School Environments in Kuala Lumpur
No full textFine particulate matter (aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm) (PM2.5) has become a major concern because it can adsorb chemicals e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) onto its surface. Although PAHs are priority pollutants that can cause adverse health effect, there is still limited information concerning indoor exposures to PAHs in Malaysia. This study aimed to characterise the distribution of PAHs bounded to PM2.5 in primary school environments. Indoor and outdoor PM2.5 were collected between May and July 2017 using low volume samplers (LVS) at three public primary schools in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. PAHs were extracted by ultrasonic extraction with Dichloromethane:n-Hexane (1:1, v/v) as the extraction solvent and analysed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Based on the results, the average total concentration of PAHs (∑PAHs) ranged from 3.8 to 10.1 ng m-3 and 1.6 to 8.0 ng m-3 for outdoors and indoors, respectively. PAHs in PM2.5 samples indicated the potential contribution of combustion at high temperature and indoor sources, and the infiltration of outdoor PAHs were the important sources for outdoor and indoor, respectively. In addition, the diagnostic ratio analysis showed that vehicular emissions were the most predominant sources of PAHs in school environments
Techno-Economic Feasibility Study of An Off-Grid Hybrid Power System for An Aqua-Tourism Resort in Terengganu, Malaysia
No full textThis study focused on feasibility analysis of hybrid electrification system for an aqua-tourism resort located remotely from the grid connection in Terengganu. There were four standalone systems used in this study: diesel/PV/biomass/battery, diesel/PV/battery, biomass/diesel/battery, and diesel only. The design and analysis of these systems were done using Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) software. The results showed that the diesel/PV/battery system was the optimum solution in terms of net present cost (NPC) and cost of energy (COE). This system comprises 20 % of PV penetration with NPC and COE of USD 57,823 (RM 241, 729.90) and 0.428 USD/kWh (1.79 RM/kWh), respectively. Meanwhile, the diesel/PV/biomass/battery system with NPC of USD 65,388 (RM 273, 355.49) and COE of 0.484 USD/kWh (2.02 RM/kWh) was found to be the best among all systems in terms of greenhouse emissions. This system was able to reduce almost 70 % of carbon dioxide if compared with diesel only system and about 15 % lower than the diesel/PV/battery system with a renewable energy fraction of 44 %