UKM Journal Article Repository
Not a member yet
2545 research outputs found
Sort by
MEMS switch contact bouncing mitigation using novel dual-pulse actuation voltage
No full textA novel dual-pulse actuation voltage that reduces dielectric charging in micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switch and thus leading to a longer switch lifetime, are shown to simultaneously mitigate MEMS switch contact bouncing. A simple mass-spring-damper mathematical model is used to simulate movement of the switch contact as the excitation voltage is applied. The model shows that the novel dual-pulse voltages damped the acceleration of the switch membrane as it approaches the contact point, eventually slowing it down and minimized the impact force. This has the effect of minimizing the occurrence of contact bouncing. Practical experiment on the commercial TeraVicta TT712-68CSP MEMS switch corroborates that the novel excitation voltages reduced bouncin
The relationship between Alvarado score and pain score in managing adult acute appendicitis in the Emergency Department
No full textAcute appendicitis is one of the most common differential diagnoses for acute abdominal pain made by emergency doctors. Suspected cases require surgical referral for observation or definitive intervention to prevent complications. A high index of suspicion and good clinical skills with the aid of scoring systems allows early decision making, which includes optimal pain control. The objective of this study was to identify the pain score and its relationship to the cut-off points of the Alvarado scoring system that justifies early surgical referral or discharge for suspected acute appendicitis from the emergency department. This was a cross sectional study of acute abdominal pain from June 2007 to September 2008. All patients who fulfilled the criteria and consented to the study were assessed for Alvarado score, verbal numerical pain score (VNRS) and their subsequent management. Patients with an Alvarado score of ≥7 were likely to have acute appendicitis (80.1% sensitivity and 52.63% specificity) and those with the score of ≤3 were unlikely to have acute appendicitis. The median pain score was 7.00 (IQR: 5.00-8.50) but 72.5% did not receive any analgesia. There was no direct relationship between pain score with Alvarado score. Oligoanalgesia in patients with acute appendicitis still exist in Emergency Department of UKMMC
The pragmatic functions of numeral classifiers in modern Malay written corpus
No full textNumeral classifiers are primarily used to provide semantic information about the physical and functional properties of objects, the cognitive categories of objects in a particular
culture, and the perceptions of the speakers within a particular speech community towards the objects. Numeral classifiers of Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai have
been found to perform pragmatic functions as well. To identify if Malay does use numeral classifiers to perform a number of pragmatic functions, we analysed a 73,000-
word modern Malay corpus targeted at both adult and young audience. Results indicate that in the modern Malay corpus, the Malay numeral classifiers perform several pragmatic functions in various contexts: they function as anaphoric and cataphoric references, as indicators of definiteness and indefiniteness, and as foregrounding mechanisms in modern Malay discourse. Using twelve instances of numeral classifier usage and omission in the modern Malay corpus, this study proposes that the absence of numeral classifiers in texts is not likely to be due to language users’ ignorance of the need to use a numeral classifier or of the correct form of numeral classifiers. On the contrary,
the absence of numeral classifiers in the corpus exhibits the Malay language users’knowledge of the pragmatic functions of Malay numeral classifiers
Linking human resource practices and organisational performance: evidence from small and medium organisatons in Malaysia.
No full textThe present study attempts to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between the four main dimensions of human resource practices and organisational performance, in response to the call by previous scholars that the influence of specific human resource practices on organisational performance need to be further ascertained across different organisational contexts.The dimensions considered in the stuidy are compensation, information sharing, job security and training and development. Toward this end , a survey among 84 small and medium organisations in the central region of peninsular Malaysia was carried out. Self-reported measures were used to obtain data pertaining to human resources practice dimensions and organisational performance.Regression analyses ere run to examine the proposed relationships and it was found taht all dimensions except job security showed positive relationships to organisational performance, as hypothesized. Dicussion on the findings is hifhlighted, so as the implications for practice and future research Limitations of the study are also offered
Engineering geological properties of oil-contaminated granitic and metasedimentary soils
No full textHydrocarbon is a light-non aqueous phase liquid or known as LNAPL. It poses environmental hazard if accidentally spilled out into the soil and water systems as a result of its insoluble nature in water. LNAPL component infiltrates into soil through pore spaces and afloat at the top of groundwater level. Some of this hydrocarbon would trap and clog within the voids, difficult to remove and costly to clean. The occurence of hydrocarbon in the soil definitely degraded the behaviour of soils in terms of engineering properties. This study aimed to investigate the engineering properties of oil-contaminated soil for two different residual soils originally developed from in-situ weathering of granitic and metasedimentary rocks. The physical characterisations of the soil were determined including particle size distribution, specific gravity test and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The engineering parameters for the contaminated and uncontaminated soils were Atterberg limits, compaction and soil shear strength (UU tests). The amounts of hydrocarbon added to soil were varied at 0%, 4%, 8%, 12% and 16% of dried weigth of soil samples. The results from the particle size distribution analysis showed that residual soil from granitic rock comprises of 38% sand, 33% silt and 4% clay while metasedimentary soil consists of 4% sand, 43% silt dan 29% clay. The mean values of specific gravity for the granitic and metasedimentary soils were 2.56 and 2.61, respectively. The types of minerals present in granitic soil sample were quartz, kaolinite and gibbsite while metasedimentary soil consists of quartz and kaolinite. The Atterberg limits value decreased as a result of increasing amount of added hydrocarbon into the soil. A similar behaviouir was observed with the values of maximum dry density and optimum water content with increasing hydrocarbon content. The overall unconsolidated undrained shear strength, Cu showed a decreasing trend with the increase in hydrocarbon content
China`s xinjiang policy: an analysis based on the theory of relative deprivation
No full textXinjiang, which is China’s western province that comprised 18 percent of the country’s total land area and heavily populated by non-Han Chinese ethnic minorities, is a region increasingly beset by the problem of confrontation between two very distinct groups- the more recently arrived Han and the indigenous Uighur Turkish Muslims. The confrontation revolves primarily around the struggle for domination over the province between the two, and also Uighur quest for greater autonomy rights or even independence from the government of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In order to tackle these problems, the government of CCP has already taken and implemented both coercive and persuasive measures and policies in Xinjiang since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. However, disturbances by ethnic minorities in Xinjiang such as violent demonstrations and ethnic clashes continue and can recur anytime in the future with little forewarning if necessary steps were not taken. All these, reflect the failure of CCP government’s policies towards Xinjiang in its efforts to ensure stability in the region. To what extend the effectiveness of CCP’s policies towards Xinjiang depends on the factor of relative deprivation (RD) that exist among the minorities in Xinjiang, particularly the Uighurs when they compare themselves with their Han counterparts that obviously have better living conditions compared to them
Transitions of smectic A to tilted phases in thin free standing films of liquid crystal
No full textThe transition of orthogonal smectic A (SmA) phase to the tilted phases, upon lowering the temperature, is explored with a discrete phenomenological model and the phase diagrams are presented. The results show that the transition of SmA to uniplanar structures can be affected by the effect of chirality. The areas showing the uniplanar phase in the phase diagrams diminish with the increase in effect of chiralit
Theoretical and experimental studies of polarized infrared reflectance of bulk wurtzite ZnO semiconductor
No full textPolarized infrared (IR) reflectance spectrum studies of bulk wurtzite ZnO are presented. The features of the polarized IR reflectance spectra and the optical characteristics of ZnO were investigated. Based on the anisotropic dielectric function model, the experimental IR reflectance spectra were numerically fitted by the theoretical IR reflectance spectra. The obtained transverse optical (TO) and longitudinal optical (LO) frequencies, i.e., ωTO⊥(ωTO||) and ωLO⊥(ωLO|| ) are 411 cm-1 (384 cm-1) and 589.8 cm-1 (572 cm-1), respectively. These results are compared with the reported values measured from the other techniques. Good agreement has been obtained
Molecular phylogeny of holothuria (mertensiothuria) leucospilota (Brandt, 1835) as inferred from cytochrome c. oxidase I mitochondrial DNA gene sequences
No full textHolothuria (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota (Brandt 1835), white threads fish or locally known as bat puntil is currently considered as the most abundant sea cucumber species in Malaysia. This study aimed to generate the genetic profile of H. leucospilota from Malaysia and then to determine the phylogenetic relationship between H. leucospilota and other members of genus Holothuria using partial sequences of cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene. In this study, specimens of H. leucospilota were collected from Intan Besar Island, Langkawi, Kedah Darul Aman in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Three main methods namely neighbour joining, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood were used for the phylogenetic tree reconstruction. Tree topologies showed that H. leucospilota has its own monophyletic clade clearly distinct from the other species. The pairwise genetic distance calculated further supported these findings. In addition, the results also should that the COI mtDNA gene is capable to unravel the phylogenetic relationship of H. leucospilota