19672 research outputs found
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Factors influencing Muslim credit card holders' impulse buying behaviour in Malaysia
No full textStudies on impulse buying have been substantially conducted in developing countries by vast researchers. Nevertheless, such studies are in scarcity amidst Asian countries, particularly Malaysia. Besides, studies that have looked into the variables of materialism, sale promotion, money and time availability, and hedonic motivation are also rather sparsely carried out in the light of impulse buying behaviour. As such, this study examined the correlations between situational variables (sale promotion, money and time availability) and individual variable (materialism and hedonic motivation) with impulse buying behaviour among Muslim credit cardholders in Malaysia. In terms of instrument development, this study instrument consisted of 44 items adopted and adapted from prior studies. Questionnaires were distributed to 1,000 Muslim credit cardholders in Malaysia via purposive and snowball sampling techniques and only 635 were usable for final data analysis. The analysis was performed via Partial Least Square (PLS-SEM) analysis. The outcomes revealed that materialism, sale promotion, money and time availability, and hedonic motivation displayed significant positive correlations with impulse buying behaviour. © 2019, Malaysian Consumer and Family Economics Association. All rights reserved
Surface characterization of an organosilane-grafted moisture-crosslinked polyethylene compound treated by air atmospheric pressure non-equilibrium gliding arc plasma
No full textIn this study, surface modification of a silane-crosslinked polyethylene (Si-XLPE) compound was carried out by gliding arc atmospheric plasma. Samples were exposed to the plasma for different durations and the plasma-induced alterations of the surfaces were comprehensively assessed. Surface chemistry was evaluated initially via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Surface morphology was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). For calculating surface free energy (SFE), contact angle measurement (CAM) was performed. In order to have accurate details on the surface chemistry and morphology, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD) analysis were conducted, respectively. Results revealed that this modification method doubled the amount of atomic oxygen and nitrogen on the surface, indicating the formation of polar chemical components on the surface. Moreover, plasma could change the surface morphology considerably by selective etching and impacting on roughness. Furthermore, it was observed that the modification improved the surface crystallinity to some extent and also increased SFE drastically. Surface modification of Si-XLPE by gliding arc plasma has then proved to be an effective technique during which noticeable improvement in wettability has occurred. © 2019 Elsevier B.V
Dietary and physical activity patterns related to cardio-metabolic health among Malaysian adolescents: a systematic review
No full textBackground: A sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet are major factors in the increasing prevalence of obesity among Malaysian adolescents. The purpose of this systematic review is to compile the evidence from observational and intervention studies among Malaysian adolescents to evaluate the associations between diet and physical activity (PA) as determinants of cardio-metabolic risk factors. Methods: A systematic search of Medline via the PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Review and Web of Science databases was conducted for studies on the associations between diet and PA factors and cardio-metabolic risk factors among Malaysian adolescents aged 13-18 years that were published until 31 August 2017. The search results were independently screened and extracted by two reviewers. Results: From over 2,410 references retrieved, 20 full texts articles were screened as potentially relevant. Seventeen (16 cross-sectional and one intervention) met the inclusion criteria for data extraction and analysis. All 17 studies were rated as poor quality and the majority had made insufficient adjustment for confounders. As regards the effect of diet and PA on cardio-metabolic health, the intakes of energy (n = 4) and macronutrients (n = 3) and meal frequency (n = 5) were the most commonly studied dietary factors, while the PA score and level were the most commonly studied PA factors. In addition, BMI and body weight were the most common cardio-metabolic health outcomes. The studies showed that obese and overweight adolescents consume significantly more energy and macronutrients. They are also more likely to skip their daily meals compared to their normal weight peers. In most studies, the direction of the PA effect on body weight was unclear. Some studies found that higher PA is associated with a lower risk of overweight and obesity. However, the associations are often small or inconsistent, with few studies controlling for confounding factors. Conclusions: This review identified a lack of evidence and well-conducted prospective studies on the effect of diet and PA on cardio-metabolic health of Malaysian adolescents. © 2019 The Author(s)
Sensorless second-order switching surface for a three-level boost converter
No full textThis paper proposes a sensorless second-order switching surface to control a three-level boost converter (TLBC). A predictive current method is proposed to reduce the number of sensors in the normal second-order switching surface method. Based on a developed model of the TLBC, the current is estimated and a switching surface is formulated in the state-energy plane. Simulation and hardware tests are carried out to verify the viability and the effectiveness of the proposed control technique. Results obtained show a good performance of the converter in term of DC-bus balancing and fast dynamic response under sudden load change. © TÜBİTAK
Fatigue damage severity assessment of RC beam
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the investigation of damage severity of reinforced concrete (RC) beam subjected to increasing fatigue loading using intensity of acoustic emission (AE) signal. Design/methodology/approach: Together 17 RC beams with dimension of 150 × 150 × 750 mm were prepared. Third point loading fatigue test was performed based on load at the first crack (Pcr) and the ultimate static load (Pult). The frequency of 1 Hz was used with the increasing fatigue loadings, 0.5Pcr (P1), 0.8Pcr (P2), 1.0Pcr (P3), 0.2Pult (P4), 0.5Pult (P5) and 0.6Pult (P6). The damage severity of crack for each phase of loading allowed the identification of the crack modes of the beams, namely, Zone A (no significant emission), Zone B (minor), Zone C (intermediate), Zone D (follow-up) and Zone E (major). Findings: The intensity analysis indicated clear trend with respect to crack propagation in the beam and, hence, can be used to monitor the crack occurrence in the beam. Originality/value: The intensity analysis has been carried out for the beam subjected to increasing fatigue loading. The analysis was based on the AE data obtained from channel basis and located event. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited
Combustion of waterborne intumescent flame-retardant coatings with hybrid industrial filler and biofiller
No full textThis paper presents the combustibility and thermal stability of an intumescent coating system, which incorporates rice husk ash (RHA) and eggshell as abundant by-products, with two other industrial fillers, namely TiO 2 and Al(OH) 3 . Evaluation was performed using cone calorimeter test at 50 kW m −2 and TGA. Experimental results indicated the influence of fillers on the combustibility properties of coating samples and the decomposition rate of coating materials. The TGA results demonstrated that the addition of RHA and eggshell results in the excess residue weight of more than 35% of the total weight loss. The cone calorimeter test results revealed the coating, which consists of TiO 2 and RHA, exerts no effect on fire growth because no ignition is observed. The results proved a remarkable fire resistance of waterborne intumescent coating with the addition of RHA and TiO 2 which (1) reduces the total heat release rate (HRR) and heat of combustion; (2) increases the carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and smoke yields; and (3) releases the lowest amount of gaseous oxygen released. Consequently, the appropriate combination of hybrid industrial fillers and biofillers has significant influence on the combustibility performance and decomposition of the intumescent coating system. © 2018, American Coatings Association
Whispering gallery modes on optical micro-bottle resonator for humidity sensor application
No full textWe investigate the use of a class of whispering gallery mode optical resonators, namely, optical microbottle resonators (MBR) as a relative humidity (RH) sensor. The MBR is fabricated via the so-called “soften-and-compress” method to create a bulge (bottle) structure with a bottle diameter D b =190μm, stem diameter of D s =125μm and bottle length of L b =182μm. The MBR is then optically excited by using a 2 μm optical microfiber and was found to have a Q-factor of >10 4 . The MBR was then employed as a humidity sensor with a RH range of between 40%–80% and the performance is compared with a no-MBR microfiber. The MBR RH sensor was found to have a sensitivity 0.0487 dB/%, linearity >90% and P-value >10 5 and is superior to the no-MBR microfiber in all measured parameters. The MBR RH sensor was also found to have good repeatability and stability over a period of 60 s. The wavelength shifted for the MBR is 0.03 nm greater than no-MBR. © 2019 Elsevier Gmb
On the limitations of recent lawsuits against Sci‐Hub, OMICS, ResearchGate, and Georgia State University
No full textKey points The 2017 Sci-Hub judgement has, to date, proven unenforceable, and it appears that enforcing the 2019 OMICS judgement will similarly prove challenging. Business developments and changing expectations over sharing digital content may also undermine the impact of the ongoing cases against ResearchGate and Georgia State University. Stakeholders should consider these limitations when deciding how to resolve scholarly publishing disputes. © 2019 The Author(s). Learned Publishing © 2019 ALPSP
A preliminary survey on facilities management functions in value management process in the construction stage
No full textGenerally, Facilities Management (FM) managers play an important role in providing their input and knowledge of operation and maintenance in the process of Value Management (VM). Accordingly, an extensive literature review was conducted by the current research, followed by (Isa, Kamaruzzaman, Mohamed, & Berawi, 2017) a preliminary survey that was aimed to confirm the FM functions obtained from the literature review phase. In the case of the present study, the preliminary survey or semi-structured interviews were carried out with a total of six experts due to their ability to confirm the factors. Meanwhile, descriptive statistics and content validity index (CVI) were adopted in the present study as the means of analysing the response data. In addition, a total of fifty items that belong to seven latent constructs managed to be developed from the literature review. More importantly, the results of the content validity analysis showed that the item-CVI values for six of the items were less than the cut-off value of 0.78 which was accompanied with a change of 50 to 44 items. Overall, it should be noted that the contribution of the current research is in the form of support to professionals and academicians which is believed to enhance their understanding on the importance of FM involvement in the VM process. © 2019, University of Malaya. All rights reserved
Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on evanescent field interaction with lutetium oxide
No full textWe demonstrated lutetium oxide (Lu2O3) deposited onto D-shaped fiber producing Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) with an operating wavelength of 1037 nm. D-shaped fiber Lu2O3 as a saturable absorber (SA) was prepared using a polishing-wheel technique by polishing 2 times to establish an excellent evanescent field interaction between material and light on the surface of the polished region. The SA was deployed into a YDFL to generate Q-switching. The proposed D-shaped fiber Lu2O3 initiated pulses as short as 3.6 µs, with the highest repetition rate of 65.8 kHz. Stability of the SA is proven, as it produced stable pulses within the pump power of 99 to 133 mW with an SNR of 62.13 dB. Q-switched YDFL generates pulses with an output power of 0.93 to 1.99 mW and pulse energy of 17 to 30 nJ. We obtained a laser cavity with the optical-to-optical efficiency of 3.33%, which was the highest among D-shaped fiber-deposited SA materials in YDFL. Therefore, Lu2O3 deposited onto D-shaped fiber can be deployed as an SA in YDFL for a portable Q-switched laser source. © 2019 Optical Society of America