Search results for: Mohamad Jani Saad

Authors: Elmahdi Khalil, Saad Enniari, Mostapha Zbakh

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Cloud computing promises to increase innovation and the velocity with witch applications are deployed, all while helping any enterprise meet most IT service needs at a lower total cost of ownership and higher return investment. As the march of cloud continues, it brings both new opportunities and new security challenges. To take advantages of those opportunities while minimizing risks, we think that Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) integrated in the cloud is one of the best existing solutions nowadays in the field. The concept of intrusion detection was known since past and was first proposed by a well-known researcher named Anderson in 1980's. Since that time IDS's are evolving. Although, several efforts has been made in the area of Intrusion Detection systems for cloud computing environment, many attacks still prevail. Therefore, the work presented in this paper proposes a multi criteria analysis and a comparative study between several IDS architectures designated to work in a cloud computing environments. To achieve this objective, in the first place we will search in the state of the art of several consistent IDS architectures designed to work in a cloud environment. Whereas, in a second step we will establish the criteria that will be useful for the evaluation of architectures. Later, using the approach of multi criteria decision analysis Mac Beth (Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique we will evaluate the criteria and assign to each one the appropriate weight according to their importance in the field of IDS architectures in cloud computing. The last step is to evaluate architectures against the criteria and collecting results of the model constructed in the previous steps.

Keywords: cloud computing, cloud security, intrusion detection/prevention system, multi-criteria decision analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Ali Hojati Najafabadi, Mohamad Hosein Rahmati, Seyed Ali Madanizadeh

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Governments execute energy subsidy reforms by either increasing energy prices or reducing energy price dispersion. These policies make less use of energy per plant (intensive margin), vary the total number of firms (extensive margin), promote technological progress (technology channel), and make additional resources to redistribute (resource channel). We estimate a structural dynamic firm model with endogenous technology adaptation using data from the manufacturing firms in Iran and a country ranked the second-largest energy subsidy plan by the IMF. The findings show significant dynamics and distributional effects due to an energy reform plan. The price elasticity of energy consumption in the industrial sector is about -2.34, while it is -3.98 for large firms. The dispersion elasticity, defined as the amounts of changes in energy consumption by a one-percent reduction in the standard error of energy price distribution, is about 1.43, suggesting significant room for a distributional policy. We show that the intensive margin is the main driver of energy price elasticity, whereas the other channels mostly offset it. In contrast, the labor response is mainly through the extensive margin. Total factor productivity slightly improves in light of the reduction in energy consumption if, at the same time, the redistribution policy boosts the aggregate demands.

Keywords: energy reform, firm dynamics, structural estimation, subsidy policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Muhammad Saad Aslam

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In 2021, our organization has launched our proprietary mobile App i.e. Farm Intelligence platform, an industrial-first precision agriculture solution, to Pakistan. It was piloted at 47 locations (spanning around 1,200 hectares of land), addressing growers’ pain points by bringing the benefits of precision agriculture to their doorsteps. This year, we have extended its reach by more than 10 times (nearly 130,000 hectares of land) in almost 600 locations across the country. The project team selected highly infested areas to set up traps, which then enabled the sales team to initiate evidence-based conversations with the grower community about preventive crop protection products that includes pesticides and insecticides. Mega farmer meeting field visits and demonstrations plots coupled with extensive marketing activities, were setup to include farmer community. With the help of App real-time pest monitoring (using heat maps and infestation prediction through predictive analytics) we have equipped our growers with on spot insights that will help them optimize pesticide applications. Heat maps allow growers to identify infestation hot spots to fine-tune pesticide delivery, while predictive analytics enable preventive application of pesticides before the situation escalates. Ultimately, they empower growers to keep their crops safe for a healthy harvest.

Keywords: precision pest management, precision agriculture, real time pest tracking, pest forecasting

Procedia PDF Downloads 49

Authors: Atikah Binti Azudin, Nurin Nazlah Binti Muhamad Yani, Nur Alya Nadhirah Binti Naaidith, Nur Amylia Wahida Binti Mat Ayob, Nurshamimi Shakirah Binti Suboh, Nur Auni Batrisyia Binti Md. Zaini, Nur Aziemah Binti Mohamad, Nurul Suffiyah Binti Sa’Dun, Sabrina Sasha Izzati Binti Zubaile, Umi Huwaina Binti Ahmiruddin, Wan Nur Shafawati Binti Wan Ghazali

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A hazard alert is intended to provide brief information about significant incidents or existing difficulties in Department workplaces. The alert gives guidelines for proper processes, practices, and controls to be applied. When operated in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, any machine or tool utilized at work provides a safe and dependable platform for workers to accomplish job duties. However, when not utilized appropriately, the machine might pose a major hazard to employees. Employers have a duty to keep employees safe in this scenario. This Hazard Alert outlines specific occupational dangers and the controls that employers must apply to prevent injury or fatal accidents. There have been several cases of hazard alerts in Malaysia, which have had a negative impact on a few workers. Looking on the bright side, we can overcome every incident in a variety of ways. One of these is that only qualified individuals operate mobile machinery and equipment. In addition, employees may also perform frequent pre-use inspections of machinery to discover and fix flaws. Hazard alert is very important, and this study would cover a variety of subjects, including the methods employed.

Keywords: safe, hazard, impacts, duties.

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Ahmad Alazemi, M. Sherif El-Eskandrany, Mohamad Kishk, Thanyan AlOnaizi, Ahmad Alduweesh, Shorouq Abdullaleel

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Arc melting technique followed by top-down approach, using a high-energy ball milling technique were employed to synthesize nanocrystalline of Cu50(Zr50-xNix)50 (x = 0, 10, 20 and 30 at.%) powder particles. The end-products of the alloy powders obtained after 50 h of the ball milling time were uniform in composition and had spherical-like morphology with an average particle size of 0.75 µm in diameter. The powders, which consisted of nanocrystalline grains with an average grain size of 10 nm in diameter, were used as feedstock materials for double face coating of stainless (SUS304) sheets, using cold spraying process. The coating materials enjoyed nanocrystalline structure and uniform composition. Biofilms were grown on 20-mm2 SUS304 sheets coated coupons inoculated with 1.5 × 108 CFU ml−1 E. coli. Significant biofilm inhibition was recorded in the nanoparticles coated coupons in comparison to non-coated SUS304 coupon. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that formation of biofilms can be significantly inhibited by Cu-based alloys especially in case of high (Ni) content. The inhibition of biofilm formation by nanocrystalline powders of Cu-based provides a practical approach to achieve the inhibition of biofilms formed by an emerging pathogen.

Keywords: biofilm, Cu, E.coli, FE-HRTEM/EDS, nanomaterials, nanocrystalline

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Authors: Siti Nur Muhamad, Mohamad Abu Ubaidah Amir, Adenen Shuhada Abdul Aziz, Siti Sarah Mohd Isnan, Ainul Husna Abdul Rahman, Nur Afiqah Rosly, Roshamida Abd Jamil

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The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) will commencing on 8 September 2017 after ratified by 51 States in September 2016. However, there is no value recovered for the treated ballast water as it simply discharged during de-ballasting. In order to evaluate value creation of treated ballast water, three seawater applications which are seawater toilet flushing, cooling tower and desalination was studied and compared with treated ballast seawater. An exploratory study was conducted in Singapore as a case study as this country is facing water scarcity issues and a busy port in the world which received more than 28 billion m3 of ballast water in 2015. Surprisingly the treatment technology between seawater toilet flushing and ballast water management has similarity as both applications use screening and disinfection process and quality standard and analysis between treated ballast water with seawater applications found that seawater toilet flushing have the same quality parameter with treated ballast water. Thus, the treated ballast water can replace the raw seawater for seawater desalination. As such, with reduction of cost for screen unit, desalination water can exceed water production by NEWater in Singapore as the cost can recover the energy needed for desalination. It can conclude that treated ballast water has high recovery value and can be reused in seawater application.

Keywords: ballast water treatment, desalination, BWM convention, ballast water management

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Authors: Noor Aliza Binti Ahmad, Azra Munirah Mat Daud, Sabariah Musa, Mohamad Azhar MK

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Flooding is a common natural disaster in Malaysia triggered by heavy rainfall. Urbanization that increases the construction of paved areas, subsequently raise surface runoff and reduce time of concentration. It increases flood magnitude and so that leads to greater flood problems as what has happened at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) area in December 2006 and earlier 2007. Tasik Kemajuan and Tasik Inovasi were constructed as recreation ponds and have also functioned as flood ponds. Unfortunately, the flood problem still occurs persistently. Thus, the effectiveness of Tasik Kemajuan and Tasik Inovasi in reducing the flood problems need to be investigated and the causes of flood events at UTHM Campus need to be evaluated. The results from this study show that the conditions of Tasik Kemajuan and Tasik Inovasi are effective in reducing the flood water levels. It also can be concluded that increasing water level in both lakes in UTHM Campus are significantly influenced by presence of the grass and rubbish. During dry condition, the flow rates with three different days are 59.38m3/s, 60.71m3/s and 59.08m3/s and while for wet condition in two different days are 89.59 m3/s and 86.61m3/s. In conclusion, this system should be improved to prevent future flooding either widened or reduced drainage floor, and also perform maintenance on the plants that live around the lake.

Keywords: drainage system, flood detention, lakes, storm water

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Authors: Vishwa Nath Maurya, Rama Shanker Sharma, Saad Talib Hasson Aljebori, Avadhesh Kumar Maurya, Diwinder Kaur Arora

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Present paper deals with problems of determining the relationship between the variables of corporate governance and financial performance of Islamic banks. Here, we dealt with the corporate governance in the banking sector, where increasing the importance of corporate governance, due to their special nature, as the bankruptcy of banks affects not only the relevant parties from customers, depositors and lenders, but also affect financial stability and then the economy as a whole. Through this paper we dealt to the specificity of governance in Islamic banks, which face double governance: Anglo-Saxon governance system and Islamic governance system. In addition, we focused our attention to measure the impact of corporate governance variables on financial performance through an empirical study on a sample of Islamic banks during the period 2005-2012 in the GCC region. Our present study implies that there is a very strong relationship between the variables of governance and financial performance of Islamic banks, where there is a positive relationship between return on assets and the composition of the Board of Directors, the size of the Board of Directors, the number of committees in the Council, as well as the number of members of the Sharia Supervisory Board, while it is clear that there is a negative relationship between return on assets and concentration ownership.

Keywords: correlation analysis, parametric estimation, corporate governance, financial performance, financial stability, conventional banks, bankruptcy, Islamic governance system

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Authors: Sopian Brahim, Mohd Suhaimi Mohamad, Ezarina Zakaria, Norulhuda Sarnon

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This study aims to explore the practical experience of child welfare case workers and professionalism in the child case management in Malaysia. This paper discusses the specific social work practice competency and challenges faced by child caseworkers in the fieldwork. This research is qualitative with Grounded Theory approach. Four sessions of Focused Group Discussion (FGD) have been conducted involving a total of 27 caseworkers (child protector and probation officers) in the Klang Valley. The study found that the four basic principles of knowledge in child case management namely: 1. Knowledge in child case management, 2. Professional values of caseworkers towards children, 3. skills in managing cases, and 4. Culturally competence practice in child case managemenr. In addition, major challenges faced in the child case management are the capacity and commitment of the family in children's rehabilitation program, the credibility of the case worker are being challenge and challenges in support system from intra and inter-agency. This study is important for policy makers to take into account the capacity and needs of the child's case worker in accordance with national social work competency framework thereby improving case management services for children more systematically in line with national standards.

Keywords: social work practice, child case management, competency-based knowledge, professionalism

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Authors: Doaa Saad, Igor Verner, Rinat B. Rosenberg-Kima

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This case study demonstrates how the Task-Centered Instructional Strategy can be used to develop robotics competencies in middle-school science teachers without programming knowledge, thereby reducing their anxiety about robotics. Sixteen middle school science teachers participated in a teachers’ professional development program. The strategy combines the progression of real-world tasks with explicit instruction that serves as the backbone of instruction. The designed progression includes three tasks that integrate building and programming robots, pedagogy, and science knowledge, with an increasing level of complexity and decreasing level of support. We used EV3 LEGO kits and programming blocks, a new technology for most of the participating teachers. Pre-post questionnaires were used to examine teachers’ anxiety in performing robotics tasks before the program began and after the program ended. In addition, post-program questionnaires were used to obtain teachers’ feedback on the program’s overall quality. The case study results showed that teachers were less anxious about performing robotics tasks after the program and were highly satisfied with the professional development program. Overall, our research findings indicate a positive effect of the Task-Centered Instructional Strategy for preparing in-service science teachers to integrate robotics activities into their science classes.

Keywords: competencies, educational robotics, task-centered instructional strategy, teachers’ professional development

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: K. Subermaniam, Q. H. M. Saad, S. N. A. Bakhtiar, J. A. Hamid, F. Z .J. Sidek, F. Othman

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Objective: To investigate the effects of virgin coconut oil (VCO) on histomorphometric changes in the aorta and heart of thermoxidized palm oil-fed rats. Methods: Thirty two male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: control group fed with normal diet; 5 times heated palm oil-fed group (5HPO) fortified with 15% w/w of 5HPO; VCO group supplemented with 1.42 ml/kg of VCO; and 5HPO + VCO group. The treatment lasted for four months. Upon sacrifice, aortic and heart tissues were processed for light microscopic studies. Results: Light microscopic studies showed thickened intima and media of the aorta in two out of eight rats in the 5HPO group only, while the rest of the rats did not show any thickening of either the intima or media of the aorta. Intima media area (IMA) in the VCO, 5HPO and 5HPO+VCO was significantly increased compared to the control group. Circumferential wall tension (CWT) and tensile stress (TS) in the aorta of 5HPO showed significant increase compared to the other groups. Cardiomyofibre width in 5HPO group showed significant increase in size compared to the control, VCO and 5HPO+VCO groups. Cardiomyofibre nuclear size in the 5HPO group decreased in size significantly compared to the control, VCO and 5HPO+VCO groups. Conclusion: VCO supplementation at a dose of 1.42 ml/kg showed protectives effect on the aorta and heart of thermoxidized palm oil fed rats.

Keywords: aorta, heart, histomorphometric changes, thermoxidized palm oil, virgin coconut oil

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Authors: Mohamad Alnajem

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Purpose: To measure the readiness of the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries (K-SMMIs) to implement the lean system (LS) through an evaluation of their existing quality practices, and compare such readiness among different product sectors and ownership types. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts the measurement framework developed by Al-Najem et al. (2013), which establishes six constructs related to lean quality practices, namely: process, planning and control, customer relations, suppliers relations, HR, and top management and leadership. Data were collected from a survey of 50 K-SMMIs operating in different industrial sectors. One research question and two hypotheses were developed and tested using t-test and Levene’s test, descriptive analysis, and one-way ANOVA. Findings: The results demonstrate that the K-SMMIs are far from being ready to implement lean. In addition, the study found that product sector and ownership type have no significant impact on the lean readiness in the K-SMMIs. Practical implications: This research provides insight into preparing Kuwaiti, and other SMMIs, to implement the LS by creating an assessment of their existing lean practices and readiness. Originality/value: This research is among a limited number of studies that have addressed lean within the Arab region, and only the second to examine the level of lean readiness of the K-SMMIs. It expands the literature on lean in developing countries, particularly in the Arab region, and can provide guidance to research within other countries in the region.

Keywords: Kuwaiti small and medium sized industries, lean system, lean readiness, manufacturing industries

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Authors: Muhammedamin Hussen Saad, Geoffrey Haagler, Onno Omta, Gerben Van Der Velde

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Unfolding chaos and persistent disruptions pose threats to companies’ performance especially in vulnerable settings of SME’s particularly in developing countries. Attention for resilience research in the academic world has increased considerably during the last decade looking at the number of papers published. As we are interested in adding to the understanding of the foundation and development of the concept of resilience, we focus especially on structuring the literature of business resilience in those vulnerable settings. A well-structured systematic search & review procedure was deployed. First, we defined key search terms and applied these to multiple databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Emerald, and Science Direct). To make our literature search more encompassing, we augmented with co-citation, reference checking including hand searching techniques. The paper offers (1) an overview of SMEs resilience literature from 2000 up to March 2017 comprising 88 articles, and (2) special attention, within that overview, to developing countries. This review concludes that resilience literature is very much diverse in definitions and its measurements, and is inconclusive about its influencing factors. Furthermore, resilience literature is based predominantly on research in the developed world. On the bases of how the concept resilience emerges from the literature we describe distinct features of resilience, give options to extend the theoretical bases of research into resilience and describe concrete ideas for further research.

Keywords: business resilience, systematic review, SMEs, developing countries

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Authors: Saad Chahba, Rabia Sehab, Ahmad Akrad, Cristina Morel

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Nowadays, the electric machines used in urban electric vehicles are, in most cases, three-phase electric machines with or without a magnet in the rotor. Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) and Induction Machine (IM) are the main components of drive trains of electric and hybrid vehicles. These machines have very good performance in healthy operation mode, but they are not redundant to ensure safety in faulty operation mode. Faced with the continued growth in the demand for electric vehicles in the automotive market, improving the reliability of electric vehicles is necessary over the lifecycle of the electric vehicle. Multiphase electric machines respond well to this constraint because, on the one hand, they have better robustness in the event of a breakdown (opening of a phase, opening of an arm of the power stage, intern-turn short circuit) and, on the other hand, better power density. In this work, a diagnosis approach using a neural network for an open circuit fault or more of a five-phase induction machine is developed. Validation on the simulator of the vehicle drivetrain, at reduced power, is carried out, creating one and more open circuit stator phases showing the efficiency and the reliability of the new approach to detect and to locate on-line one or more open phases of a five-induction machine.

Keywords: electric vehicle drivetrain, multiphase drives, induction machine, control, open circuit (OC) fault diagnosis, artificial neural network

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Authors: Mohamad Javad Shakouri, Behshad Riahipour

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Today, the use of medicinal herbs in architecture and green space has a significant effect on the process of calming human and increases the reliability coefficient of design and design flexibility. The current research was conducted with the aim to design green roof and investigate the effect of medicinal herbs such as cress, leek, fenugreek, beet, sweet fennel, green basil, purple basil, and purslane on reducing the number of environmental pollutants (copper, zinc, and cadmium). Finally, the weight of the dry plant and the concentration of elements zinc, lead, and cadmium in the herbs was measured. According to the results, the maximum dry weight (88.10 and 73.79 g) was obtained in beet and purslane respectively and the minimum dry weight (24.12 and 25.21) was obtained in purple basil, and green basil respectively. The maximum amount of element zinc (235 and 213 mg/kg) and the maximum amount of lead (143 mg/kg) were seen in sweet fennel and purple basil. In addition, the maximum amount of cadmium (13 mg/kg) was seen in sweet fennel and purple basil and the minimum amount of lead and cadmium (78 and 7 mg/kg) was seen in green basil, and the minimum amount of zinc (110 mg/kg) was seen in leek. On the other hand, the absorption amount of element lead in the herbs beet and purslane was the same and both absorbed 123 mg/kg lead. Environmentally, if green roofs are implemented extensively and in wide dimensions in urban spaces, they will purify and reduce pollution significantly by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen.

Keywords: medicinal herbs, green space, green roof, heavy metals, lead, green basil

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Hazlin Kadir Shahar, Razaleigh Muhamat Kawangit, Badlihisham Mohd Nasir, Rosmawati Mohamad Rasit

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Stigma and discrimination have become the main topic of discussion when dealing with HIV/AIDS issues. They affect the daily life of People Living With HIV(PLHIV), families, friends and people around them indirectly. This paper discusses the potential measurement in helping to reduce stigma and discrimination existence among Islamic Religious Officers towards PLHIV in Malaysia. These people have been trained with special programmes to tackle the HIV/AIDS issues by using a manual, namely as ‘The Manual of Islam and HIV/AIDS’, specifically designed by the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (JAKIM). The objectives of the training programmes are to give the accurate information about HIV/AIDS and to suggest ways on how to handle the PLHIV issues in Islamic perspective. This research used quantitative methodology by survey. A pilot test had been done over thirty (30) trained Islamic Religious Officers in Malaysia. The findings have shown that the trainings have given a positive impact for them as they managed to acquire the knowledge of HIV/AIDS from both primer and authorized sources such as medical practitioners, Muslim chaplains and social workers. The knowledge they have acquired from the trainings has guided them in changing their perception, thus helping to reduce their own stigma and discrimination towards PLHIV. The training programmes have given them opportunities to practice what they have learned through several outreach sessions as they have had the opportunities to approach PLHIV directly.

Keywords: Islamic religious officers, people with HIV, stigma and discrimination, training programmes

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Authors: Mohamad Abdelfattah Ibrahim Elghrbawy

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This work deals to evaluate barium sulfate (BS) before and after its surface modification as reinforcing filler for rubber. Barium sulfate was surface-modified using polymethacrylic acid (PMAA), the monolayer surface coverage of barium sulfate by polymethacrylic acid molecules occurred at 5.4x10-6 mol/g adsorbed amount. This amount was sufficient to reduce the sediment volume from 2.65 to 2.55 cm3/gm. Natural rubber (NR) was compounded with different concentrations of barium sulfate. The rheological characteristics of NR mixes were measured using a Monsanto Oscillating Disk Rheometer. The compounded NR was vulcanized at 142°C, and the physico-mechanical properties were tested according to the standard methods. The rheological data show that the minimum torque decreases while the maximum torque increases as the barium sulfate content increase. The physico-mechanical properties of NR vulcanizates were improved up to 50 phr/ barium sulfate loading. On the other hand, styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) and nitrile–butadiene rubber (NBR) rubbers compounded with 50 phr/barium sulfate had good rheological and mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscope studies show surface homogeneity of rubber samples as a result of good dispersion of surface modified barium sulfate in the rubber matrix. The NR, SBR and NBR vulcanizates keep their values of mechanical properties after subjected to thermal oxidative aging at 90°C for 7 days.

Keywords: barium sulfate, natural rubber (nr), nitrile–butadiene rubber (nbr), polymethacrylic acid (pmaa), styrene–butadiene rubber (sbr), surface modification

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Authors: Firas Mohamad Al-Sabek

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The Purpose of the paper is to examine the most critical and important factor which will affect the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates. It also examines the most effected Project outcome from implementing TQM. A framework was also proposed depending on the literature studies. The method used in this paper is a quantitative study. A survey with a sample of 60 respondents was created and distributed in a construction company in Abu Dhabi, which includes 15 questions to examine the most critical factor that will affect the implementation of TQM in addition to the most effected project outcome from implementing TQM. The survey showed that management commitment is the most important factor in implementing TQM in a construction company. Also it showed that Project cost is most effected outcome from the implementation of TQM. Management commitment is very important for implementing TQM in any company. If the management loose interest in quality then everyone in the organization will do so. The success of TQM will depend mostly on the top of the pyramid. Also cost is reduced and money is saved when the project team implement TQM. While if no quality measures are present within the team, the project will suffer a commercial failure. Based on literature, more factors can be examined and added to the model. In addition, more construction companies could be surveyed in order to obtain more accurate results. Also this study could be conducted outside the United Arab Emirates for further enchantment.

Keywords: construction project, total quality management, management commitment, cost, theoretical framework

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Authors: Zulkifli Mohamed Udin, Lee Khai-Loon, Mohamad Ghozali Hassan

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In today’s dynamic business environment, the competition is no longer between firms, but between supply chains to gain competitive advantages. The global manufacturing sector, especially the textile and apparel industry are essentially known for its supply chain dependency. The delicate nature of its business leads to emphasis on the smooth movement of upstream and downstream supply chain. The nature of this industry, however, result in huge dynamic flow of physical, information, and financial. The dynamic management of these flows requires adoption of supply chain technologies. Even though technology is widely implemented and studied in many industries by researchers, adoption of supply chain technologies in Malaysian textile and apparel industry is limited. There is relatively a handful academic study conducted on recent developments in Malaysian textile and apparel industry and supply chain technology adoption indicate a major gap in supply chain performance studies. Considering the importance given to Third Industrial Master Plan by the government Malaysia, it is necessary to understand the power of supply chain technology adoptions. This study aims to investigate supply chain technology adoption by textile and apparel companies in Malaysia. The result highlighted the benefits perceived by textile and apparel companies from supply chain technologies. The indifference of small and medium enterprises to operation management acts as a major inhibitor to the adoption of supply chain technologies, since they have resource limitations. This study could be used as a precursor for further detailed studies on this issue.

Keywords: supply chain technology adoption, supply chain performance, textile, apparel industry

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Authors: Saad M. Darwish, Mohamed A. El-Iskandarani, Guitar M. Shawkat

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Nowadays, the amount of available multimedia data is continuously on the rise. The need to find a required image for an ordinary user is a challenging task. Content based image retrieval (CBIR) computes relevance based on the visual similarity of low-level image features such as color, textures, etc. However, there is a gap between low-level visual features and semantic meanings required by applications. The typical method of bridging the semantic gap is through the automatic image annotation (AIA) that extracts semantic features using machine learning techniques. In this paper, a multi-label image annotation system guided by Firefly and Bayesian method is proposed. Firstly, images are segmented using the maximum variance intra cluster and Firefly algorithm, which is a swarm-based approach with high convergence speed, less computation rate and search for the optimal multiple threshold. Feature extraction techniques based on color features and region properties are applied to obtain the representative features. After that, the images are annotated using translation model based on the Net Bayes system, which is efficient for multi-label learning with high precision and less complexity. Experiments are performed using Corel Database. The results show that the proposed system is better than traditional ones for automatic image annotation and retrieval.

Keywords: feature extraction, feature selection, image annotation, classification

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Authors: Wan Azuati Wan Omar, Selva Rani John Jasudass, Siti Rohaiza Md. Saad

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Introduction & objective: The objectives of this study were to assess patient’s knowledge of appropriate sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) use as well as to investigate how patients commonly store and carry their sublingual GTN tablets. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional survey, using a validated researcher-administered questionnaire. The study involved cardiac patients receiving sublingual GTN attending the outpatient and inpatient departments of Taiping Hospital, a non-academic public care hospital. The minimum calculated sample size was 92, but 100 patients were conveniently sampled. Respondents were interviewed on 3 areas, including demographic data, knowledge and use of sublingual GTN. Eight items were used to calculate each subject’s knowledge score and six items were used to calculate use score. Results: Of the 96 patients who consented to participate, majority (96.9%) were well aware of the indication of sublingual GTN. With regards to the mechanism of action of sublingual GTN, 73 (76%) patients did not know how the medication works. Majority of the patients (66.7%) knew about the proper storage of the tablet. In relation to the maximum number of sublingual GTN tablets that can be taken during each angina episode, 36.5% did not know that up to 3 tablets of sublingual GTN can be taken during each episode of angina. Fifty four (56.2%) patients were not aware that they need to replace sublingual GTN every 8 weeks after receiving the tablets. Majority (69.8%) of the patients demonstrated lack of knowledge with regards to the use of sublingual GTN as prevention of chest pain. Conclusion: Overall, patients’ knowledge regarding the self administration of sublingual GTN is still inadequate. The findings support the need for more frequent reinforcement of patient education, especially in the areas of preventive use, storage and drug stability.

Keywords: glyceryl trinitrate, knowledge, adherence, patient education

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Authors: Saad Nawaz, Yu Gang, Miao Haibin

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Titanium alloys are attractive materials for aerospace industry due to their exceptional strength to weight ratio that is maintained at elevated temperatures and their good corrosion resistance. Major applications of titanium alloys were military aerospace industry, but since last decade the trend has now shifted towards commercial industry. On the other hand, titanium alloys are notorious for being poor thermal conductor that leads to them being difficult materials for machining. In this experimental study, Stellram Indexable milling cutter XDLT09-D41 is used for rough down milling of Ti6Al4V for small depth of cut under different combinations of parameters and application of high-pressure coolant. The machining performance was evaluated in terms of tool wear, tool life, and thermal crack. The tool wear was mostly observed at the tool tip and at bottom part of tool thermal deformations were observed which propagated with respect to time. Flank wear due to scratching of the cutting chips and diffusion wear because of high thermal stresses were observed specially at the bottom of the cutting tool. It was found that maximum tool life was obtained at the speed of 40m/min, feed rate of 358mm/min and depth of cut of 0.8mm. In the end, it was concluded that machining of Ti6Al4V is a thermally dominant process which leads to high thermal stresses in machining zone that results in increasing tool wear rate and deformation propagation.

Keywords: tool wear, cutting speed, flank wear , tool life

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Authors: Siti Sofo Ismail, Siti Noraina Wahida Mohd Alwi, Mohamad Hafiz Ameran, Masrudin M. Yusoff

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Locating clandestine cadaver is crucially important in forensic investigations. However, it requires a lot of man power, costly and time consuming. Therefore, the development of a new method to locate the clandestine graves is urgently needed as the cases involve burial of cadaver in different types of soils under tropical climates are still not well explored. This study focused on the burial in mangrove and oil palm plantation soils, comparing the fatty acid distributions in different soil acidities. A stimulated burial experiment was conducted using domestic pig (Sus scrofa) to substitute human tissues. Approximately 20g of pig fatty flesh was allowed to decompose in mangrove and oil palm plantation soils, mimicking burial in a shallow grave. The associated soils were collected at different designated sampling points, corresponding different decomposition stages. Modified Bligh-Dyer Extraction method was applied to extract the soil free fatty acids. Then, the obtained free fatty acids were analyzed with gas chromatography-flame ionization (GC-FID). A similar fatty acid distribution was observed for both mangrove and oil palm plantations soils. Palmitic acid (C₁₆) was the most abundance of free fatty acid, followed by stearic acid (C₁₈). However, the concentration of palmitic acid (C₁₆) higher in oil palm plantation compare to mangrove soils. Conclusion, the decomposition rate of cadaver can be affected by different type of soils.

Keywords: clandestine grave, burial, soils, free fatty acid

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Authors: Doaa H. I. Mahmoud, El-Said M. Elsharkawy, Saad Z. Soliman, Soher E. Mustfa

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The opening of new promising foreign markets is one of the objectives of Egypt’s foreign trade policies, especially for agricultural exports. This study aims at the examination of the commodity structure of the Egyptian agricultural imports and exports with the COMESA countries. In addition, estimation of the surplus/deficit of the Egyptian commodities and agricultural balance with these countries is made. Time series data covering the period 2004-2016 is used. Estimation of the growth function along with the derivation of the annual growth rates of the study’s variables is made. Some of the results of the study period display the following: (1) The average total Egyptian exports to the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) countries is estimated at 1,491 million dollars, with an annual growth rate of 14.4% (214.7 million dollars). (2) The average annual Egyptian agricultural exports to these economies is estimated at 555 million dollars, with an annual growth rate of 19.4% (107.7 million dollars). (3) The average annual value of agricultural imports from the COMESA countries is set at 289 Million Dollars, with an annual growth rate of 14.4% (41.6 million dollars). (4) The study shows that there is a continuous surplus in the agricultural balance with these economies, whilst having a deficit in the raw-materials agricultural balance, as well as the balance of input requirements with these countries.

Keywords: COMESA, Egypt, growth rates, trade balance

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Authors: Mohamad Nizam Asmuni, Ahmad Naszeri Salleh, Yunus Adam, Azhar Yaacob, Mohd Hafiz Rosli, Muhamad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah

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Athletes at the school should have good physical fitness to participate in tournament. Currently, there are no standards for the level of physical fitness for MARA Junior Science Collage (MJSC). Therefore, this research is to determine the level of physical fitness of rugby player at MJSC. A total of 62 samples (age 16.4 ± 0.75) among rugby players at MJSC were randomly selected to participate in this study. Height, weight, body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI) and other physical testing are measured and recorded. The results showed that the average of body mass index (BMI) for rugby players is 23.4 ± 4:51. Body mass index (BMI) of rugby players can be categorized as pre-obese based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. BMI for rugby players was categorized as healthy based on body fat ranges for standard adults at NY Obesity Research Center. Bleep test results show that the average Bleep test is level 7 and shuttle 5; average VO2max was 37.94 L/min. Physical fitness and performance of rugby players at MJSC is lower compared to the rugby junior athletes in University Putra Malaysia (UPM). Therefore, physical fitness of rugby players must be improved to ensure the rugby players at MJSC could be performs better in the tournament.

Keywords: physical fitness, MARA junior science collage (MJSC), body mass index (BMI), bleep test

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Authors: Mahadzirah Mohamad, Morliyati Mohammad, Nor Azman Mat Ali, Zainudin Awang

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Globally, youth substance abuse has been identified as the problem that causes substantial damage not only to individuals, but also to families and communities. In addition, substance abuse youths have become unproductive resources that would play lesser roles in the nation’s development. The increasing trend of substance abuse among youths has raised a lot of concern among various quarters in Malaysia. It has also been reported that Malay youths are the majority group involved in substance abuse. However, it was noted that life satisfaction had been found to be an important mitigating factor that addressed substance abuse. The objectives of the study were twofold: firstly, to ascertain the effect of life satisfaction on substance abuse among Malay youth. Secondly, to identify the role of delinquency on the relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. This study adopted a cross-sectional research design. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 500 Malay youths at the youth programmes using a two-step sampling technique: area sampling and systematic sampling. The research hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modelling. The findings of the study revealed that there is no significance relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. There is a significant inverse relationship between life satisfaction and delinquency. Moreover, delinquency has a positive significant influence on substance abuse. The use of Bootstrapping analysis proved that delinquency plays a full mediating role in the relationship between life satisfaction and substance abuse. This study suggested that life satisfaction has no effect on youth substance abuse. In order to reduce substance abuse, efforts should be undertaken to reduce delinquency behaviour by increasing youth life satisfaction.

Keywords: delinquency, life satisfaction, substance abuse, youth

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Authors: Khaled Saad Eldin Mohamed Ragab

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This paper investigates analytically the torsion behavior of steel fibered high strength self compacting concrete beams reinforced by GFRP bars. Nonlinear finite element analysis on 12­ beams specimens was achieved by using ANSYS software. The nonlinear finite element analysis program ANSYS is utilized owing to its capabilities to predict either the response of reinforced concrete beams in the post elastic range or the ultimate strength of a reinforced concrete beams produced from steel fiber reinforced self compacting concrete (SFRSCC) and reinforced by GFRP bars. A general description of the finite element method, theoretical modeling of concrete and reinforcement are presented. In order to verify the analytical model used in this research using test results of the experimental data, the finite element analysis were performed. Then, a parametric study of the effect ratio of volume fraction of steel fibers in ordinary strength concrete, the effect ratio of volume fraction of steel fibers in high strength concrete, and the type of reinforcement of stirrups were investigated. A comparison between the experimental results and those predicted by the existing models are presented. Results and conclusions thyat may be useful for designers have been raised and represented.

Keywords: nonlinear analysis, torsionally loaded, self compacting concrete, steel fiber reinforced self compacting concrete (SFRSCC), GFRP bars and sheets

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Authors: Saad M. Darwish, Magda M. Madbouly, Murad B. Khorsheed

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Sign Languages (SL) are the most accomplished forms of gestural communication. Therefore, their automatic analysis is a real challenge, which is interestingly implied to their lexical and syntactic organization levels. Hidden Markov models (HMM’s) have been used prominently and successfully in speech recognition and, more recently, in handwriting recognition. Consequently, they seem ideal for visual recognition of complex, structured hand gestures such as are found in sign language. In this paper, several results concerning static hand gesture recognition using an algorithm based on Type-2 Fuzzy HMM (T2FHMM) are presented. The features used as observables in the training as well as in the recognition phases are based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). SVD is an extension of Eigen decomposition to suit non-square matrices to reduce multi attribute hand gesture data to feature vectors. SVD optimally exposes the geometric structure of a matrix. In our approach, we replace the basic HMM arithmetic operators by some adequate Type-2 fuzzy operators that permits us to relax the additive constraint of probability measures. Therefore, T2FHMMs are able to handle both random and fuzzy uncertainties existing universally in the sequential data. Experimental results show that T2FHMMs can effectively handle noise and dialect uncertainties in hand signals besides a better classification performance than the classical HMMs. The recognition rate of the proposed system is 100% for uniform hand images and 86.21% for cluttered hand images.

Keywords: hand gesture recognition, hand detection, type-2 fuzzy logic, hidden Markov Model

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Authors: Mohamad Reza Asariha

Abstract:

The development and extension of modern communication innovations at an extraordinary speed has caused crucial changes in all financial, social, social and political areas of the world. The improvement of toady and cable innovations, in expansion to expanding the generation and dissemination needs of worldwide programs; the financial defense made it more appealing. The alter of the administration of mechanical economy to data economy and benefit economy in created nations brought approximately uncommon advancements within the standards of world exchange and as a result, it caused the extension of media organizations in outside measurements, and the advancement of financial speculations in many Asian nations, beside the worldwide demand for the utilization of media merchandise, made new markets, and the media both within the household scene of the nations and within the universal field. Universal and financial are of great significance and have and viable and compelling nearness within the condition of picking up, keeping up and expanding financial control and riches within the world. Moreover, mechanical progresses and mechanical joining are critical components in media auxiliary alter. This auxiliary alter took put beneath the impact of digitalization. That’s, the method that broke the boundaries between electronic media administrations. Until presently, the direction of mass media was totally subordinate on certain styles of data transmission that were for the most part utilized. Digitization made it conceivable for any content to be effortlessly transmitted through distinctive electronic transmission styles, and this media merging has had clear impacts on media approaches and the way mass media are controlled.

Keywords: media, digital era, digital ages, media convergence

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Authors: Gehan Hussein, Hams Ahmad, Baher Matta, Yasmeen Mansi, Mohamad Fawzi

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Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common problem worldwide with variable incidence in different countries. The exact etiology is unknown, suggested to be multifactorial. We aimed to study the incidence of various CHD in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a tertiary care hospital in Egypt and the possible associations with variable risk factors. Methods: Prospective study was conducted over a period of one year (2013 /2014) at NICU KasrAlAini School of Medicine, Cairo University. Questionnaire about possible maternal and/or paternal risk factors for CHD, clinical examination, bedside echocardiography were done. Cases were classified into groups: group 1 without CHD and group 2 with CHD. Results: from 723 neonates admitted to NICU, 180 cases were proved to have CHD, 58 % of them were males. patent ductus arteriosus(PDA) was the most common CHD (70%), followed by an atrial septal defect (ASD8%), while Fallot tetralogy and single ventricle were the least common (0.45 %) for each. CHD was found in 30 % of consanguineous parents Maternal age ≥ 35 years at the time of conception was associated with increased incidence of PDA (p= 0.45 %). Maternal diabetes and insulin intake were significantly associated with cases of CHD (p=0.02 &0.001 respectively), maternal hypertension and hypothyroidism were both associated with VSD, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P=0.36 &0.44respectively). Maternal passive smoking was significantly associated with PDA (p=0.03). Conclusion: The most frequent CHD in the studied population was PDA, followed by ASD. Maternal conditions as diabetes was associated with VSD occurrence.

Keywords: NICU, risk factors, congenital heart disease, echocardiography

Procedia PDF Downloads 157