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Assessment and mitigation of ergonomics risk: An industrial practitioner case study of an electronic manufacturing production line / Lim Li Yin
Get PDFElectronic manufacturing industry, especially in the final assembly area, involves a lot
of repetitive movement, prolonged standing and awkward posture problems. Thus, this
research has been carried out to determine the risk factors present in the existing
workplace and to propose mitigation method to prevent or reduce the risk of
Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). The focus of this study is on the operators who
working at the sound bar final assembly section. There are total of 15 operators being
assessed. The operators are being observed and photos of their postures were taken. Rapid
Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was then carried out based on the photos taken. Those
workstation where postures identified as high risk and medium risk were being redesigned
using human simulation software (Siemens PLM Software, Jack 9.0). The redesigned
workstation was being assessed using RULA and the risk score obtained was compared
against the existing risk score to justify the effectiveness of the proposed mitigation
method. Two stages of working posture assessment at an existing workstation and
redesigned workstation have been carried out. At the existing workstation, out of the 19
postures, four are high risk (21%), five medium risks (26%), and ten are low risks (53%). Among the high risk, three are from the assembly area (75%), whereas the remaining one is from the packaging area (15%). Modifications of the workstation have been proposed to the existing workstation. Moreover, the comparison result of RULA analysis revealed that the redesigned workstation had promoted an effective solution to improve working posture. Based on the RULA analysis, those who were identified as medium and high risk
were all reduced to low risk at the redesigned workstation
Strategies in transforming standard hospitals and clinics for COVID-19 treatment / Naveen Jayakumar Vijhay Keerrthi
Get PDFIn Malaysia, total COVID-19 cases as of 7th June 2021, is 622,086 and total death of 3,460. Initially, Ministry of Health has assigned 11 government hospitals and UMMC (University Malaya Medical Centre) to treat COVID-19 patients. As of quarter 3 2021, almost all public hospitals and 96 private hospitals have agreed to provide COVID-19 treatment during this state of emergency. With surging numbers of COVID-19 cases more hospitals and even clinics are required to manage the patients. However, many of these hospitals and clinics hospitals lack of specific resources, flexibility and expertise to accommodate COVID-19 patients with confirmed symptoms. Therefore in this study, systematic study will be conducted to ascertain material and human resources, facilities upgrades and changes in operations required to manage COVID-19 patients in hospitals and clinics. Therefore, the aims of this study are to evaluate the best management practices (BMPs) worldwide in terms of infrastructure, logistics, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in COVID-19 treatement hospitals and to propose BMPs and strategies to transform the standard hospitals in our country to COVID-19 treatment hospitals for treatment. To meet the objectives, checklist provided by WHO, was simplified and distributed to frontliners and their feeback was analayzed. Based on the analysis, patient management recorded highest percentage of 98%. Hospitals in Malaysia have well established the SOPs for patient management. However, 82% of respondents had shown low agreement for statement of COVID-19 plan is available to potentially refer or outsource care of non-critical patients to alternative health facilities. By implementing the checklist in non-covid hospitals, it can be transformed to COVID-19 treatment hospitals immediately to support the increase number of cases. In addition,our community should follow all the SOPs in order to support the government, and healthcare providers, to curb the transmission of this virus, this is everyone’s responsibility
Greening mosquito coil manufacturing premise using cleaner production strategy / Poorni Letchumanan
Get PDFMosquito coil is an insect repellent used to kill or repel mosquitos. The mosquito coils are pesticides made from active ingredient, pyrethroid. Manufacturing of mosquito coils emits carbon dioxide to the environment that contribute to global warming. Thus, cleaner production strategy was implemented to green the chosen premise by reducing the emission of carbon dioxide. The cleaner production strategy is a preventive implementation for environmental protection by minimizing waste and emission and concurrently maximizing the product output. The factors used to calculate the carbon footprint includes the use of raw materials, fuels, electricity, and waste generated. A mosquito premise was selected to conduct the analysis. Based on the findings, the total carbon dioxide emitted from this premise is 61.9 tons of CO2 per month which is equivalent to 743 tons of CO2 per year for this premise. The production of mosquito coils per month required 564 × 103 kWh of electricity, 9,412 liters of diesel and a total of 1,540 kgs of the waste generation, inclusive of both solid waste and liquid waste. The release of carbon dioxide from the production of 1kg of mosquito coil was calculated and the outcome is particularly 0.565 kWh/ kg of mosquito coil from electricity consumption, 0.223 L/ kg of mosquito coil from diesel consumption, 0.015 kg/ kg of mosquito coil from solid waste generation and 0.0028 kg/ kg of mosquito coil from liquid waste generation. A total of twenty-eight (28) cleaner production options were identified and analysed to green the premise and eleven (11) cleaner production options amongst it were recommended based on priority measures to be implemented in the premise. This implementation can reduce carbon dioxide emission up to 46.8% which is equivalent to 29 tons of CO2 per month and 348 tonne of CO2 per year. This is equivalent of planting 11 thousand of trees per year. Total investment of RM 1,018,500 is needed to implement the recommended cleaner production options with a payback period of 4.8 years. Overall, it is recommended to manufacture a mosquito coil with less smoke as burning of mosquito coils releases carbon monoxide which is hazardous to environment. Mosquito coils that are more environmental-friendly can be manufactured by minimizing the use of raw materials and consumption of fuel and electricity in burning and processing the coils respectively. For future in-depth study, mosquito coils can be printed on a fibre roll paper instead of stamping the coils. This could be an effective way to green the premise
Resource characterization and utilization of Lepironia articulata (Retz.) domin at Kg. Beris Tok Ku And Kg. Beting Lintang, Terengganu / Shoma Tani
No full textThis research focused on how handicrafts could contribute to sustainable community
development with natural resource management. This research aims to characterize
Lepironia articulata as a resource by taxonomy and distribution patterns, examine its
utilization through group and semi-structured interviews with ten local residents who got
involved in handicraft productions at two selected villages in Setiu Wetlands of
Terengganu state and identify their capacity development opportunities by following a
guideline provided by United Nations Development Programme. This research clarified
that the height of Lepironia articulata in Setiu Wetlands was shorter than the records of
the other description and the other site in Singapore while the width of stem and the
bladeless sheaths were similar to former records. Lepironia articulata was utilized
sustainably except for the coloring method during the material preparation process.
Capacity of producers on information technology and weaving and making handicrafts
skills could be further developed with collaboration of multi stakeholders and leadership
of the state government
Characterization of gel polymer electrolytes for lithium oxygen batteries / Mohd Zieauddin Kufian
No full textGel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) are developed. Lithium-ions donor which are lithium bis(oxalato)borate (LiBOB) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) and tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) solvent was used in this work. Three GPE systems were prepared i.e. PMMA-LiBOB-TEGDME, PMMA-LiTFSI-TEGDME and PMMA-LiTFSI-TEGDMECalix[ 6]arene. Calix[6]arene as a trapping agent for anions is only added in 28.85wt.% PMMA–25wt.% LiTFSI–46.15wt.% TEGDME GPE (B4 sample) due to the highest electrolyte conductivity of (2.80±0.01) mS cm-1 obtained compared to 32.96wt.% PMMA–15wt.% LiBOB–52.04wt.% TEGDME GPE (A2 sample) of (1.69±0.09) mS cm-1. Addition of Calix[6]arene in B4 sample decreased the electrolyte conductivity. From Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) studies, complexation between Li+ ions and functional groups of (C=O), (O-CH3) and (C-O-C) corresponding to PMMA and (C-O) corresponding to TEGDME have occurred. Addition of Calix[6]arene in B4 sample shows the occurrence of interaction between fluorine atom from CF3 group corresponding to TFSI¯ anion with H+ ion from OH group of calix[6]arene. Transference number measurement shows the electrolyte containing 0.5wt.% Calix[6]arene in B4 sample (now known as sample C1) gives highest lithium-ion transference number, Lit of 0.51. Electrochemical window stability is most stable up to 5.5 V for sample A2. Sample C1 provides excellent stability at electrode-electrolyte interface and higher discharge capacity (1.40 mAh cm-2 or 0.53 mAh) along with discharge capacity retention of 35% after fifth cycles when applied in lithium-oxygen battery
The influence of ethical codes’ awareness, ethical leadership and ethical work climate on organizational commitment: The Malaysian Army’s perspective / Wan Zairibahri Wan Abdul Razak
No full textOrganizational commitment is an attractive area of research for the business world, because it affects the employees and leadership quality. To date, only a few studies had examined the relationship of organizational commitment with ethical climate, particularly in the military context. In view of the government’s effort to improve the military organization and its structure, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the staff’s ethical aspects and their organizational commitment within the Malaysian Army. The conceptual framework was build based on the relationship that exists between staff’s ethical codes’ and ethical leadership with organizational commitment so as to investigate how the various variables influenced the dependent variable. The ethical codes’ awareness and ethical leadership served as the independent variables while organizational commitment served as the dependent variable. Ethical work climate acted as the moderating variable which would indicate its influence between the independent and the dependent variables. Five hypotheses were developed and tested based on the framework. A questionnaire that reflected the research constructs was developed for collecting primary data from 1167 Malaysian Army personnel. This quantitative study uses the Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to validate and confirm the research model by testing the hypotheses. The findings of this study provided empirical evidence which showed the significant influence of ethical codes’ awareness, ethical leadership, and ethical work climate on organizational commitment. The PLS results further indicated that all the evaluation factors have statistical significant impact on organizational commitment. In this study, only four hypotheses were supported. The findings made a significant contribution to the organizational commitment and military ethics literature. It was thus recommended that organizations implement practices that could help to promote the awareness of ethical codes’ contents and the importance of developing ethical leadership. The outcome derived from this study endorsed the existence of ethical work climate on the relationship existing between ethical codes’ awareness and ethical leadership with organizational commitment
The role of non-governmental organisations in social sustainability: The case of Maybank / Fatin Amirah Suhaimi
No full textThis study attempts to understand the roles of secondary stakeholders, namely the NGOs, in the dimensional perspective of social sustainability. It also investigates communication strategies evolved over the years by the NGOs in social sustainability and to the extent of which such communications are able to exert their influences on the banking industry in Malaysia. This is a case study concept and uses secondary data as a data collection. The qualitative content analysis is performed to validate a theoretical framework using data from Twitter and online news that is related to the subject of this study, which is the Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank). Twitter and online news data, which focuses on social sustainability context from the year 2010 to 2018 are analysed, by using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) 6-step framework thematic analysis technique with the assistance of the Nvivo12 programme. The relationship with NGOs as a social actor through collaboration and partnership is considered to be potentially beneficial to the banking industry in implementing their sustainable strategies. The roles of NGOs as capacity builders, bridgers, initiators and advocators have been identified in the context of social sustainability within Maybank Berhad. The emerging roles of NGOs, namely as digital activists, have been revealed significantly with digital convergence of communication strategies in tackling social issues. The digital convergence significantly transforms media communication and the way NGOs communicate over the years, from stakeholder’s information and response to its involvement in implementing strategic activities. This study fills the gap in the literature by defining the roles of NGOs and their communication strategies in social sustainability through Twitter and online news, which are two major media platforms, in the context of social sustainability. This study provides valuable insight for the banking and other services industry, both the public and the private sector to strategize their stakeholder collaboration approach with NGOs and to plan their communication strategies in the context of social sustainability on an online media platform
Preparation of nanoemulsion using lipase-synthesized glucose monooleate through low energy technique / Muhammad Fakhrurazi Ahmad Fadzil
No full textIn this study, glucose monooleate (GluO) was synthesized and compared to its counterpart i.e. Tween-80 (Tw-80) and Span-80 (Sp-80) to investigate the influence of the different hydrophilic head structure of the surfactants on emulsification property. Utilizing sugar molecules like glucose as the hydrophilic head group of surfactants is of interest as it has a high potential to be used as a targeted delivery agent. The main objective of this study is to investigate the capability of lipase synthesized GluO in the formation of O/W nanoemulsion in four different types of vegetable oils that are sunflower oil, olive oil, palm oil, and coconut oil through low energy method. Initial screening showed that GluO as a single surfactant was not able to produce nanoemulsion. However, incorporation of Cremophor EL (CrEL) helped in the formation of oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsion in sunflower and coconut oil at optimal CrEL: GluO and S:O ratios of 63:37 and 60:40 respectively. The formation of O/W emulsion using GluO-incorporated surfactant mixture was studied using optical polarizing microscopy (OPM), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Based on the results, it is hypothesized that the mechanism of nanoemulsion production using GluO-incorporated surfactant mixture involved the formation of a bi-continuous/lamellar phase structure at 40 % water content rather than the formation of multiple emulsion (O/W/O) before it was dispersed into nano-sized oil droplets with further addition of water
Spent tea leaves as an adsorbent for micro solid phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in different matrices / Nazzatul Atirah Mohd Nazir
No full textFood and water may be contaminated by hazardous pollutants, one of is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs), where 16 of pollutant in this group listed as a priority pollutant by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Thus, analysis of food contaminations is crucial for consumer safety. Therefore, a simple, sensitive, and miniaturize sample preparations are needed. In this study, spent tea leaves (STL), a waste from brewed tea, Camellia sinensis was utilized as novel micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) sorbent for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) for the first time. It was of interest that spent tea leaves (STL) might serve as a suitable sorbent due to the presence of a variety of functional groups like lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and polyphenols that naturally can interact and adsorb the hydrophobic PAHs from real samples. STL was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX). Besides that, the interactions between PAHs and STL were proven by FT-IR, FESEM, and EDX analysis. Moreover, a key parameter in the extraction efficiency of STL based μ- SPE, such as eluent type and volume, the dosage of sorbent, extraction and desorption time, and volume of the sample was examined. Finally, an effective, environmentally friendly, and economic STL based tea bag filter as porous membrane protected STL-μ-SPE method for the determination of five types of PAHs (Flu, Flt, Pyr, Chr, and BaP) was developed and successfully applied in the analysis of water, rice, orange, and apple juice samples. Under the optimized conditions, the matrix matched calibration curves were linear in the range of 50 ng mL-1 to 1000 ng mL-1 and the coefficient of determinations (R2) found to be between 0.9947 and 0.9983. The LOD and LOQ of liquid and solid sample is in range of 8.47-55.95 ng mL-1, 2.98-30.22 μg kg-1 and 28.23-186.54 ng mL-1, 9.04- 91.59 μg kg-1. While the intra-day and inter-day precision (n=6) were found to be between 5.23 % to 7.76 % and 6.90 % to 10.86 %, respectively. The recovery values in the real samples are between 88.0 % and 111.4 % and its RSDs (n=3) from 1.0 % to 9.8 %. The present method found to be fast, sensitive, cost-effective, reproducible, and this work also introduces a new application method of the agricultural crop in the determination and quantification of PAHs in real samples analysis
The effect of high-fat style diet and ovariectomy on inflammation and baroreflex control of renal sympathetic nerve activity / Yamuna Sucedaram
No full textHigh fat diet-induced visceral obesity, renal inflammation and injury can lead to
augmented renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA). The mechanism for the increase in
RSNA appears to be due to the blunting of the arterial and cardiopulmonary baroreflexes
resulting from an inflammatory response. This study aimed to investigate the effect of
high fat style diet (HFSD) and loss of ovarian function on structural changes and
inflammatory response in the kidney as well as in the liver; and on the low- and high�pressure baroreflex control of RSNA. To that end, ovary-intact and ovariectomised
(OVX) Sprague Dawley rats received a normal diet (ND) or a HFSD for 10 weeks. Mean
blood pressure (MBP) and fasting blood glucose were measured every two weeks. Renal
functional parameters were assessed via 24h metabolic data collection. At the end of week
10, ovary-intact and OVX rats fed the ND or HFSD were anaesthetised for measurement
of RSNA. Acute bilateral renal denervation (DNX) was performed, and baroreflex gain
curves were constructed from the baroreflex changes in RSNA to vasopressor and
vasodepressor drugs. Cardiopulmonary baroreflex control of RSNA was assessed by
acute saline volume expansion (VE). Kidneys and liver were harvested for histological,
immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence studies. Noradrenaline content was
determined in the kidney by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Visceral adiposity was
significantly greater in all HFSD rats compared to their ND counterparts but fasting blood
glucose and MBP were increased in OVX-HFSD rats compared to HFSD rats. Renal
dysfunction was observed in all HFSD rats compared to the ND groups. In the acute study,
baroreflex gain curve sensitivity (A2) of RSNA was decreased in both the HFSD and
OVX-HFSD groups compared to their control counterparts but was normalised following
iv
DNX. VE reduced RSNA in ND fed groups but did not alter RSNA in both HFSD and
OVX-HFSD groups; however, following DNX, HFSD and OVX-HFSD exhibited
reduction in RSNA. Renal noradrenaline content was similar in all HFSD-fed rats but was
greatly reduced in the denervated groups. Histological studies on kidney showed focal
interstitial mononuclear cell infiltration in HFSD rats with mesangial expansion being
greater in the OVX-HFSD rats. All HFSD fed rats exhibited increased expressions of
renal inflammatory markers, namely IL-6, TNF-α and MCP-1, and infiltrating M1
macrophages with some influence of ovarian hormonal status. Similarly, HFSD-fed rats
showed increased expressions of the inflammatory markers and M1 macrophage
infiltration in the liver; however, only IL-6 expression was magnified in the OVX-HFSD
rats. HFSD-feeding also caused hepatocellular steatosis which was aggravated in OVX
rats, and only OVX-HFSD rats revealed hepatocellular ballooning. Our data suggest that
some of the structural changes and inflammatory response in the kidney and liver of
HFSD-fed rats are exacerbated by ovariectomy. On the other hand, HFSD-induced
impairment of baroreflex control of RSNA occurred similarly in HFSD and OVX-HFSD
rats although MBP was increased only in the ovarian hormones deprived-group
suggesting that ovarian hormones could have modulatory role on other mechanisms that
regulate BP in female obesity.
Keywords: High fat style diet, obesity, renal sympathetic nerve activity, inflammation