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List of ExhibitorsAgriculture

Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Siti Nor Akmar Abdullah Syaiful Bahri Panjaitan, Maheran Abdul Aziz, Sariah Meon and Othman Omar ....1

Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Siti Nor Akmar Abdullah Zubaidah Ramli ........................................................................................................1

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff Harib Al-Habsi and Dr. Tan Chun Knee ..................................................................2

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Shukor Juraimi Md. Kamal Uddin, Mohd. Razi Ismail, Radziah Othman and Anuar Abdul Rahim .2

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aziz Arshad Norhafizah Osman, S. M. Nurul Amin and Zaidi Che Cob .....................................3

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aziz Arshad Zaidi Che Cob, Japar Sidik Bujang, S.M.Nurul Amin and Mazlan Abd. Ghaffar ...3

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cheah Yoke Kqueen Sim Jiun Horng, Khoo Chai Hoon and Son Radu ...................................................4

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Che Roos Saad SaadShahram Shakiba Zadeh, Annie Christianus, Mohd. Salleh Kamarudin, Kamaruzaman Sijam, Mariana Nor Shamsudin and Vasantha Kumari Neela .........4

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chong Pei Pei Alireza Khodavandi, Fahimeh Alizadeh, Zamberi Sekawi, Shiran Md. Sidik and Fauziah Othman .......................................................................................................5

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Foo Hooi Ling Anuradha Karunakaramoorthy, Loh Teck Chwen, Mariana Nor Shamsudin and Raha Abdul Rahim ...................................................................................................5

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamaruzaman Sijam Khairulmazmi Ahmad ..............................................................................................6

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Nor Shamsudin Ainatul Hakimah Zakaria, Nurul Hidayah Idris and Norfarrah Mohamed Alipiah .7

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Nor Shamsudin

C Girish Palaniyappan, Mohd. Shater Zakaria and Nurul Hidayah Idris ................6Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Mansor Ismail

Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, University Putra Malaysia, ......8Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Mansor Ismail

Zakbah Mian ............................................................................................................7Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Rafii Yusop

Norziha Abdullah, Maizura Ithnin and Ghizan Saleh ..............................................9Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Salleh Kamaruddin

Mahdieh Jafari, Che Roos Saad, Aziz Arshad, Shahrbanoo Oryan and Mahmoud Bahmani ...................................................................................................................8

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Salleh Kamarudin Mahdieh Jafari, Che Roos Saad, Aziz Arshad, Shahrbanoo Oryan and Mahmoud Bahmani ...................................................................................................................9

Assoc. Prof.Dr. Osumanu Haruna Ahmed Auldry Chaddy Petrus, Nik Muhammad Abd. Majid, Make Jiwan, Susilawati Kasim and Hassan Mohammad Nasir ....................................................................10

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharr Azni Harmin Norhidayah Mohd. Taufek and Annie Christianus .................................................10

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharr Azni Harmin Norhidayah Mohd. Taufek and Annie Christianus .................................................11

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharr Azni Harmin Norhidayah Mohd. Taufek and Annie Christianus. ................................................11

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin Mior Ahmad Kamaruzaman Sijam and Abdollah Karami ..........................................................12

Dr. Annie Christianu Ali Karami Varnamkhasti, Simon C. Courtenay, Zamri Ishak, Mohd. Arif Syed and Khairul Zamri Md. Saad .................................................................................13

Dr. Golnaz Rezai Zainalabidin Mohamed, Mad Nasir Shamsudin and Eddie Chiew Fook Chong ...14

Dr. Hazandy Abdul Hamid Nor Aini Ab. Shukor, Arifin Abdu, Mohd. Basri Hamzah, Baharom Zainal and Mohd. Hazimy Yusoff ............................................................................................27

Dr. Nitty Hirawaty Kamarulzaman Nolila Mohd. Nawi ................................................................................................15

Dr. Norsida Man Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia, ...............................................16

Dr. Nur Ain Izzati Mohd. Zainudin Baharuddin Salleh ..................................................................................................17

Dr. Nur Ain Izzati Mohd. Zainudin Nor Azliza Ismail, Nik Mohd. Izham Mohamed Nor, Azmi Abd. Razak, Siti Nordahliawate Mohamed Sidique and Baharuddin Salleh ....................................16

Dr. Nur Ain Izzati Mohd. Zainudin Siti Nordahliawate Mohamed Sidique, Nor Azliza Ismail and Baharuddin Salleh ...17

Dr. Puziah Abdul Latif Nur Hidayah Abdul Latip .......................................................................................18

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia, .......................................................9Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, ...........................................................17Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mahdzir Mardan

Mohammad Mehdi Saberioon, Laili Nordin, Alias Mohammad Sood and Asa Ggholizadeh ...........................................................................................................27

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mahdzir Mardan Mohammad Mehdi Saberioon, Laili Nordin and Alias mohammad Sood .............18

Prof Dato’ Dr. Mohamed Shariff Mohamed Din Fatimah Md. Yusoff, Sanjoy Banerjee and Helena Khatoon .................................19

Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman Omar Mehdi Rasoli, Babak Jalilian, Sara Oveissi, Aini Ideris, Mohd. Hair Bejo, Noorjahan Banu Alitheen, Khatijah Yusoff, Fatemeh Jahanshiri, Sharifah Syed Hassan and Maizan Mohamed ..............................................................................19

Prof. Dr. Mad Nasir Shamsudin Hairuddin Mohd. Amir and Alias Radam ..............................................................20

Prof. Dr. Mahiran Basri Lim Chaw Jiang, Dzolkifli Omar, Abu Bakar Salleh and Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman and Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abdul Rahman ..................................20

Prof. Dr. Maziah Mahmood Fatemeh Mahdavi Darvari, Sariah Moen and Mohd. Puad Abdullah ....................14

Prof. Dr. Maziah Mahmood Revandy Iskandar Damanik, Mohd. Razi Ismail, Syahida Ahmad and Abd. Mohd.

Zain ........................................................................................................................26Prof. Dr. Maziah Mahmood

Siamak Shirani, Sariah Moen and Zakaria Wahab.................................................26Prof. Dr. Mohamed Hanafi Musa

Syed Omar Syed Rastan, Mohd. Rafii Yusof and Jose Alvaro Cristancho Rodriguez ...............................................................................................................21

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Ali Hassan Mitra Mohammadi, Nor Asma Abd Razak, Chong Mei Ling, Yoshihito Shirai, Wan Md Zin Wan Yunus, Suraini Abd. Aziz, Amirul Al-Ashraf Abdullah, Hasfalina Che Man, Siti Nor Syairah Anis and Phang Lai Yee .............................22

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Ali Hassan Tabassum Mumtaz, Suraini Abd-Aziz, Nor’Aini Abdul Rahman, Phang Lai Yee and Yoshihito Shirai ...............................................................................................21

Prof. Dr. Sariah Meon Most. Mahbuba Begum and Yasmeen Siddiqui .....................................................22

Prof. Dr. Siti Shapor Hj. Siraj Dania Aziz ..............................................................................................................23

Prof. Dr. Siti Shapor Hj. Siraj Siti Khalijah Daud, Ratiah Sukardi and Jothi Panandam ......................................23

Prof. Dr. Zaharah A. Rahman Mohamed Hanafi Musa ..........................................................................................24

Prof. Dr. Zaharah A. Rahman Siti Nor Akmar Abdullah .......................................................................................24

Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin Mohamed Golnaz Rezai and Mad Nasir Shamsudin ..............................................................25

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd. Amin Mohd. Soom Aimrun Wayayok and Mastura Mohamed .............................................................25

Food Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amin Ismail

Abd. Razak Ismail, Kong Kin Weng, Azizah Othman and Tan Seok Tyug ...........29Assoc. Prof. Dr. Badlishah Sham Baharin

Norhidayah Suleiman, Md. Zaidul Islam Sarker and Seyed Hamed Mirhosseini .29Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatimah Abu Bakar

Muhammad Zukhrufuz Zaman, Jinap Selamat and Jamilah Bakar .......................30Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lasekan Olusegun

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, ................30Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shuhaimi Mustafa

Aida Firdaus Muhammad Nurul Azmi, Mohd. Hamim Hamdan Mustafa, Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap ..................................................................................................31

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shuhaimi Mustafa Khalilah Abdul Khalil, Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap, Arbakariya Ariff and Rosfarizan Mohamad .............................................................................................31

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin Ping Hong Kwong Lim and Jamilah Bakar ...................................................................33

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin Ping Kok Whye Cheong, Hamed Mirhosseini, Mahiran Basri, Azizah Osman, Nazimah Sheikh Abdul Hamid, Sung Tong Chin and Yaakob Che Man .............................32

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin Ping Navideh Anarjan, Hamed Mirhosseini and Badlishah Sham Baharin ..................33

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin Ping Siou Pei, Oi Ming Lai, Kamariah Long and Hamed Mirhosseini .........................32

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin Ping Wai Fun Leong, Yaakob Che Man, Oi Ming Lai, Kamariah Long and Mitsutoshi Nakajima ................................................................................................................34

Dr. Loh Su Peng Goh Su Hua and Fatimah Md. Yusoff ....................................................................34

Dr. Mohammed Nazrim Marikkar H.M. Ghazali and N.A.M. Yanty ...........................................................................35

Dr. Seyed Hamed Mirhosseini Chin Ping Tan .........................................................................................................35

Dr. Seyed Hamed Mirhosseini Chin Ping Tan ........................................................................................................36

Mr. Dzulkifly Mat Hashim M. Z. Nor Nadiha, D.B. Mat Hashim*, B. Siti Aisyah, A. R. Siti Munira and M. Shuhaimi ................................................................................................................36

Mr. Dzulkifly Mat Hashim Norakasha Rusli, Yaakob Che Man and Shuhaimi Mustafa ................................37

Prof. Dr. Azizah Osman ...............................................................................................37Prof. Dr. Hasanah Mohd. Ghazali

Yanty Noorzianna Abdul Manaf, Azizah Osman, Kamariah Long and Lai Oi Ming 38

Prof. Dr. Jamilah Bakar Yassoralipour, A.,Russly, A. R. and Fatimah .........................................................38

Prof. Dr. Jamilah Bakar Yazdan Moradi, Sharifah Kharidah and Yaakob Che Man ....................................39

Prof. Dr. Jinap Selamat Afsaneh Farhadian, Zaidul Islam Sarkar and Hanifah Nur Yani Lioe ...................40

Prof. Dr. Jinap Selamat Anosheh Rahmani .................................................................................................43

Prof. Dr. Jinap Selamat Gisia Daniali, Hanifah Nuryani Lioeh and Zaidul Islam Sa ..................................42

Prof. Dr. Jinap Selamat Maimunah Sanny, Luning, P.A., Marcelis and W.J. Van Boekel ..........................42

Prof. Dr. Jinap Selamat Maryam Jalili, Son Radu and Noranizan Mohd. Adzahan ....................................40

Prof. Dr. Jinap Selamat Md. Jaharul Haque Akanda ...................................................................................41

Prof. Dr. Jinap Selamat Parvaneh Hajeb .....................................................................................................41

Prof. Dr. Jinap Selamat Sahar Arzandeh .....................................................................................................39

Prof. Dr. Maznah Ismail Ho Ket Li ...............................................................................................................44

Prof. Dr. Maznah Ismail Siti Farhana Fathy and Abdalbasit Adam Mariod ..................................................43

Prof. Dr. Maznah Ismail Wan Abd. Aziz Mamat and Zalinah Ahmad ..........................................................44

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap Amir Meimandipour, Leila Nateghi, Mohd. Hair-Bejo, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Azhar Kasim, Abdoreza Soleimani Farjam and Babak Rasti ...........................................47

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap

Amir Meimandipour, Leila Nateghi, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Abdoreza Soleimani Farjam, Azhar Kasim, Mohd. Hair-Bejo, Barka Mohammed Kabeir, Arash Javanmard and Muhammad Anas Osman ..............................................................46

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap Amir Meimandipour, Leila Nateghi, Shuhaimi Mustafa , Mohd. Hair-Bejo, Azhar Kasim, Barka Mohammad Kabeir and Babak Rasti .............................................47

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap Shahin Roohinejad, Leila Nateghi, Alireza Omidizadeh, Hamed Mirhosseini, Babak Rasti, Nazamid Saari, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Rokiah Mohd. Yusof, Anis Shobirin Meor Hussin and Azizah Hamid .............................................................45

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap Shahin Roohinejad, Leila Nateghi, Alireza Omidizadeh, Hamed Mirhosseini, Nazamid Saari, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Rokiah Mohd Yusof, Anis Shobirin Meor Hussin and Azizah Hamid ......................................................................................45

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap Shahin Roohinejad, Leila Nateghi, Hamed Mirhosseini, Nazamid Saari, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Ismail Alias, Anis Shobirin Meor Hussin and Azizah Hamid .................46

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che Man Abdul Rohman ......................................................................................................50

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che Man Abdul Rohman, Amin Ismail and Puziah Hashim .................................................49

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che Man Abdul Rohman and Yaakob Che Man ....................................................................49

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che Man Dias Indrasti, Shuhaimi Mustafa and Dzulkifly Mat Hashim ................................50

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che Man Dzulkifly Mat Hashim, Abdulkarim Sabo Mohamed and Nurjuliana Mokhtar .....48

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che Man Nur Fadhilah Khairil Mokhtar, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Awis Qurni Sazili and Rumaisa Nordin ...................................................................................................................48

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che Man Tengku Salwani Tengku Mansor and Abdul Rohman............................................51

Health

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Jalil Nordin Hairil Rashmizal, Noraini Abdul Rahim and Claudio Rossetti .............................55

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Jalil Nordin Noraini Abdul Rahim, Gay E, Ferrara C, Ravelli E, Mancini V, Morra E, Muti P, Tahir A and Claudio Rossetti .................................................................................56

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Jalil Nordin Simona Secondino, Noraini Abdul Rahim, Paolo Pedrazzoli, Salvatore Siena, Claudio Rossetti and Tahir Aris .............................................................................55

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amin Ismail Bahareh Sarmadi, Muhajir Hamid and Jinap Selamat ...........................................56

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Latiffah A. Latiff Zaitun Yassin, Ridzoni Sulaiman, Asmidawati Ashaari and Siti Aisyah Nor Akhbar ....................................................................................................................57

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Nor Shamsudin Salman Saheb, Vasanthakumari Neela and Zamberi Sekawi .................................57

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mirnalini Kandiah Ang Yee Kwang, Zalilah Mohd. Shariff and Chan Yoke Mun, Hazizi Abu Saad..58

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Reza Mozafari Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, ................58

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah Soo Li Chin, Azhar Yaacob, Zuraini Ahmad, Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman and Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria .................................................................................................59

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria Elly Ezlinda Abdul Hisam, Mohd. Salleh Rofiee, Muhammad Nazrul Somchit, Zuraini Ahmad, Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman, Teh Lay Kek and Mohd. Zaki Salleh ..59

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zaitun Yassin Suzana Shahar, Suriah Abdul Rahman, Fatimah Arshad, Noor Aini Mohd. Yusof, Siti Nur Asyura Adznam and Zuriati Ibrahim ........................................................60

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zuraini Ahmad Arifah Abdul Kadir and Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah ..............................61

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zuraini Ahmad Yong Yoke Keong, Arifah Abdul Kadir, Sabrina Sukardi, Roslida Abdul Hamid @ Abdul Razak and Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah ........................................60

Dr. Abhimanyu Veerakumarasivam

Rozita Rosli, Syahrilnizam Abdullah, Tan Keai Sinn and Chan Soon Choy .........61Dr. Kulanthayan KC Mani

Ahmad Razak, Ellen Schenk and Hussain Hamid .................................................62Dr. Kulanthayan KC Mani

Phang Wai Kit, Hayati Kadir S. and Anita Abdul Rahman ....................................62Dr. Kulanthayan KC Mani

Raha A.R., Law Teik Hwa and Radin Umar R.S. ..................................................63Dr. Latifah Saiful Yazan

Maznah Ismail, Armania Nurdin, Hern Tze Tan, Azhar Yaacob, Nordiana Abdul Hadi, Norazalina Saad, Hairuszah Ithnin and Saidi Moin ....................................64

Dr. Latifah Saiful Yazan Norsyafini Ishak and Nordin Haji Lajis .................................................................63

Dr. Maha Abdullah Seow Heng Fong, Cheong Soon Keng and Leong Chooi Fun ..............................64

Dr. Mariana Nor Shamsudin Ehsanollah Ghaznavi-Rad, Vasanthakumari Neela, Zamberi Sekawi, Mohammad Nazri Aziz, Rukman Awang Hamat, Chong Pei Pei, Norlijah Othman and Hamed Ghasemzadeh-Moghaddam ....................................................................................65

Dr. Mohamad Taufik Hidayat Baharuldin Mohamad Aris Mohd. Moklas, Sharida Fakurazi, Evhy Apryani and Farah Idayu Nasir .......................................................................................................................65

Dr. Normala Halimoon Mohamad Suhaimi Ismail ......................................................................................66

Dr. Rajesh Ramasamy Maryam Maqbool, Abdul Latiff Mohamed and Rahim Md. Noah ........................66

Dr. Rajesh Ramasamy Maryam Maqbool and Sharmili Vidyadaran ..........................................................67

Dr. Roslida Abd. Hamid Lau Moi Fong, Sabrina Sukardi and Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah ..........67

Dr. Rusliza Basir Mun Fei Yam, Lee Fung Ang, Ibrahim Muhammad Salman, Omar Ziad Ameer, Vuanghao Lim, Lai Man Ong, Mariam Ahmad and Mohd. Zaini Asmawi ...........68

Dr. Rusliza Basir Mun Fei Yam, Vuanghao Lim, Ibrahim Muhammad Salman, Omar Ziad Ameer,

Lee Fung Ang, Rosidah, Muthanna Fawzy Abdulkarim, Ghassan Zuhair Abdullah, Rusliza Basir, Amirin Sadikun and Mohd. Zaini Asmawi .....................................68

Dr. Shamsul Bahri Hj. Mohd. Tamrin Nurul Asyiqin Mohd. Ali, Mohd. Shahrizal Dollah and Velu A/P Perumal ...........69

Dr. Shamsul Bahri Hj. Mohd. Tamrin Syazwan Aizat Ismail, Rafee Baharudin, Mohamad Azhar Mohd. Noor, Muhamad Hanafiah Juni, Juliana Jalaludin and Zailina Hashim ............................................69

Dr. Sharmili Vidyadaran Hemavathy Subramaiam and Rajesh Ramasamy ..................................................70

Dr. Sharmili Vidyadaran Shi Wei Tan and Maha Abdullah............................................................................70

Dr. Siti Aslina Hussain Tan Hong Tat, Mohd. Ismail Abdul Halim, Norhafizah Abdullah and Azni Idris .71

Dr. Vasanthakumari Neela Liew Yun Khoon, Mariana Nor Shamsudin, Rukman Awang Hama and Chong Pei Pei ..........................................................................................................................71

Dr. Vasanthakumari Neela Mariana Nor Shamsudin, Ehsanollah Ghaznavi Rad, Arif Mohd. Zafrul and Liew Yun Khoon .............................................................................................................72

Dr. Zeenathul Nazariah Allaudin Nik Mohd. Afizan Nik Abd. Rahman and Mohd. Azmi Mohd. Lila ......................72

Dr. Zeenathul Nazariah Allaudin Tan Seok Shin and Mohd. Azmi Mohd. Lila ........................................................73

Mr. Md. Zuki Abu Bakar@Zakaria Noordin Mohamed Mustapha and Goh Yong Meng ..............................................73

Mrs. Norazalina Saad Norhaizan Mohd. Esa, Sabariah Abdul Rahman, Hairuszah Ithnin and Nurul Husna Shafei ..........................................................................................................74

Mrs. Raja Nurzatul Efah Raja Adnan Zaitun Yassin, Asmidawati Ashari, Siti Aisyah Nor Akahbar and Latiffah Latiff .74

Mrs. Siti Aisyah Nor Akahbar Zaitun Yassin, Raja Nurzatul Efa Raja Adnan, Latiffah Abdul Latif and Asmidawati Ashari .................................................................................................75

Prof. Dr. Asmah Rahmat ..............................................................................................75

Prof. Dr. Daud Ahmad Israf Ali Omar Harastani, Tham Chau Ling, Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman and Daud Ahmad Israf Ali ..................................................................................................................76

Prof. Dr. Daud Ahmad Israf Ali Tham Chau Ling, K. P. Ang, Lam K. W., Kim Min Kyu, Cheah Yoke Kqueen, Nordin Hj. Lajis and Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman ......................................................76

Prof. Dr. Fauziah Othman Au Lee Fong, Sharmili Vidyadaran, Asmah Rahmat, Rusnah Mustaffa, Idris Besar, Azfar Rizal Ahmad, Fuzina Nor Hussein, Mohd. Azam Khan Goriman Khan, Abdah Md. Akim, Saidi Moin and Che Nor Zarida Che Seman .................77

Prof. Dr. Hj. Wan Omar Abdullah Ngah Zasmy Unyah, Hairul Bazli Hairuddin, Malina Osman, Rukman Awang Hamat and Khairul Anuar ......................................................................................77

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman Wan Mastura Shaik Mossadeq, Chiong Hoe Siong, Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria, Mohd. Lip Jabit, Mohamad Taufik Hidayat Baharuldin, Daud Israf Ali and Tengku Azam Shah Tengku Mohamad ...............................................................................78

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman Wan Mastura Shaik Mossadeq, Chiong Hoe Siong, Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria, Mohd. Lip Jabit, Mohamad Taufik Hidayat Baharuldin, Daud Israf Ali and Tengku Azam Shah Tengku Mohamad ...............................................................................78

Forestry & Environment Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Ainuddin Nuruddin

Kelvin Goh .............................................................................................................81Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Ainuddin Nuruddin

Nur Najwa Dina Anak Abong ................................................................................81Assoc. Prof. Dr. Azmy Mohamed

Parvin Anila Ponnusamy, Zaidon Ashaari, Hamami Sahri and Zolkapli Mustafa 82Assoc. Prof. Dr. Faridah Qamaruz Zaman

Tnah Lee Hong, Lee Soon Leong, Kevin Ng Kit Siong, Faridah Qamaruz Zaman and Faridah Hanum Ibrahim ..................................................................................82

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jegatheswaran Ratnasingam Geetha Ramasamy and Saied Reza Farrokhpayam ...............................................83

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jegatheswaran Ratnasingam Saied Reza Farrokhpayam and Ganesh Thanasegaran ..........................................83

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Pauzi Zakaria Lau Chun Ghee, Munirah Abdul Zali, Nurul Afiqah Mohamd Tahir, Nur Hazirah Adnan, Ahmad Zaharin Aris and Normala Halimoon ...........................................85

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Pauzi Zakaria Norazida Manan, Abdul Halim Abdullah, Hafizan Juahir, Norliza Ismail, Lee Chiow Yee, Che Abdul Rahim Mohamed and Munirah Abdul Zali ......................85

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Pauzi Zakaria Norliza Ismail, Abdul Halim Abdullah and Norazida Manan ................................84

Assoc.Prof. Dr. Mohamed Zakaria Hussin Arezoo Sanei ..........................................................................................................87

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Zakaria Hussin Hossein Varasteh Moradi and Zamri Rosli ............................................................86

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Zakaria Hussin Muhammad Nawaz Rajpar ....................................................................................86

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paridah Md. Tahir M.F.Juhaida, M.T. Paridah, M.Mohd. Hilmi, U.M.K.Anwar, Z.Sarani, H. Jalaluddin and A.R. Mohamad Zaki ......................................................................88

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paridah Md. Tahir Yeoh Beng Hoong, Loh Yueh Feng, Luqman Chuah Abdullah and Koh Mok Poh ...87

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ramdzani Abdullah Majid Ajorlo, Ahmad Husni Mohd. Hanif, Mohd. Kamil Yusoff and Ridzwan Abd. Halim, ............................................................................................................88

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rusea Go Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, .....................................................90

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rusea Go Khor Hong Eng, Ng Yong Jin, Tan Mui Ching, Farah Alia Nordin, Janna Ong Abdullah, Ahmad Ainuddin Nuruddin and Julaihi Abdullah .................................89

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rusea Go Tan Mui Ching, Farah Alia Nordin, Ng Yong Jin, Khor Hong Eng, Ahmad Ainuddin Nuruddin, Janna Ong Abdullah and Rosimah Nulit ..............................89

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yap Chee Kong

Aziran Y. and Cheng Wan Hee ...............................................................................91Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yap Chee Kong

Chew Weiyun and Tan Soon Guan ........................................................................90Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zaidon Ashaari

Edi Suhaimi Bakar, Paridah Md. Tahir and Mohd. Hamami Sahri ........................91Dr. Hafizan Juahir

Nur Hazirah Adnan, Munirah Abdul Zali, Nurul Afiqah Mohamd Tahir, Norashikin Saim, Rozita Osman, Dayang Ratena Sari Abg. Spian, Mohd. Zuli Jaafar, Md. Pauzi Abdullah and Fuzziawati Ab. Ghani .........................................92

Dr. Hazandy Abdul Hamid Ika Heriansyah, Nor Aini Ab. Shukor, and Syamsudin Ibrahim ............................92

Dr. H’ng Paik San Chin Kit Ling, Wong Lih Jiun, Tey Beng Ti and Paridah Md. Tahir .....................93

Dr. Liang Juan Boo Wang Yan ...............................................................................................................93

Dr. Mohd. Hasmadi Ismail Mohd. Zaki Hamzah, Ismail Adnan Abd. Malik, Pakhriazad Hassain Zaki and Muhammad Fadlli Abdul Yazi ...............................................................................94

Dr. Mohd. Hasmadi Ismail Norizah Kamarudin ................................................................................................94

Dr. Nor Azowa Ibrahim Khalina Abdan, Kamarul Arifin Hadithon and Khairul Zaman Mohd. Dahlan .....95

Dr. Normala Halimoon Rachel Goh Soo Yin ...............................................................................................95

Dr. Rozi Mohamed Jong Phai Lee and Mohammed Syazwan Zali .......................................................96

Dr. Seca Gandaseca Anton Eko Satrio, Osumanu Haruna Ahmed and Nik Muhamad Ab. Majid .........96

Dr. Seca Gandaseca Anton Eko Satrio, Osumanu Haruna Ahmed and Nik Muhamad Ab. Majid .........97

Dr. Seca Gandaseca Muhamad Ismawi Salimin, Osumanu Haruna Ahmed and Nik Muhamad Ab. Majid ......................................................................................................................97

Mr. Mohd. Nazri Saidon

Mustafa Kamal, Mohd. Shariff, Ramdzani Abdullah and Habshah Midi ..............98Prof. Dr. Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman

Norfaryanti Kamaruddin, Siti Nurhidayah Roslen and Nurul Ain Mohd. Reduan 84

Social Sciences Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Sharifah Md. Nor

Samsilah Roslan, Norlizah Che Hassan and Rusnani Abdul Kadir .....................101Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abd. Lateef Krauss Abdullah

Ismi Arif Ismail ....................................................................................................101Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aida Suraya Md.Yunus

Tsai Chen Chien, Wan Zah Wan Ali and Ab. Rahim Bakar .................................102Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ain Nadzimah Abdullah

Chan Swee Heng ..................................................................................................102Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arfah Salleh

Aziuddin Ahmad and Naresh Kumar ...................................................................103Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arfah Salleh

Aziuddin Ahmad and Naresh Kumar ...................................................................103Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah

Fariborz Aref ........................................................................................................104Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahaman Abu Samah

Fauziah Ibrahim, Mansor Abu Talib and Mohammad Shatar Sabran ..................105Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahaman Abu Samah

Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril, Jamilah Othman, Ezhar Tamam, Hanina Halimatusaadiah and Jeffrey Lawrence D’Silva ..................................................104

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahaman Abu Samah Reza Bagherian, Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah and Shamsuddin Ahmad .................105

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bany Ariffin Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................106

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ezhar Tamam Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, .....106

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah Midi S. K. Sarkar ..........................................................................................................107

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hashanah Ismail

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................108Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hashanah Ismail

Nurul Adillah Yusof .............................................................................................107Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda Abdullah

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................108Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda Abdullah

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................109Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda Abdullah

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................109Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda Abdullah

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................111Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda Abdullah

Lee Chai Yee ........................................................................................................110Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda Abdullah

Mohd. Mahyuddin Yahya .....................................................................................110Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran Mukundan

Alif Fairus Nor Mohamad and Ng Yu Jin ............................................................112Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran Mukundan

Alif Fairus Nor Mohamad, Ng Yu Jin and Almaz Hong Siaw Swin ...................112Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran Mukundan

Alif Fairus Nor Mohamad, Ng Yu Jin, Vahid Nimehchisalem and Norwati Roslim .114

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran Mukundan Ng Yu Jin, Alif Fairus Nor Mohamad, Vahid Nimehchisalem and Norwati Roslim .113

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran Mukundan Vahid Nimehchisalem ..........................................................................................111

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran Mukundan Vahid Nimehchisalem ..........................................................................................113

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jegak Uli Ahmad Faiz Abdul Nasir, Khairuddin Idris, Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril and Jeffrey Lawrence D’Silva ....................................................................................115

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jegak Uli Md. Salleh Hassan, Bahaman Abu Samah, Jamilah Othman and Hayrol Azril

Mohamed Shaffril ................................................................................................114Assoc. Prof. Dr. Laily Paim

Narges Delafrooz and Ali Khatibi ........................................................................115Assoc. Prof. Dr. Law Siong Hook

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................116Assoc. Prof. Dr. Law Siong Hook

Tan Hui Boon .......................................................................................................116Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Azhar Abdul Karim

Robert J.R. Elliott ................................................................................................117Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Azidan Abdul Jabar

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, ....117

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Raja Masittah Raja Ariffin Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, .....118

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rohani Abdullah Sakineh Mofrad and Bahaman Abu Samah .........................................................118

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rohani Ahmad Tarmizi ...................................................................119Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosli Talif

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, ....119

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rozanah Ab. Rahman Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................120

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Samsilah Roslan Abdul Rahman Md. Aroff, Rahil Mahyuddin, Asmawati Suhid, Kamariah Abu Bakar, Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah, Chee Chan Soon, Nur Surayyah Madhubala Abdullah, Fadzilah Abd. Rahman and Ahmad Fauzi Mohd. Ayub ......................120

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharifah Azizah Haron Zuhairah Maarof ..................................................................................................121

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abdul Rashid Asmidawati Ashari, Mohd. Fazdillah Bagat, Mohd. Rizal Hussain and Mohd. Hafis Ahmad Shukri .............................................................................................121

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sidek Mohd. Noah Samsilah Roslan, Rosnani Abd. Kadir and Wong Kok Fye .................................122

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Zobidah Omar Manimaran Govindasamy ....................................................................................123

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Zobidah Omar Narimah Ismail, Jusang Bolong, Musa Abu Hassan and Saodah Wok ................122

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Soh Kim Geok Soh Kim Lam, Ruby Husain, Mohd. Sofian Omar Fauzee, Aminuddin Yuson and Ong Swee Leong ..................................................................................................123

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Soh Kim Geok Soh Kim Lam, Ruby Husain, Mohd. Sofian Omar Fauzee, Aminuddin Yuson and Ong Swee Leong ..................................................................................................124

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tengku Aizan Hamid Siti Farra Zillah Abdullah and Jariah Masud .......................................................124

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tengku Aizan Hamid Suraya Yusoff, Esther Gunaseli Ebenezer, Chai Sen Tyng and Siti Suhailah Abdullah ...............................................................................................................125

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wan Zah Wan Ali Eow Yee Leng, Rosnaini Mahmud and Roselan Baki .........................................125

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkarnain Muhamad Sori Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................126

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkornain Yusop Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................127

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkornain Yusop Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................127

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkornain Yusop Muhammad Firdaus .............................................................................................126

Dr. Adilah Abd. Razak Parker Hood .........................................................................................................128

Dr. Adi Yasran Abdul Aziz Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, .....128

Dr. Ahmad Fauzi Mohd. Ayub Rohani Ahmad Tarmizi and Mohd. Zin Mokhtar ................................................129

Dr. Amini Amir Abdullah Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, .....................................129

Dr. Arbaayah Ali Termizi Zainor Izat Zainal and Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya ............................................130

Dr. Azmawani Abd. Rahman Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................130

Dr. Chan Cheong Jan Susan Ang Ngar Jiu ..............................................................................................131

Dr. Chan Mei Yuit Lee Geok Imm .....................................................................................................131

Dr. Cheng Fan Fah Ariff M. and Annuar Nasir ...................................................................................132

Dr. Cheng Fan Fah Ariff, M., Shamsher, M. and Annuar Nasir ..........................................................132

Dr. Dahlia Zawawi Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................133

Dr. Haslinda Abdullah Norbaya Ahmad, Zaid Ahmad and Sarjit Singh ...................................................184

Dr. Hj. Jamaluddin Hj. Ahmad Siti Rahmah Alias ................................................................................................134

Dr. Hj. Jamaludin Hj. Ahmad Nor Asida Shafii ...................................................................................................136

Dr. Hj. Jamaludin Hj. Ahmad Rosdi Yusof ..........................................................................................................133

Dr. Ho Jo Ann Graduate School of Management, University Putra Malaysia, ...........................135

Dr. Ho Jo Ann Liew Ee Yin .........................................................................................................134

Dr. Hossein Nezakati Seyed Mahameddin Tabatabaei ...........................................................................135

Dr. Husna Sulaiman Jariah Masud ........................................................................................................136

Dr. Jamilah Othman Inon Beydha Lukman, Md. Salleh Hj. Hassan and Abdul Hadi Sulaiman ..........137

Dr. Jariah Masud Husna, S. and Tengku Aizan Hamid ....................................................................137

Dr. Jariah Masud Husna Sulaiman and Tengku Aizan Tengku A. Hamid ........................................138

Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence D’Silva Jegak Uli, Bahaman Abu Samah and Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril ...............138

Dr. Junaina Muhammad Henry W. Collier and Carl B. McGowan, Jr. .......................................................139

Dr. Junaina Muhammad McGowan, Carl, Jr. ..............................................................................................139

Dr. Junaina Muhammad Mohamad Iruwan Ghuslan and Kamaruzaman Jusoff .........................................140

Dr. Kamariah Dola Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia, .......................141

Dr. Ku Hasnita Ku Samsu Mohd. Haizam Mohd. Nor ...................................................................................141

Dr. Lailawati Mohd. Salleh Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, .....142

Dr. Lee Chin M. Azali ................................................................................................................142

Dr. Lee Chin Muzafar Shah Habibullah and M. Azali ..............................................................143

Dr. Loo Fung Chiat Loo Fung Ying .....................................................................................................143

Dr. Mansor Abu Talib Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, .....................................144

Dr. Mansor Abu Talib Mohamad Shatar Sabran and Tan Kit-Aun ..........................................................145

Dr. Mansor Abu Talib Rumaya Juhari, Rusinah Joned and NorLiyana Mohd. Bokhti ...........................144

Dr. Mansor Abu Talib Sharifah Azizah Haron, Jariah Masud and Benjamin Chan Yin Fah ...................145

Dr. Ma’rof Redzuan Fariborz Aref ........................................................................................................146

Dr Ma’rof Redzuan

W. A. Amir Zal .....................................................................................................146Dr. Mass Hareeza Ali

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................147Dr. Mohani Abdul

Hashanah Ismail, Haslina Hashim and Juliana Johari .........................................147Dr. Mohhidin Othman

Chua Bee Lia, Boo Huey Chern, Muhammad Shahrim Ab. Karim and Sridar Ramachandran ......................................................................................................148

Dr. Muslihah Hasbullah@Abdullah Najibah Mohd. Zin and Saodah Wok ...................................................................148

Dr. Naresh Kumar Raduan Che Rose and Nurul Fatiha Abdul Muien ...............................................149

Dr. Ng Siew Imm Julie Anne Lee and Geoffrey N. Soutar ...............................................................150

Dr. Ng Siew Imm Lau Yeng Wai and Ho Jo Ann ..............................................................................149

Dr. Nobaya Ahmad Md. Salleh Hassan, Jamilah Othman, Mariah Muda, Dzuhailmi Dahalan and Nor Azliza Wanis Abdullah .........................................................................................150

Dr. Nor Aziah Abu Kasim Badriyah Minai ....................................................................................................151

Dr. Norhasmah Sulaiman Zalilah, M. S., Kandiah, M., Mohd. Nasir, M. T. and Asnarulkhadi, A. S. ..........152

Dr. Normahdiah Sheik Said Rahinah Ibrahim ...................................................................................................152

Dr. Normaz Wana Ismail Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................153

Dr. Normaz Wana Ismail Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................153

Dr. Nor Wahiza Abdul Wahat Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, ...............................151

Dr. Rahimah Ibrahim Abolfathi Momtaz, Y., Rahimah, I., Tengku Aizan, H. and Siti Suhailah, A. ......154

Dr. Rahimah Ibrahim

Siti Suhailah, A. and Abolfathi Momtaz, Y. .........................................................154Dr. Raja Nerina Raja Yusof

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................155Dr. Rosmila Senik

Martin Broad ........................................................................................................155Dr. Roziah Mohd. Rasdi

Maimunah Ismail, Jegak Uli and Sidek Mohd. Noah ..........................................156Dr. Sarjit S. Gill

Ma’rof Redzuan, Nobaya Ahmad, Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah, Haslinda Abdullah, Wan Ahmad Amir Zal Wan Ismail and Amri Jamil .............................................156

Dr. Sarjit Singh Darshan Singh Marof Redzuan, Nobaya Ahmad, Haslinda Abdullah and Roslan Rosnon ..........157

Dr. Shivee Ranjanee A/P Kaliappan Rokiah Alavi, Kalthom Abdullah and Muhammad Arif Zakaullah .....................158

Dr. Siti Nor Yaacob Rumaya Juhari, Mansor Abu Talib, Uba Ikechukwu U. and Chiong Hoe Nee ...158

Dr. Siti Nor Yaacob Uba Ikechukwu U. and Rumaya Juhari ...............................................................159

Dr. Suhaimi Ab. Rahman Rasyikah Md. Khalid ...........................................................................................159

Dr. Syuhaily Osman Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, .....................................160

Dr. Tajularipin Sulaiman Aminuddin Hassan and Roselan Baki ..................................................................160

Dr. Vijayaletchumy A/P Subramaniam Noor Aina Dani and Wan Muna Ruzanna Wan Mohammad ...............................161

Dr. Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya Arbaayah Ali Termizi ...........................................................................................161

Dr. Zahira Mohd. Ishan Shaik Mohd. Noor Alam S. M. Hussain ..............................................................162

Dr. Zahira Mohd. Ishan Shaik Mohd. Noor Alam S.M. Hussain ...............................................................162

Dr. Zulhamri Abdullah Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, .....

163Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul Samad

Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman ............................................................................163Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul Samad

Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman ............................................................................164Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul Samad

Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman ............................................................................165Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul Samad

Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman and Zariyawati Mohd. Ashhari ..........................165Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul Samad

Zariyawati Mohd. Ashhari and Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman ..........................164Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul Samad

Zariyawati Mohd. Ashhari and Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman ..........................166Mr. Bukryman Sabri

Nurizan Yahaya and Muhamad Yawasi Shahuddin .............................................166Mr. Bukryman Sabri

Nurizan Yahaya and Muhamat Yawasi Shahuddin ..............................................167Mr. Bukryman Sabri

Nurizan Yahaya, Mazlin Ghazali, Mohd. Peter Davis, Anniz Fazli Ibrahim Bajunid and Muhamat Yawasi Shahuddin ...........................................................184

Mr. Bukryman Sabri Nurizan Yahaya, Mazlin Ghazali, Mohd. Peter Davis, Anniz Fazli Ibrahim Bajunid and Muhamat Yawasi Shahuddin ...........................................................185

Mr. Bukryman Sabri Zuroni Md. Jusoh and Laily Paim ........................................................................167

Mr. Chai Sen Tyng Nurizan Yahaya and Tengku Aizan Hamid ..........................................................168

Mr. Mohamad Fazdillah Bagat Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abdul Rashid ...............................................................168

Mr. Mohd. Naseem Niaz Ahmad Tan Hui Boon and Siti Hamizah Mohd. ...............................................................169

Mrs. Emmy Farha Alias A.H. Baharom, Alias Radam and Illisriyani Ismail .............................................169

Mrs. Husniyah Abd. Rahim @ Abdul Wahab

M. Fazilah Abdul Samad ......................................................................................170Mrs. Husniyah Abd. Rahim @ Abdul Wahab

M. Fazilah Abdul Samad ......................................................................................170Mrs. Naimah Mohd. Salleh

Siti Balkis Bari and Mumtazah Othman ..............................................................171Mrs. Norisma Aiza Ismail

Jariah Masud, Tengku Aizan Hamid and Rahimah Ibrahim ................................171Mrs. Zarinah Arshat

Rozumah Baharudin .............................................................................................172Mrs. Zariyawati Mohd. Ashhari

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................172Mrs. Zuroni Md. Jusoh

Bukryman Sabri and Laily Paim ..........................................................................173Mrs. Zuroni Md. Jusoh

Jamal Othman, Abdul Hamid Jaafar and Tamat Sarmidi .....................................173Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman Md. Aroff

Samsilah Roslan ...................................................................................................174Prof. Dr. Adem Kilicman

Jaisree Sivalingam ...............................................................................................174Prof. Dr. Aminah Ahmad

Maznah Baba .......................................................................................................175Prof. Dr. Aminah Ahmad

Maznah Baba and Siti Aishah Hassan .................................................................175Prof. Dr. Azali Mohamed

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................176Prof. Dr. Azali Mohamed

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, .................176Prof. Dr. Azimi Hamzah

Shanta Abeysinghe and Sharifah Md. Nor ...........................................................177Prof. Dr. Foong Soon Yau

Neilson Anak Teruki ............................................................................................177Prof. Dr. Habibah Elias

Rahil Mahyuddin and Nooreen Noordin ..............................................................178Prof. Dr. Han Chun Kwong

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................178Prof. Dr. Han Chun Kwong

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, ................179Prof. Dr. Hashim Musa

Normahdiah Sheik Said, Siti Sarah Ab. Karim and Rozita Che Rodi .................179Prof. Dr. Mad Nasir Shamsudin

Ahmad Hanis Izani Abdul Hadi, Jinap Selamat, and Alias Radam .....................180Prof. Dr. Maimunah Ismail

Rabaayah Daud and Zoharah Omar .....................................................................180Prof. Dr. Mazanah Muhamad

Ahmad Zamri Mansor and On Lily .....................................................................181Prof. Dr. Mazanah Muhamad

Farizah Ahmad .....................................................................................................181Prof. Dr. Md. Salleh Hj. Hassan

Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia, ..........................182Prof. Dr. Musa Abu Hassan

Siti Zobidah Omar, Rusli Abdullah, Jusang Bolong and Narimah Ismail ...........182Prof. Dr. Raduan Che Rose

Naresh Kumar and Ong Gua Pak .........................................................................183Prof. Dr. Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope Pihie

Afsaneh Bagheri ...................................................................................................140Prof. Dr. Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope Pihie

Afsaneh Bagheri ...................................................................................................183Prof. Dr. Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope Pihie

Chai Foong Ten, Soaib Asimiran and Rosnani Jusoh ..........................................157

Science, Technology & Engineering Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Napsiah Ismail

Adeel H. Suhail and Nawal Aswan Abdul Jalil ...................................................243Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Napsiah Ismail

Gholamreza Esmaeilian, Shamsuddin Sulaiman and Maryam Hamedi ..............243Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abd. Rahman Ramli

Thinagaran Perumal, Chui Yew Leong, Rosiah Osman, Khairulmizam Samsudin and Shattri Mansor ...............................................................................................189

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Azim Abd. Ghani Mina Malekzadeh, Shamala Subramaniam and Jalil Desa ..................................244

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Azim Abd. Ghani Teh Phoey Lee, Hamidah Ibrahim and Rodziah Atan ..........................................244

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff Md. Roshidul Hasan, Abdul Rahman Ramli and Ishak Iris .................................190

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff Meftah Salem M. Alfatni, Osama Mohammed Ben Saeed, Mohd. Zaid Abdullah, Mohd. Hamiruce Marhaban, Suhaidi Shafie and Mohd. Din Amiruddin ............189

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff Mubarak Abdul Fattah Abdul Munim, Nik Norasma Che’ya, and Ebrahim Jahanshiri .............................................................................................................191

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff Osama Mohamed Ben Saeed, Ahmad Rodzi Mahmud, Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd., Mohd. Din Amiruddin and Meftah Salem Alfatni ...............................................190

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Makmom Hj. Abdullah Wan Nor Azmin Sulaiman, Muhammad Firuz Ramli and Loi Kok Chng ...........245

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Rodzi Mahmud Zubaidah Bukhari .................................................................................................187

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatimah Abu Bakar Nur Indang Marzuki, Abu Bakar Salleh, Nor Azah Yusof and Lee Yoke Heng ..191

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fudziah Ismail Nur Izzati Che Jawias, Mohamed Suleiman and Azmi Jaafar .............................192

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gafurjan Ibragimov Fateh Abdo Ali Allahabi .......................................................................................193

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gafurjan Ibragimov Mehdi Salimi ........................................................................................................245

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gafurjan Ibragimov Risman Mat Hasim and Idham Arif Hj. Alias ......................................................192

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah Midi Anwar Fitrianto ....................................................................................................296

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah Midi Arezoo Bagheri ....................................................................................................194

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah Midi

Ashkan Shabbak and Mohd. Nooh Hassan ..........................................................246Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah Midi

Kourosh Dadkhah ................................................................................................247Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah Midi

Ng Kooi Huat .......................................................................................................193Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah Midi

Norazan Mohamed Ramli and A.H.M.R. Imon ...................................................247Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah Midi

Sohel Rana and A. H. M. R. Imon .......................................................................246Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hamidah Ibrahim

Ali Amer Alwan, Nur Izura Udzir and Fatimah Sidi ...........................................195Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hamidah Ibrahim

Mahmoud Sh. Al-Hassan, Ali Amer Alwan, Lili Nurliyana Abdullah and Aida Mustapha ..............................................................................................................194

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hamidah Ibrahim Waheed Yasin, Nur Izura Udzir and Nor Asila Wati Abdul Hamid .....................248

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Isamiddin S. Rakhimov Ikrom M. Rikhsiboev and Witriany Basri ............................................................248

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Isamiddin S. Rakhimov Munther A.Hassan and Sharifah Kartini Said Husain .........................................195

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalaluddin Harun Ahmad Azizi Mossello, Hossein Resalati, Rushdan Ibrahim, Paridah Md. Tahir, Sayeed Rashid Fallah Samsi and Harmaen Ahmad Saffian .................................250

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalaluddin Harun Ahmad Azizi Mossello, Hossein Resalati, Rushdan Ibrahim, Paridah Md. Tahir, Sayeed Rashid Fallah Shamsi and Ainun Zuriyati Mohmamed ..........................249

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalaluddin Harun Ahmad Azizi Mossello, Jalaluddin Harun, Paridah Md. Tahir, Rushdan Ibrahim, Sayeed Rashid Fallah Shamsi, Hossein Resalati, Ainun Zuriyati Mohmamed and Harmaen Ahmad Saffian ......................................................................................196

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalaluddin Harun Ahmad Azizi Mossello, Rushdan Ibrahim, Hossein Resalati, Sayeed Rashid Fallah Shamsi, Paridah Md. Tahir and Mohd. Nor Mohad Yusoff ................................196

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalauddin Harun

Mehdi Jonoobi, Paridah M.D. Tahir, Syeed Saifulazry and Kristiina Oksman ...249Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jamaloddin Noorzaei

Farzad Hejazi, Saleh Jaafar and Waleed Thaanon ...............................................250Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jamaloddin Noorzaei

Omid Kohnehpooshi, Mohd. Saleh Jafaar, and Raizal Saifulnaz Muhammad Rashid ..................................................................................................................197

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luqman Chuah Abdullah Rozanna D., Salmiah A. and Thomas S. Y. Choong ............................................251

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luqman Chuah Abdullah Z. A. Anis Sakinah, C. T. Ratnam and Thomas S. Y. Choong .............................251

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maheran Abd. Aziz Fatemeh Haddadi, Ghizan Saleh and Azmi Abd. Rashid .....................................197

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maheran Abd. Aziz Suleiman Mohamed Ahmed Elhory, Azmi Abd. Rashid and Abdul Ghani Yunus ....252

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mansor Ahmad Kamyar Shameli, Wan Md. Zin Wan Yunus and Nor Azowa Ibrahim ................252

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mansor Ahmad V. Pushpamalar and Kamaruddin Hashim ...........................................................253

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Md. Nasir Sulaiman Yahya M. Almurtadha, Norwati Mustapha and Nur Izura Udzir .........................253

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Md. Zaidul Islam Sarker Sahena Ferdosh and Jinap Selamat ......................................................................198

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Rushdan Md. Said Davood Rezaeipour, Kamel Ariffin Mohd. Atan and Mohamed Othman ...........254

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Rushdan Md. Said Mohamad Afendee Mohamed, Kamel Ariffin Mohd. Atan and Zuriati Ahmad Zukarnain .............................................................................................................199

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Rushdan Md. Said Nadia Al-Saidi ......................................................................................................198

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Hasan Selamat Sherzod Turaev ....................................................................................................254

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Hasan Selamat Sherzod Turaev ....................................................................................................255

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Puad Abdullah Siti Humeirah Ab Ghani, Nor Azah Mohd. Ali, Mailina Jamil, Mastura Mokhtar and Muhajir Hamid ..............................................................................................188

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Rizam Abu Bakar Sarkhosh Seddighi Chaharborj ............................................................................199

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah Ali Reza Amani, Yunus Adam, Azhar Yaacob, Mohd. Hafiz Rosli, Noor Idwan Naim and Mohd. Majid Konting ..........................................................................200

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah Yunus Adam, Zuraini Ahmad, Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman and Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria .................................................................................................................200

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Akma Ibrahim Alireza Bahiraie, AKM Azhar and Ismail Mohd. ................................................201

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Akma Ibrahim Lim Fong Peng, Fauziah Maarof and Kassim Haron ..........................................255

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Akma Ibrahim Suliadi Isa Daud and Isthrinayagy S. Krishnarajah .............................................201

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noorizan Mohamed Ina Krisantia .........................................................................................................202

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Azah Yusof Norhisam Misron and Raja Nor Firdaus Kashfi Raja Othman ............................188

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Azah Yusof Shafiquzzaman Siddiquee, Abu Bakar Salleh, Soon Guan Tan, Fatimah Abu Bakar and Lee Yook Heng ..............................................................................................256

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norhisam Misron Norafiza Masruni, Ishak Aris, Raja Nor Firdaus Kashfi Raja Othman and Suhairi Rizuan Che Ahmad ..............................................................................................187

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norihan Md. Arifin Fadzilah Md. Ali, Roslinda Nazar and Ioan Pop .................................................257

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norihan Md. Arifin Fadzilah Md. Ali, Roslinda Nazar, Norihan Md. Arifin, Anuar Ishak and Ioan Pop .204

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norihan Md. Arifin Nor Fadzillah Mohd. Mokhtar, Roslinda Nazar, Fudziah Ismail and Mohamed

Suleiman ..............................................................................................................257Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norihan Md. Arifin

Siti Suzilliana Putri Mohamed Isa, Roslinda Nazar and Mohd. Noor Saad ........256Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Kamariah Noordin

Borhanuddin Mohd. Ali and Ng Chee Kyun .......................................................204Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Kamariah Noordin

Borhanuddin Mohd. Ali, Ng Chee Kyun and Ng Wei Lun .................................203Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Kamariah Noordin

Borhanuddin Mohd. Ali, Ng Chee Kyun and Yaseen H. Tahir ............................203Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Kamariah Noordin

Ng Chee Kyun, Mohd. Fadlee A. Rasid and Samer A. B. Awwad ......................202Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rahinah Ibrahim

Rosli Ismail, Siva Jaganathan and Rohani Hussin ...............................................205Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rahmita Wirza O.K. Rahmat

Norwati Mustapha, Ramlan Mahmod and Mohd. Zamrin Dimon .......................205Assoc. Prof. Dr. Robiah Yunus

Azhari Muhammad Syam, Thomas Choong Shean Yaw and Tinia Idaty Mohd. Ghazi ....................................................................................................................258

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Robiah Yunus Mahta Sadegh Vishkaei, Mohamad Amran Mohd. Salleh and Dayang Radhiah Awang Biak ..........................................................................................................206

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rohani Ahmad Tarmizi Velo Suthar, Habshah Midi and Mohd. Bakri Adam ...........................................206

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosnah Mohd. Yusuff Hadi Mohammadi Bidhandi, Megat Mohamad Hamdan Megat Ahmad and Mohd. Rizam Abu Bakar .................................................................................................258

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosnah Mohd. Yusuff Mohammad Anisseh and Alireza Shakarami .......................................................207

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shuhaimi Mustafa Yaakob Che Man and Farihah Liyana Khalid ......................................................207

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Khalijah Daud Khairul Adha Abdul Rahim, Siti Shapor Siraj, Aziz Arshad, Yuzine Esa and Eza Rena Ibrahim ........................................................................................................259

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tang Sai Hong

Omid Motlagh, Napsiah Ismail, Abdul Rahman Ramli and Ang Chun Kit .........227Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tang Sai Hong

Omid Motlagh, Napsiah Ismail and Ang Chun Kit ..............................................265Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Wee Tee

Muhammed Mizher Radhi, Mohamad Zaki Abd. Rahman and Anuar Kassim ...208Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thamer Ahmed Mohammed

Abdulmohsen A. Al-Ashaikh, Abdul Halim Ghazali, Saleh Alhassoun and Abdullah Alrehaili ................................................................................................284

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thamer Ahmed Mohammed Teoh Chee Keong and Elias Salleh ......................................................................261

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thomas Choong Shean Yaw Muhammad Darmadi, Soraya Hossinie, Luqman Chuah, Robiah Yunus and Taufiq Yap .......................................................................................................................208

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin Talib Khor Shing Fhan, W. Mohd. Daud W. Yusoff and Sidek Ab. Aziz ......................209

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin Talib Mohd. Firdaus Mohd. Yusof, Josephine Liew, W. Mahmood Mat Yunus, Zulkarnian Zainal and Abdul Halim Shaari .........................................................260

Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Nor Mariah Adam Nor Mariah Adam, Azmi Zakaria, Halim Abdullah and Seyed Sharafaldin Hosseini................................................................................................................260

Assoc. Prof. Ir. Muhammad Salih Hj. Ja’afar Mohd. Solah Deraman .........................................................................................280

Assoc. Prof. Rosnah Mohd. Yusuff Rosnah Mohd. Yusuff, Sara Saberi, Norzima Zulkifli and Afdiman Anuar .........259

Dr. Abd. Rahim Abu Talib Mohd. Saleh Yahaya, Ummi Noor Nazahiah Abdullah, Siti Aishah Adam dan Mohd. Nazim Abdul Rahman ..............................................................................264

Dr. Abu Bakar Md. Sultan Ismadi Md Badarudin, Md. Nasir Sulaiman, Ali Mamat and Mahmud Tengku Muda Mohamed ...................................................................................................209

Dr. Aida Mustapha Hamidah Ibrahim .................................................................................................264

Dr. Alyani Ismail

Nuraida Mohamad, Nor’aini Ahmad Zawawi, Khalina Abdan and Mohd. Adzir Mahdi ...................................................................................................................210

Dr. Anvarjon Ahmedov Ravshan Ashurov .................................................................................................213

Dr. Bimo Ario Tejo Syed Hussinien Hielmie Shah, Mohammad Fairuz Zulkifli, Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman, Abdul Munir Abdul Murad, Nor Muhammad Mahadi, Mahiran Basri, Raja Noor Zaliha Abdul Rahman and Abu Bakar Salleh ..........................265

Dr. Chen Soo Kien Tan Kwee Yong, Tan Kim Lee, Wan Nurul Ain Wan Shaaidi, Lim Kean Pah, Abdul Halim Shaari and Elias Saion ...................................................................266

Dr. Edi Syams Zainudin Khalina Abdan, Jalaluddin Harun and Wan Mohamad Haniffah Wan Hussin ....266

Dr. Faizal Mustapha Ali Shahrjedi ........................................................................................................262

Dr. Faizal Mustapha Khairul Dahri Mohd. Aris ....................................................................................267

Dr. Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd. Shafri M. Izzuddin Anuar ...............................................................................................267

Dr. Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd. Shafri Muhamad Afizzul Misman and Raja M. Kamil Raja Ahmad ..............................210

Dr. Ing Ahmad Fauzi Abas Lizal Iswady Ahmad Ghazali, Wan Azizun Wan Adnan, Makhfudzah Mokhtar, M. Iqbal Saripan and Mohd. Adzir Mahdi ................................................................268

Dr. Intan Safinar Ismail Mohd. Izwan Mohd. Lazim, Hiroshi Morita, Yusuke Hirasawa, Yuta Nagakura and Takahiro Hosoya ...........................................................................................211

Dr. Jamilah Din Sufian Idris and Shahrul Azman Mohd. Noah .....................................................268

Dr. Khairulmizam Samsudin Afsaneh Jalalian, Syamsiah Mashohor and M. Iqbal Saripan .............................270

Dr. Khairulmizam Samsudin Ahmed M. Hasan and Abdul Rahman Ramli .......................................................269

Dr. Khairulmizam Samsudin

Farshad Arvin and Abdul Rahman Ramli ............................................................269Dr. Lilly Suriani Affendey

Ikmal Hisyam Mohd. Paris, Norwati Mustapha, Md. Nasir Sulaiman and Zaiton Muda ....................................................................................................................213

Dr. Lim Kean Pah Wong Jen Kuen, Abdul Halim Shaari, Chen Soo Kien and Ng Siau Wei ............214

Dr. Mahboubeh Farid Wah June Leong and Malik Abu Hassan .............................................................214

Dr. Mohd. Nizar Hamidon Mohammad Hadi Shahrokh Abadi, Rahman Wagiran, Abdul Halim Shaari, Norhafizah Abdullah and Norhisam Misron ........................................................215

Dr. Nashiren Farzilah Mailah Senan Mahmod Abdullah and Norhisam Misron .................................................270

Dr. Nor Aini Abdul Rahman Nazlina Haiza Mohd. Yasin, Mohd. Zulkhairi Mohd. Yusoff, Hasfalina Che Man and Mohd. Ali Hassan ..........................................................................................215

Dr. Nor Asilah Wati Abdul Hamid Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia, ..............................................................................................................216

Dr. Norazak Senu Mohamed Suleiman and Fudziah Ismail ..............................................................271

Dr. Norazak Senu Mohamed Suleiman, Fudziah Ismail and Mohamed Othman .............................211

Dr. Nor Azowa Ibrahim Maizatulnisa Othman, Wan Md. Zin Wan Yunus and Khalina Abdan .................216

Dr. Nor Fazlida Mohd. Sani Abdul Azim Abdul Ghani and Norazimah Rosidi ...............................................262

Dr. Norwati Mustapha Tareef Kamil Mustafa, Masrah Azrifah Azmi Murad and Md. Nasir Sulaiman ..217

Dr. Nur Izura Udzir Ali Dehghantanha and Ramlan Mahmod .............................................................271

Dr. Nur Izura Udzir Ali Dehghantanha, Ramlan Mahmod and Zuriati Ahmad Zukarnain ..................217

Dr. Puziah Abdul Latif

Tham Yee Jun, Shamala Devi Arumugam and Ahmad Makmom Abdullah ........218Dr. Razali Yaakob

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia, ..............................................................................................................218

Dr. Rodziah Atan Masrah Azrifah Azmi Murad, Mohd. Yazid Md. Saman, Bahram Zarrin and Ahmad Shahi Soozei ............................................................................................219

Dr. Rohaya Latip Hamidah Ibrahim .................................................................................................272

Dr. Rosnah Shamsudin Johari Endan and Siti Zaharah Mustapa ..............................................................272

Dr. Rosnah Shamsudin Muhammad Redzuan Shah Ismail and Khalina Abdan .......................................219

Dr. Rusli Abdullah Modi Lakulu, Mohd. Hasan Selamat and Hamidah Ibrahim ...............................220

Dr. Sa’adah Hassan Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia, ..............................................................................................................273

Dr. Shamala Subramaniam Fua’ad Abdul Razak, Mohamed Othman and Zuriati Zulkarnain .......................212

Dr. Shyamala C. Doraisamy Farshad Arvin .......................................................................................................273

Dr. Siti Aslina Hussain Tan Hong Tat and Azni Idris ................................................................................221

Dr. Siti Mazlina Mustapa Kamal Intan Shaidatul Shima Mohd. Shariff and Lee Sze Ying .....................................274

Dr. Syamsiah Mashohor Abbas Mohammed Al-Ghaili ...............................................................................221

Dr. Syamsiah Mashohor Abbas Mohammed Al-Ghaili, Alyani Ismail and Abdul Rahman Ramli .............212

Dr. Tan Kar Ban Hajaratul Najwa, Zulkarnain Zainal, Chen Soo Kien and Khaw Chwin Chieh ..274

Dr. Tan Yen Ping Ng Sin Nee and Taufiq Yap Yun Hin ....................................................................222

Dr. Yus Aniza Yusof Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, ............................................222

Dr. Zainidin K. Eshkuvatov Nik Mohd. Asri Nik Long and Mohammad Abdulkawi ......................................223

Dr. Zainidin K. Eshkuvatov Nik Mohd. Asri Nik Long and Mohammad Abdulkawi ......................................275

Dr. Zanariah Abdul Majid Siamak Mehrkanoon Mohamed Suleiman ...........................................................223

Dr. Zulkiflle Leman Sairizal Misri, Ridzwan Ishak, Mohd. Sapuan Salit and Umar Abdul Hanan .....275

Dr. Zuriati Ahmad Zukarnain Hayder Natiq Jasem, Mohamed Othman and Shamala Subramaniam ................224

Dr. Zuriati Ahmad Zukarnain Nur Hanani Kamarul Aizan and Hishamuddin Zainuddin ...................................276

Dr. Zurina Zainal Abidin Robiah Yunus and Fadhilla Hasanah Ahmad Nadzri ...........................................276

Mohd. Bakri Adam Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, ...................................................225

Mr. Abdul Ghani Liew Abdullah Siti Mazlina Mustapa Kamal, Norhafizah Abdullah and Nurul Lina Mohamad .277

Mr. Ahmad Rizal Abdul Rahman Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Mohd. Azali Abdul Rahim and Asmawi Adzi .........224

Mr. Bakri Bakar@Ismail Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Arnis Aziz and Aimenur Dawana Salim ......................................................................................................261

Mr. Bakri Bakar@Ismail Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Hasri Yunardi Hassan and Irfendi Mohamad .................................................................................................225

Mr. Bakri Bakar@Ismail Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Hasri Yunardi Hassan, Rahinah Ibrahim and Muhamad Haziq Noraizan ................................................277

Mr. Bakri Bakar@Ismail Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Mohd. Faiz Yahaya, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin and Rosalam Che Me ....................................................................279

Mr. Bakri Bakar@Ismail Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Rafidei Mohamad, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin and Mohd. Haidiezul Jamal Abdul Hadi .......................................278

Mr. Bakri Bakar@Ismail Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Saiful Hasley Ramli, Rahinah Ibrahim and Shahbudin Md. Sattar ......................................................................278

Mr. Hasry Yunardi Hassan Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin and Zulkifli Muslim ..........279

Mr. Md. Zuki Abu Bakar@Zakaria Ayele Taddese Tsedeke, Noordin Mohamed Mustapha and Noorjahan Banu Mohamed Alitheen ...............................................................................................297

Mr. Md. Zuki Abu Bakar@Zakaria Ayele Taddese Tsedeke, Noordin Mohamed Mustapha and Noorjahan Banu Mohamed Alitheen ...............................................................................................297

Mr. Md. Zuki Abu Bakar@Zakaria Noordin Mohamed Mustapha and Mohd. Amin Babjee ......................................298

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah Mohd. Amil Faesal Fauzi, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin, Rafidei Mohamad and Mohamizzam Mohammad ...................................................................................281

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah Mohd. Haideizul Jamal Ab. Hadi, Tn. Hj. Mohd. Azali Abd. Rahim, Saiful Hasley Ramli, Mohamizzam Mohammad, Osman Mohd. Tahir and Rahinah Ibrahim ..298

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah Muhammad Haziq Noraizan, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin, Hassan Alli, Mohamizzam Mohammad, Mohd. Azali Abd. Rahim, Rahinah Ibrahim and Osman Mohd. Tahir .280

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah Rosalam Che Me, Hassan Alli, Bakri Bakar@Ismail, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin, Mohd. Azali Abdul Rahim, Razman Ramli, Mohamizzam Mohammad and Rahinah Ibrahim ...................................................................................................226

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah Shabudin Md. Sattar, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin, Mohd. Azali Abd. Rahim, Zulkifli Muslim, Mohamizzam Mohammad and Noorizan Mohamed .............................226

Mr. Ruhaizin Sulaiman

Hassan Alli, Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Bakri Bakar@Ismail, Mohamizzam Mohammad and Sazrinee Zainal Abidin ..............................................................281

Mr. Ruhaizin Sulaiman Hassan Alli, Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Mohammad Aiman Ahmad Fozi, Saiful Hasley Ramli, Mohd. Faiz Yahaya and Sazrinee Zainal Abidin ..........................227

Mrs. Farideh Heidarpour Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, ............................................229

Mr. Shafiquzzaman Siddiquee Umi Kalsom Yusuf and Tan Soon Guan ..............................................................282

Mr. Shahrul Azman Shahbudin Hamiza Hj. Ali, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah and Mohd. Faiz Yahaya .......................283

Mr. Shahrul Azman Shahbudin Mohd. Yusof Abdul Aziz, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Bakri Bakar and Saiful Hasley Ramli ....................................................................................................................282

Mr. Shahrul Azman Shahbudin Nurul A’in Razak, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Mohamizzam Mohammad, Rafidei Mohamad and Saiful Hasley Ramli .....................................................................283

Mr. Shahrul Azman Shahbudin Pang Lee Ping, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah and Bakri Bakar ....................................228

Mr. Shahrul Azman Shahbudin Redzwan Ab. Aziz, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Bakri Bakar and Arnis Aziz ..........228

Mrs. Idawaty Ahmad Shamala Subramaniam, Mohammad Othman and Zuriati Zulkarnain ................229

Mrs. Norfifah Bachok Anuar Ishak, Roslinda Nazar and Norazak Senu .................................................230

Mrs. Norfifah Bachok Anuar Ishak, Roslinda Nazar and Norazak Senu .................................................230

Mrs. Salmi Baharom Zarina Shukur .......................................................................................................284

Mrs. Sazrinee Zainal Abidin Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Muhamad Faizal Che Leh and Zulkifli Muslim .............................................................................................285

Mrs. Sazrinee Zainal Abidin Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Hassan Alli, Hasri Yunardi Hassan and Dahlia Nordin ....

286Mrs. Sazrinee Zainal Abidin

Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Hassan Alli, Hasri Yunardi Hassan, Rahinah Ibrahim and Tan Gay Ha ..........................................................................................................287

Mrs. Sazrinee Zainal Abidin Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Mohd. Azali Abd. Rahim, Muhammad Aiman Ahmad Fozi and Addy Putra Mohd. Zulkifli ....................................................................285

Mrs. Sharifah Kartini Said Husain Isamiddin S. Rakhimov and Munther A. Hassan .................................................286

Mr. W. Mahmood Mat Yunus Zainal Abidin Talib ..............................................................................................295

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Wan Md. Zin Wan Yunus Eili Mahboobeh, Zobir Hussein, Mansor Ahmad and Nor Azowa Ibrahim ........287

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Wan Md. Zin Wan Yunus Emad A. Jaffar Al-Mulla, Nor Azowa Ibrahim and Mohd. Zaki A. Rahman ......232

Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim Shaari Mohd. Faisal Mohd. Aris, Chen Soo Kien, Lim Kean Pah and Roslan Ab. ........263

Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim Shaari Mohd. Kamarulzaman Mansor, Chen Soo Kien, Zainal Abidin Talib and Sidek Ab. Aziz ...............................................................................................................263

Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim Shaari Walter Charles, Zainal Abidin Talib, W. Mohd Daud W. Yusoff, Z. Zalita and Elias Saion ...................................................................................................................233

Prof. Dr. Adem Kilicman Hassan Eltayeb .....................................................................................................288

Prof. Dr. Adem Kilicman Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia, ........................233

Prof. Dr. Anuar Kassim Majid Rezayi, Anuar Kassim, Saeid Ahmadzadeh, Tan Wee Tee, Nor Azah Yusof and Lee Yook Heng ..............................................................................................288

Prof. Dr. Borhanuddin Mohd. Ali Wisam F. Al Azoo, Pooria Varahram, Sabira Khatun, Syed M. Bilfagih and Nor K. Noordin ................................................................................................................234

Prof. Dr. Bujang Kim Huat

Sina Kazemian and Thamer A. Mohamed ...........................................................231Prof. Dr. Fauziah Othman

Mohammad Kadiavr, Asmah Rahmat and W. M. Z. Wan Nor Izzah ...................289Prof. Dr. Gwendoline Cheng Lian Ee

Teo Siow Hwa, Lim Chan Kiang and Mawardi Rahmani ...................................231Prof. Dr. Mahiran Basri

Atena Adnani, Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman and Abu Bakar Salleh .........289Prof. Dr. Mawardi Rahmani

Najihah Mohd. Hashim, Abdul Manaf Ali, Noorjahan Banu Alitheen and Rusea Go .........................................................................................................................234

Prof. Dr. Mawardi Rahmani Ratna Asmah Susidarti, M. Aspollah Sukari, Taufiq-Yap Yun Hin, Gwendoline Ee Cheng Lian and Abdul Manaf Ali ........................................................................290

Prof. Dr. Md. Jelas Haron Soleha M. Yusuff, Mariati Tiansih, Nor Azowa Ibrahim, Anuar Kassim and W.M.Z. Wan Yunus ..............................................................................................235

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Othman Ahmed Mohamedou .............................................................................................237

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Othman Ali Mohammed Mansoor Alsahag Alkazmi ........................................................236

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Othman Amin Shokripour and Hamidah Ibrahim .............................................................290

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Othman R. N. Farah ...........................................................................................................236

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Othman Tengku Dian Shahida and Mohamad Khazani Abdullah .....................................235

Prof. Dr . Mohd. Ali Hassan Mohd. Rafein Zakaria, Suraini Abd. Aziz, Farinazleen Mohd. Ghazali, Wakisaka Minato and Yoshihito Shirai ................................................................................238

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Ali Hassan Mohd. Zulkhairi Mohd. Yusoff, Nazlina Haiza Mohd. Yasin, Nor’ Aini Abdul Rahman, Suraini Abd. Aziz and Yoshihito Shirai ................................................237

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Aspollah Hj. Sukari Rahayu Utami Umar, Noorul Adawiyah Mustahil, Nurul Waznah Muhammad

Sharif, Taufiq Yap Yin Hun and Mawardi Rahmani ............................................291Prof. Dr. Mohd. Aspollah Sukari

Mohd. Zulkhairi Azid, Sugeng Riyanto, Gwendoline Ee Cheng Lian and Ahmad Bustamam Abdul ..................................................................................................291

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman Huan Qiu Yi, Mahiran Basri, Roghayeh Abedikarjiban, Bimo Ario Tejo and Abu Bakar Salleh ........................................................................................................239

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman Uswatun Hasanah Zaidan, Siti Salhah Othman, Mahiran Basri, Emilia Abdulmalek, Bimo Ario Tejo and Abu Bakar Salleh ...........................................238

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir Hussein Adilah Mohammad Jaafar, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Zulkarnain Zainal ................239

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir Hussein Mohammad Yeganeh Ghotbi, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Mohd. Zaki Abd. Rahman ....240

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir Hussein Mohammad Yeganeh Ghotbi, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Mohd. Zaki Abd. Rahman ....293

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir Hussein M. Yeganeh Ghotbi, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Mohd. Zaki Abd. Rahman .............293

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir Hussein Norhayati Hashim, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Zulkarnain Zainal ............................294

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir Hussein Wan Haizum Wan Nor Azmin, Muskhazli Mustafa and Asmah Hj. Yahaya .......240

Prof. Dr. Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd. Rahman Malihe Masomian, Abu Bakar Salleh and Mahiran Basri ...................................294

Prof. Dr. Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd. Rahman Randa Abdel Kareem Husein Abusham, Abu Bakar Salleh and Mahiran Basri .241

Prof. Dr. Ravshan Ashurov Almaz Butaev .......................................................................................................241

Prof. Dr. Zulkarnain Zainal Chang Sook Keng, Tan Kar Ban, Nor Azah Yusof, Wan Mohd Daud Wan Yusoff and S.R.S. Prabaharan ..........................................................................................232

Prof. Ir. Dr. Barkawi Sahari

List of Project TitlesAgriculture

An Economical Triploidy Verification Method and New Avenues for The Production of Polyploidy Line of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) ..................................13

Antioxidative Enzymes as Biochemical Markers in Malaysian Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars under Submergence Condition ...............................................................26

Are Non-muslims Aware of the Principles of Halal Food Products in Malaysia? ......14Assessment of Growth Condition for a Candidate Probiotic, Shewanella algae,

Isolated from the Digestive System of a Healthy Juvenile Penaeus monodon ........4Beekeeping in Pineapple Smallholdings: A Case of Apis Mellifera ..............................7Characteristics of Durian Shell as Support Media in Biofilter ....................................18Chlorophyll and SST Analyses from Satellite Remote Sensing ....................................2Concerns for Halalness of Halal-labelled Food Products among Muslim Consumers

in Malaysia: Evaluation of Selected Demographic Factors ...................................25Development of Morphology in Hatchery-reared Rutilus Frisii Kutum Larvae ...........8Diversity and Beneficial Endophytes from Mangosteen and Brunei Cherry .................4Economic Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture ............................................................20Effect of cGnRH-II on Maturation and Ovulation in Comparison to sGnRHa and

LHRHa ...................................................................................................................11Effect of Graded Dosage of Chicken Gonadotropin Releasing-hormone II (cGnRH-II)

in African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus ...................................................................10Efficient Recovery Method for Intracellular Polyhydroxyalkanoates by Non-solvent

System ....................................................................................................................22Embryonic Development of Caspian kutum, Rutilus frisii Kutum ................................9Factors Affecting the Decision Making in Off Farm Employment among Paddy

Farmers in Kemasin Semerak Granary Area .........................................................16First Hatching Success and Larval Development of Dog Conch, Strombus canarium

(Mollusca: Gastropoda) in a Laboratory Condition ................................................3Freshwater Sea Bass Module with Immune-enhancing Capability ...............................6Fusion SPOT-5 and Radarsat-1 Images for Mapping Major Bee Plants in Marang

District, Malaysia ...................................................................................................18

Genetic Characterisation by RAPD Analysis of Fusarium Species Isolated from Rice Plants Infected with Bakanae Disease ...................................................................17

Growth Response of Eight Tropical Turfgrass Species to Salinity ................................2H5 DNA Vaccine Encoding Mycobacterium Gene as Genetic Adjuvant Improved

Avian Influenza Virus Immune Responses in Chickens ........................................19Identification of Genetic Variation among Oil Palm Parent Genotypes and their

Progenies based on Microsatellite Markers .............................................................9Immobilised Periphytic Microalgae for Rapid and Efficient Removal of Toxic

Compounds from Water .........................................................................................19Improved Plantlet Production by Scalp Formation in Tissue Cultured Bananas .........26Improving Seed Viability and Vigour through Bio-priming ........................................22Increasing Phosphate use Efficiency of Oil Palm through the Use of Appropriate

Promoters from Selected Oil Palm Genotypes ......................................................24Induction of Maturation in Clarias gariepinus using Chicken Gonadotropin Releasing

Hormone Ii (cGnRh-Ii) in Combination with Pimozide ........................................11Investigation of the Effect of Allicin on Biofilm Growth and Gene Expression in

Candida albicans .....................................................................................................5Isolation and Identification of Fusarium species Isolated from Agricultural and Non-

agricultural Grasses ................................................................................................17Management of Citrus Huanglongbing Disease in Malaysia ........................................6New Nano-emulsion System in Weeds Control Formulations ....................................20New Technology for Zero Wastes Management and Utilisation ................................10Nitrate Assimilation and Vegetative Compatibility Groups of Fusarium proliferatum

and F. sacchari Isolated from Rice ........................................................................16Nitrogen Uptake by Some Upland Rice Landraces and Their Relationships to Root

Characteristics ........................................................................................................24Novel Feed Supplement for Aquaculture Animals derived from the Metabolites of

Probiotic Strain of Lactobacillus plantarum I-UL4 .................................................5Off-farm Employment Participation among Paddy Farmers in the Muda Agricultural

Development Authority and Kemasin Semerak Granary Areas of Malaysia ........15Oil Palm Metallothionein-like Gene (MT3-B) Promoter as an Inducible Promoter for

Root-specific Expression .........................................................................................1Pilot Scale Recovery of Organic Acids from Treated Palm Oil Mill Effleunt (POME) ..

21

Population Parameters of Planktonic Shrimp, Lucifer intermedius (Decapoda: Sergestidae) from Sungai Pulai Seagrass Beds, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia ..........3

Predict Location(s) of Apis dorsata Nesting Sites using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System in Melalaeuca Forest .........................................27

Production of Pisang Nangka (AAB) Disease Tolerant by Expressing the Rice Thaumatin-like Protein (TLP) Gene ......................................................................14

Regional Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness of Malaysian Palm Oil Products....................................................................................................................8

Shrimp Fishery: Genetic Structure of Planktonic Shrimp, Acetes japonicus (Decapoda: Sergestidae) of the Straits of Malacca Waters ....................................23

Soil Physical Properties Calculator ..............................................................................25Somatic Embryogenesis from Scutellar Embryo of Oryza sativa L. Var. MR219.........1Stress in Music Teaching: Identifying Job Related Stressors in the Context of

Malaysian National Schools ..................................................................................13Synchytrium: The Only Plant Pathogenic Chytrid in Malaysia ...................................12The use of Internet Applications in Managing Logistics Activities among Palm Oil

Industry Participants ..............................................................................................15Towards the Establishment of an Alternative Eukaryotic Expression System using

Unicellular Green Microalga ankistrodesmus Convolutus ....................................12Tracing of Phylogeny through Chromosomal Approaches in Malaysian Catfishes ....23Urban Backyard Module of Immuno-enhanced Marine Fish ........................................7Variation of Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Progenies Responses to High

Aluminium Concentrations in Solution Culture ....................................................21Water Use and Growth Efficiency of Nine Varieties of Hibiscus cannabinus (Kenaf) ..

27

Food A Comparison of the Antioxidant Properties and Total Phenolic Content in a Diatom,

Chaetoceros sp. and a Green Microalga, Nannochloropsis sp. .............................34A Home-used Protocol to Reduce Mercury Concentration in Fish Tissue ..................41Amino Acids Analysis for Distinguishing Bovine and Porcine Gelatins ....................37A Miracle of Mushroom: A Booster for Healthy Gut ..................................................31Analysis of Cod-liver Oil Adulteration using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR)

Spectroscopy ..........................................................................................................50

Application of Electronic Nose and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for Analysis of Lard Adulteration in Virgin Coconut Oil ............................................50

Application of FTIR Spectroscopy for the Determination of Virgin Coconut Oil in Binary Mixtures with Olive Oil and Palm Oil .......................................................49

Application of GC�GC-TOF-MS for Analysis of Regiospecific Isomer of Mono- and Diglyceride in Gycerolysis Products ...............................................................51

Characterisation and Stabilisation of Pytochemical-rich Hylocereus polyrhizus Seed Oil by Microencapsulation .....................................................................................33

Comparative Thermal Transition Behaviour of Porcine and Bovine Gelatins ............36Defatted Kenaf Seed as a Potential Source of Protein in Food Industry .....................43Development of Beverage Emulsion Formulation with Desirable Physicochemical

Properties as Function of Emulsion Composition .................................................35Development, Optimisation and Validation of RP-HPLC-FL Method for Simultaneous

Determination of Aflatoxins, Ochratoxin A and Zearalenone in Cereals ...............43Effect of Chemicals on Mycotoxin Reduction in Black and White Pepper ................40Effect of Different Pineapple Juice (Ananas comosus L.) Preparation on the

Microstructure, Staling and Textural Properties of Wheat Bread ..........................30Effect of Hypocholesterolemic Properties of Brown Rice Varieties Containing

Different Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Levels on Sprague-Dawley Male Rats ........................................................................................................................45

Effect of Pre-germination Time of Brown Rice on Serum Cholesterol Levels of Hypercholesterolaemic Rats ..................................................................................45

Effect of Roasting on Aflatoxins Reduction in Peanut ................................................39Effects of Meat Preheating and Wrapping on the Levels of Polycyclic Aromatic

Hydrocarbons in Charcoal-grilled Meat ................................................................40Equilibrium Headspace Analysis of Volatile Flavour Compounds Extracted from

Soursop (Annona muricata) using Comprehensive Two-dimensional Gas Chromatography Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) with Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction (HS-SPME) ...........................................32

Evaluation of GABA, Crude Protein and Amino Acid Composition from Different Varieties of Malaysian’s Brown Rice ....................................................................46

Extraction and Development of Reduced-fat (RF) Mayonnaise from Coconut Residue 32

Factors Influencing the Variation in Acrylamide Concentration in French Fries ........42

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy for Analysis of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Adulterated with Palm Oil ...............................................................................49

Gamma-oryzanol Rich Fraction Regulates the Expression of Antioxidant and Oxidative Stress Related Genes in Strenuous Exercise .........................................44

Gastrointestinal Tract Morphological Alteration by Unpleasant Physical Contact and Modulating Role of Lactobacillus in Broiler .........................................................47

Halal Encapsulation for Bifidobacteria (PI 2010001376) ...........................................31In Vitro Fermentation of Broiler Cecal Content: The Role of Lactobacilli and pH

Value on the Composition of Microbiota and End Products Fermentation ...........47Mee Fat from Madhuca longifolia Seeds as Raw Material for Halal Alternative Fats 35Modelling the Release of Volatile Flavour Compounds into the Headspace of

Beverage Emulsion as Function of Emulsion Composition ..................................36Physico-chemical Properties of Honeydew Melon and Musk Lime Seed Oils ..........38Polyphenols Powder: Creating the Value of Guava Puree Industrial Waste ................29Porcine-specific PCR Detection in Raw Meat .............................................................48Potential of Electronic Nose for Halal Authentication: Analysis of Lard’s Aroma .....48Potential Starter Culture to Inhibit Biogenic Amines Accumulation during Fish Sauce

Fermentation ..........................................................................................................30Preparation of Astaxanthin Nanodispersions using Multiple Emulsifier System via

Emulsification-evaporation Technique ..................................................................33Recovery of Squalene from Palm Fatty Acid Distillate using Supercritical Fluid

Extraction ...............................................................................................................29Risk Assessment of Contaminants in Malaysian High Temperature Cooked Foods ...41Screening and Optimisation of Edible Coating Components for Coating of Berangan

Banana (Musa sapientum Cv. Berangan) ..............................................................37Selected Microbial Groups and Short Chain Fatty Acids Profile in a Simulated

Chicken Cecum Supplemented with Two Strains of Lactobacillus ......................46Sucrose Laureate Stabilised Water-soluble Phytosterol Nanodispersions:

Characterisation and Stability Evaluation ..............................................................34The Effect of Different Maturity Stages on the Formation of Acrylamide in Banana

Fritters ....................................................................................................................42The Influence of Final Cooking Method on the Lipid Profile and Texture

Characteristics of Breaded Fillets ..........................................................................39The Influence of Storage Temperatures (0 °C And 4 °C) on the Biogenic Amine

Formation and Quality of Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) ......................................38Vanillin: A Novel Non-toxic Anti-colorectal Cancer Agent used in Food Flavoring

Industry ..................................................................................................................44

Health Adaptability of MRSA to Different Host: A Proteomic Approach ..............................71A Molecular Diagnostic Kit to Monitor Response of Standard Chemotherapy in AML

Patients ...................................................................................................................64An Effective Approach to Prevent Spread of Novel MRSA Clones with Known

Epidemic and Pathogenic Potential ......................................................................65Anti-inflammatory and Anti-pyretic Effects of Hexane Fraction of Ardisia crispa ....67Antinociceptive Activity of the Essential Oil of Zingiber zerumbet ............................78Apoptotic Cell Death in the Mechanism of Hepatotoxicity induced by Azole

Antifungal Drug Itraconazole ................................................................................59A Rapid Dipstick Immunoassay based on Recombinant SAG1 for Detection of

Immunoglobulin G (Igg) and M (Igm) Antibodies in Human Toxoplasmosis ....77Artificial Conduit for Coronary Heart Diseases ..........................................................71A Simple and Fast Method for Combating Therapeutically Challenging Planktonic

and Biofilm S.aureus .............................................................................................57Association between Self-perception of Stress and Prevalence of Selected Chronic

Diseases among Malaysian Elderly .......................................................................74BHMC, A Curcuminoid Derivative, Attenuates Proinflammatory Mediator and

Adhesion Molecule Expression via Selective Disruption of P38 MAP Kinase Activity ..................................................................................................................76

Bixa orellana (Kesumba) Suppresses Acute Inflammation Induced by Bradykinin ...60Bonigen: A Potential Anti-biofilm Bone Substitute .....................................................77Cancer Protection Properties from Pandanus amaryllifolius ......................................75Challenges to the use of Seat Belt among Car Occupants in Malaysia .......................63Cocoa Autolysate: A New Perspective for Its Health Effects .....................................56Design, Development and Efficacy of an Email-linked-website for Promoting Cancer

Prevention through Nutrition and Lifestyle Behaviour Change ...........................58Does Age affect Microglia Responses following Activation by Lipopolysaccharide or

Beta Amyloid? .......................................................................................................70Effect of Momordica charantia on Histopathological Changes associated with STZ-

Induced Diabetes in Neonatal Rats ........................................................................73Elevated Neutrophil Respiratory Burst Activity in Essential Hypertensive Patients ..66Ergonomics Furniture for Primary School in Malaysia ...............................................69Evaluation of Two Ergonomics Intervention Programmes in Reducing Ergonomic

Risk Factors of Musculoskeletal Disorder among School Children ......................69Factors associated with Self Rated Health among Older Persons in Peninsular

Malaysia .................................................................................................................75Flavonoids Synergise to Inhibit Major Proinflammatory Mediator Secretion and

Protect Mice against Lethal Sepsis ........................................................................76Germinated Brown Rice for Prevention of Colon Cancer ...........................................64Histone Demethylase KDM5B Regulates Cellular Proliferation and Invasion via the

E2F/RB Pathway ....................................................................................................61HPLC and Anti-inflammatory Studies of the Flavonoid Rich Chloroform Extract

Fraction of Orthosiphon stamineus Leaves ...........................................................68Imaging in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: The Value of 18-Florine Fluorodeoxyglucose

PET/CT in comparison to Conventional Imaging Modalities CT and MRI ..........55Invention/Innovation Title: The Suppression Mechanism of Rice Bran Phytic Acid in

In Vivo and In Vitro Studies as Anticancer Agent .................................................74Is a Child Occupant in a Passenger Car Safe? .............................................................62Mesenchymal Stem Cells Modulate Neutrophils’ Respiratory Burst Activity: An

Impact on Chronic Inflammatory Diseases ...........................................................67Nordamnacanthal Induced Apoptosis but with Different Mechanisms in the Solid and

Non-solid Tumour Cells .........................................................................................63Novel Nanoliposomal Gene Delivery Formulation .....................................................58Orthosiphon stamineus Leaf Extract Protects against Ethanol-induced Gastropathy in

Rats ........................................................................................................................68PET-CT as an Effective Imaging Modality in the Staging and Follow-up of Post-

transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder following Solid Organ Transplantation 56Potential Anti-inflammatory Properties of Tocotrienols on Microglia ........................70Potential False Positive Active Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis Lesions on FDG PET/

CT Imaging in Malignancy ....................................................................................55Potential Hazards from Transmission of Livestock associated with ST 9 MRSA to

Humans ..................................................................................................................72Protective Effect of Bauhinia purpurea Leaf Extracts against Indomethacin-induced

Gastric Ulcers in Rats ............................................................................................59Quantification of Total Phenolics in Different Parts of Pluchea indica (Less)

Ethanolic and Water Extracts .................................................................................66Quantitative Ultrasound of the Calcaneus in Malaysian Elderly and Its Association

with Socio-demographic Factors and Anthropometric Indicators .........................57Recombinant Vectors for Cancer Gene Therapy ..........................................................73Retroviral Nucleic Acid and Method of Use ................................................................72Skeletal Muscle Mass and Its Association with Anthropometric Measurements and

Functional Status among Elderly Malays .............................................................60The Antinociceptive and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Mitragyna speciosa Korth

Extract ....................................................................................................................78The Effects of Mitragynine from Mitragyna speciosa Korth Leaves on Working

Memory in Mice ....................................................................................................65The Role of Andographis panniculata (Hempedu Bumi) as a Cholesterol-lowering

Agent ......................................................................................................................61Traffic Light Violations among Motorists in Malaysia: Why and When? ...................62

Forestry & Environment Acacia Mangium Tannin as Formaldehyde Scavenger for Low Molecular Weight

Phenol-formaldehyde Resin in Bonding Tropical Plywood ..................................87A General Model for Estimating Tropical Forest Biomass ..........................................92Application of Chemometric Technique in Identifying Sources Apportionment of

PAHs in Sediment Sample Collected from South China Sea ................................85Application of Hopanes as a Biomarker in Identifying the Source of Oil Pollution: A

Case Study in Surface Sediments from South China Sea ......................................84Asplenium nidus - A Drought Tolerant Epiphytic Fern Suitable for Extreme

Environment ...........................................................................................................81Assessment of Forest Fire E Structure Characteristics ................................................81Bioconversion of Malaysia Major LignocellulosicWaste to Ethanol .........................93Cattle Grazing Influences on the Heavy Metals Concentration in Tropical Pastures

Soils........................................................................................................................88Chemometric Approach to Validating Faecal Sterols as Source Tracer for Faecal

Contamination in Water from Langat River, Malaysia ..........................................92Comparison of Selected Chemical Properties of Peat Swamp Soil Before and After

Timber Harvesting in Sarawak ..............................................................................97Compreg Laminates Made from Low Density Wood ..................................................91Conservation of the Wild Limestone Orchids in Padawan, Kuching, Sarawak ...........89Corybas: The Endangered Endemic Orchids in Our Exhausted Highlands of

Peninsular Malaysia ...............................................................................................89Determinants of Worker’s Health and Safety in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture

Industry ..................................................................................................................83Determination of Heavy Metals in Aquaculture Fish from Selected Locations in the

Straits of Malacca ..................................................................................................85Determining and Mapping of Vegetation using GIS and Phytosociological Approach

in Mount Tahan, Malaysia .....................................................................................94Distribution of Heavy Metal Concentrations in Different Soft Tissues and Shells of

the Bivalve psammotaea Elongata and Gastropod faunus after Collected from Pantai Sri Tujuh, Kelantan .....................................................................................91

DNA Profiling Database of Chengal: Implication for Forensic Forestry Investigations .82

Effect of Logging Operations on Soil Carbon Storage of a Tropical Peat Swamp Forest in Sarawak ...................................................................................................96

Effect of Organic Fertiliser on the Growth Performance of Tyrsostachys siamensis (Buluh Siam) in Malaysia ......................................................................................82

Effect of Precipitation Fluctuation on Soil Carbon Storage of a Tropical Peat Swamp Forest in Sarawak ...................................................................................................97

Fungal Diversity in Wounded Stems of Aquilaria malaccensis ..................................96Heavy Metal Concentrations in Ceiling Fan and Roadside Car Park Dust Collected

from Residential Colleges in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor ........90Importance of Freshwater Wetlands for Migratory Birds ............................................86Improvement on Kenaf-ecoflex Interactions in Green Composite .............................95Liquefaction of Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) Core for Wood Laminating Adhesive

88New Species, Are They a Possible Find in Our Fast Degrading Forest.......................90Occupancy Modelling of the Leopard (Panthera Pardus) as a Function of Human and

Natural Factors in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor ......................................87Photodegradation of Sulfadiazine by Goethite-oxalate Suspension under UV Light

Irradiation ...............................................................................................................93

Public Perceptions on the Development of Kenaf Industry in Malaysia .....................84Reliability of the Visual Resource Assessment Procedure in Assessing Malaysian

Visual Landscape Quality ......................................................................................98Removal of Heavy Metals from Textile Wastewater using Zeolite .............................95Soil Disturbance from Different Mechanised Harvesting in Hill Tropical Forest,

Peninsular Malaysia ...............................................................................................94Tool Wear Characteristics of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Particleboard ..................83Understorey Bird Responses to the Edge-interior Gradient in an Isolated Tropical

Rainforest of Malaysia ...........................................................................................86

Social Sciences A Comprehensive Vocabulary Teaching-testing Teacher-assist Kit ...........................113Acquirer-provider Knowledge Management in Complex Manufacturing Technology

Implementation ....................................................................................................130Adequacy of Summary Measures of Fit in Binary Response Model .........................107AFTA and the Intra-trade Patterns among ASEAN-5 Economies: Trade-enhancing or

Trade-inhibiting ...................................................................................................127Allocating Unauthorised Credit Card Payment Losses: The Credit Card Guidelines

and Consumer Protection .....................................................................................128Amalan Komunikasi Berkualiti dalam Keluarga: Strategi Menangani Salahlaku

Remaja .................................................................................................................182Analytic Scale of Argumentative Writing (ASAW) ...................................................113Appropriating Shakespeare for the Malaysian Stage: A Case Study of a Play

Production Project ................................................................................................130A Preliminary Study on Occupational Stress and Job Satisfaction among Male Navy

Personnel at a Naval Base in Lumut, Malaysia ...................................................144A Profile of Malaysian Public Sector Managers’ Career Success ..............................156Aquaculture Industry Potential and Issues: A Case from Cage Culture System

Entrepreneurs: Suggestions for Intensification of Aquaculture Industry .............115Asian Financial Integration During the Pre and Post Crisis Periods .........................176Assessment of Physical Activity of Universiti Putra Malaysia Staff using a Pedometer

124Assessment Tools for Sustainability in Higher Education to Create Sustainable

Campus ................................................................................................................141

Attributes and Work Values of MBA Graduates for Employability ..........................110Audience at Art Music Concert in Malaysia ..............................................................143Barriers to Continuing Education among Working Muslim Women in Government

and Semi-government Organisations in Malaysia ...............................................181Barriers to Driving among Older Drivers ..................................................................168Basic Elements of Communication Competence .......................................................142Being Critical for Transformation: Knowledge Super Corridors in Developing

Countries ..............................................................................................................179Budaya Kepenggunaan Masyarakat Orang Asli di Daerah Hulu Langat, Selangor .157Bullying and Depression among Teenagers ...............................................................159Cluster Development Plan Framework ......................................................................135Community Participation in Community Development: A Case Study in a Planned

Village Settlement in Malaysia ............................................................................104Comparing Physical Activity of Malaysian Malay Men Before, During, and After

Ramadan ..............................................................................................................123Complexity Advantage of MSC Malaysia for Transformation ..................................178Computer Games Development and Appreciative Learning Approach for Creative

Perception Enhancement ......................................................................................125Consumer Decision Making Process in Shopping for Halal Foods in Malaysia ......147Corporate Governance, External Audit and the Audit Process ..................................108Corpus of the Language of Nursing ...........................................................................112Correlates of Family Strength in Malaysia ................................................................172Defederalising Water Resource Management in Malaysia ........................................159Delivering and Implementing HRD: Provisions of, Levels and Spending for Training

in Malaysian Manufacturing Firms ......................................................................109Demand for Food Safety Attributes for Vegetables in Malaysia ...............................180Determinants of Corporate Demands for Islamic Insurance in Malaysia ..................106Determinants of Deforestation in Peninsular Malaysia: An ARDL Approach ..........165Determinants of Income Security of Older Persons in Peninsular Malaysia .............136Determinants of Sustainable Development Dimension among Leaders of Rural

Community: A Case Study of Malaysia ...............................................................104Development a Sociopsychological Framework to Map Language Choice and Use in

the Legal Workplace ............................................................................................102Development of OSH Legislation in Malaysia: With Special Reference to the FMA

(Amendment) Act 2006 ........................................................................................120Different Variants of the Monetary Model: Malaysian Experience in the Pre- and

Post-crisis Periods ................................................................................................142Different Yet Similar: Study on Mongindong by Diris, Gustimin, Pariama and Tulai

from Murok Village and Baba Village .................................................................131Do Children with Different Attachment Type Perceive Different Parental Rearing? 118Does News Media Consumption Influences National Pride? ....................................106Dropout Prevention Practices of “Turned Around” At-risk Secondary School .........101Dynamic Analysis of Regional Convergence in Indonesia ........................................126Economic Well-being and Coping Behaviours of Low Income Housing Residence

During Recent Economic Downturn ....................................................................121Effect of Intelligent Tutoring System on Students’ Achievement in Mathematics ....102Emotional Exhaustion and Parental Functioning of Junior Medical Doctors ............175Employees’ Acceptance Level in Reengineering Process among Malaysian Services

Organisation .........................................................................................................147Entrepreneurial Leadership Competencies Development: The Pervasive Role of

Experience and Social Interaction Learning ........................................................183Essences and Meaning of Being Mandated for Counselling .....................................144Ethical Perception: Are Differences between Ethnic Groups Situation Dependent? .135Evaluating the Impact of a Rapidly Changing Economic Environment on Bank

Financial Performance .........................................................................................139Examining the Entrepreneurial Attitudes of Vocational and Technical Students in

Malaysian Secondary Schools .............................................................................140Exchange Rate Misalignment, Volatility and Import Flows in Malaysia ..................169Exploring the Dialogical Self and the Society in Literary Works by Malaysian,

American and Canadian Writers ..........................................................................161Export of Medium Density Fibreboard: Evidence from Panel Data ..........................166Factors Influencing Local People’s Participation in Watershed Management

Programmes in Iran ..............................................................................................105Factors Influencing Social Activism among Campus Youth in Sri Lanka .................177Factor Structure and Reliability of the Elder Abuse Instrument in Older Malaysians ....

124Faktor-faktor yang Mempengaruhi Penagihan Relaps dalam Kalangan Penagih Dadah

di Malaysia ...........................................................................................................105

Financial and Economics Analyses of Conventional and Reduced Impact Logging Practices ...............................................................................................................165

Food Insecurity among Urban Welfare Recipient Households in Hulu Langat Selangor ...............................................................................................................152

Foot Anthropometry for Design Shoes among Preschool Children in Malaysia .......171Franchise Act 1998 or the Common Law: A Question of Primacy ............................162Green Home Attributes in Environmental Choice Modelling ...................................173Holistic Argumentative Writing Scale (HAWS) ........................................................111How True Malays Are You? - Software Hati Budi Melayu (HB Melayu) Will Tell

You! ......................................................................................................................179Human Governance: A Neglected Mantra for Continuous Performance Improvement ..

103Identification of Competencies for Malaysian Occupational Safety and Health

Professionals using Delphi Technique .................................................................180Identifying Psychiatric Disorders among Older Persons Living in the Community: A

Comparison between Clinical Diagnosis and GMS-AGECAT in Johor, Malaysia ...125

Impacts of Trade Liberalisation on Aggregate Import in Bangladesh: An ARDL Bounds Test Approach .........................................................................................127

Implementing Training in Manufacturing Firms: Training Methods, Venue and Provider ................................................................................................................109

Income Security Trends among Malaysian Elderly ...................................................137Influence of Gender on Career Readiness among Malaysian Undergraduates ..........145Instrumental and Emotional Support to the Female Headed Households .................145Islamic Revivalism, Religious Freedom and the Non-Muslims in Malaysia: A

Preliminary Discussion ........................................................................................129Japanese Yen as an Alternative Vehicle Currency in Asian Countries .......................176Kajian Pembentukan Model-psikologikal dalam Memahami Isu Sosial Belia di

Lembah Klang ......................................................................................................184Keberkesanan Modul Pemulihan Dadah Ke Atas Motivasi Pencapaian dalam

Kalangan Pelatih Pusat Serenti di Sepang ...........................................................134Keberkesanan Modul Pemulihan Dadah Terhadap Konsep Kendiri Penagih Wanita .....

133Kecondongan Asimilasi Bahasa dan Nilai Budaya Melayu dalam Kalangan

Masyarakat Baba dan Nyonya di Melaka ............................................................161Keperluan Ciri-ciri Portal E-komuniti Berkonsepkan Minda Kelas Pertama ............182Keterlibatan Audien Belia dengan Mesej-mesej Perpaduan dalam Kempen

Kemasyarakatan di Televisyen Malaysia .............................................................150Komunikasi Keluarga dalam Kalangan Keluarga Tani di Malaysia ..........................122Learners’ Attitude towards Learning through CD-ROM Courseware: A Case Study of

an Organisation ....................................................................................................181Level of Knowledge, Attitude and Perception among Working and Non-working

Housewives towards Solid Waste Recycling Practices in Malaysia ....................173Linking CRM Strategy, Customer Performance Measures and Performance in the

Hotel Industry ......................................................................................................151Living Arrangements and Poverty Trends among Elderly in Peninsular Malaysia ...171Loneliness, Stress, Self Esteem and Depression among Malaysian Adolescents ......158Long Run Relationship between Malaysian Stock Market and Agriculture Sector ..140Major Challenges to the Effective Management of Human Resource Training and

Development Activities ........................................................................................108Market-orientation and Islamic Business Practices in Malaysia ...............................155Mobility Pattern among the Older Adult Road User .................................................121Moderating Role of Self-worth between Financial Management Practices and

Financial Well-being ............................................................................................170Motivational Perception of Superiors and Subordinates: The Case of Malaysia ......134Needs vs Wants: Examining Employees’ Needs and Wants for Workplace ESL

Training ................................................................................................................131Nurse-Lexis 1.0 ..........................................................................................................112On the Measurement of Changes in Product Quality in Marginal Intra Industry Trade ..

117Path-analysis Model of the Development of Handicraft (Batik) Industries in Kelantan,

Malaysia ...............................................................................................................146Pembangunan Modal Insan: Pendekatan dan Aspirasi Keusahawanan Belia ............167Pembentukan Indeks Pengukuran Komunikasi Berkesan: Strategi Pengurusan Konflik

di Kalangan Pembantu Rumah Asing Indonesia dan Majikan Malaysia .............137Pengembangan Potensi Homestay dari Perspektif Pendekatan Pembangunan

Komuniti Berasaskan Aset (ABCD): Kajian Kes Bario Sarawak .......................146Pengetahuan ICT dan Pembinaan Modal Insan Komuniti Belia Orang Asli dalam Era

Globalisasi ............................................................................................................156Pengguguran Vokal Tinggi Dialek Kelantan Berdasarkan Teori Optimaliti ..............128Penggunaan Istilah Arab dalam Sistem dan Produk Perbankan Islam Tempatan ......117Penggunaan Perisian Sumber Terbuka dalam Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran

Matematik Kalkulus dalam Kalangan Pelajar di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi .......129Perbandingan Faktor Penagihan Dadah dalam Kalangan Penagih Wanita di Puspen,

Penjara Kajang dan Pusat Khidmat Komuniti .....................................................136Perbezaan Pengetahuan, Sikap dan Amalan Kitar Semula Isirumah Bandar dan Luar

Bandar ..................................................................................................................167Personality and Behavioural Factors as Predictors of Investment in Risky Assets

among Families ....................................................................................................170Physical and Financial Capitals, Social Capital, Human Capitals, Natural Capitals and

Work Performance of Employees in Malaysian Public Sector ............................114Portfolio Optimisation of Equity Mutual Funds - A Case Study of Malaysia ...........174Professional Development within ELT Material Development .................................114Profiling of Multiple Intelligences and Learning Style of Secondary School Students

in Malaysia ...........................................................................................................160Projecting (New) International Reputation Management in an Asian Country .........163Psychometric Properties of the Medical Outcome Study (MOS) Social Support

Survey among Older Persons in Peninsular Malaysia .........................................168Putra University Major Finder and Career Guidance Software .................................122Quality of Life (QoL): Comparison between Honeycomb Housing and Terrace

Houses ..................................................................................................................185Reciprocity at Any Cost? ...........................................................................................149Reintegrating Spirituality into Higher Education ......................................................103Relationship between Learning Style and Enterprising Competencies among

University Students ..............................................................................................157Relationships between Satisfaction of Muslim Women on Financial Supports After

Divorce and Ex-husbands’ Compliance to the Supports with Post-divorce Welfare .148

Risk and Efficiency of Malaysian Commercial Banks ..............................................132Segmental Reporting by Malaysian Companies: IAS 14 versus MASB 22 ..............107Semangat Patriotisme dalam Kalangan Mahasiswa Bukan Melayu di IPT Sekitar

Lembah Kelang ....................................................................................................141

Servicescape Failure and Recovery Strategy in the Food Service Industry: How to Satisfy the Angry Customers? ..............................................................................148

Shareholder Concentration, Accounting Earnings and Share Price Changes ............132Short- and Long-run Effects of Sustainable Forest Management Practices on West

Malaysian Log Supply: An ARDL Approach ......................................................164Short Run and Long Run Effects of the World Crude Oil Prices on the Malaysian

Natural Rubber and Palm Oil Export Prices ........................................................164Social and Psychological Analysis on Honeycomb Housing ....................................184Social Skill, Work Ethics, Spiritual Quotient and Work Values in Medical Education ...

174Socio-demographic Factors that Impinge Youth Acceptance towards Agriculture: The

Case of Contract Farming in Malaysia ................................................................138Spillover Effects of Foreign Hypermarkets on Domestic Suppliers in Malaysia ......158Students’ Perspectives on the Nature of the PhD Thesis Supervisory Relationship:

Implications for UPM as a Research University ..................................................101Technological Evolution and Dynamism of Print Media Editorial Activities in

Malaysia ...............................................................................................................123Teori Pemilihan Kerjaya Holland: Analisis Kerjaya Keusahawanan Pelajar

Berkemahiran Tinggi ...........................................................................................166Tests of Different Monetary Aggregates for the Monetary Models of the Exchange

Rate in Five ASEAN Countries ...........................................................................143The Determinant of Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN: A Semi-Gravity Approach .

153The Development of the Mediated Employer-Employee Language Profile (MELP) as

a Mechanism to Benchmark English Language Needs of the Malaysian Service Sector Industry .....................................................................................................119

The Effectiveness of Training in the Public Service ..................................................110The Effect of ASEAN Economic Integration on Foreign Direct Investment ............153The Effect of Belief in God on the Psychological Well-being among Elderly Malays ...

154The Effect of Joint Audit and Non-audit Services on Perceived Auditor Independence .

126The Effect of Organisational Learning on Organisational Commitment, Job

Satisfaction and Work Performance .....................................................................183

The Effects of Value Orientations and Perceived Benefits on Online Shopping Behaviour .............................................................................................................115

The Influence of Cultural Similarity and Individual Factors on Visitation................150The Influence of Types of Social Support on Self-rated Health among Elderly

Malaysians ...........................................................................................................154The Influences of Absorptive Capacity and Social Capital on Knowledge Transfer .149The ME(TM) Tool (A Tool to Measure Human Engagement Behaviour) .................152The Role of Financial Development on Income Inequality in Malaysia ...................116The Role of Person-Job Fit Perception in Work Adjustment of New Academics in

Public Universities ...............................................................................................151The Theoretical Impact of the Listing of Syariah-approved Stocks on Stock Price and

Trading Volume ....................................................................................................139Tingkah Laku Pembelian Remaja di Pasaraya dan Pengaruh Persekitaran ...............160Tokoh Pembinaan Bahasa Melayu Serantau 35 Tahun MABBIM ............................118Trade Openness, Capital Flows and Financial Development in Developing Economies

116Trade Sustainability in the Forestry Domain: The Case of Malaysia ........................169Training Needs Assessment and Analysis: A Case of Malaysian Manufacturing Firms .

111Unconscionability - Statutory Prevention of Unethical Business Practices ..............162Understanding IT Skills Development in Accounting Degree Programme: A Core

Phenomenon .........................................................................................................155Understanding Psychosocial Behavioural Patterns: Factors and Problems in School to

University Transition ...........................................................................................178Utilisation of Problem-based Learning in Enhancing Learning of Calculus for

Engineering Students ...........................................................................................119Values in the Workplace: The Moral Compass That Influences Behaviour ...............133West Malaysian Sawntimber Supply Analysis: Incorporating Sustainable Forest

Management Policy .............................................................................................163Work-family Conflict among Single Mother Employees ..........................................175Working Capital Management and Corporate Performance: Case of Malaysia ........172Working in Old Age ...................................................................................................138Work Values of National Dual Training Programme Apprentices .............................120

Science, Technology & Engineering A Backward Fault Recovery Mechanism in Preemptive Utility Accrual Real Time

Scheduling Algorithm ..........................................................................................229A Discrete Event Modelling and Simulation of Wave Division Multiplexing ..........212Advanced Manufacturing Technology Implementation Evaluation Tool (AMTIET) .....

259A Framework of Knowledge Management (KM) Strategies of Open Source Software

Development (OSSD) with Collaborative Environment .....................................220Aggregating Group MCDM Problems using a Fuzzy Delphi Model for Personnel

Performance Appraisal .........................................................................................207A Method for Mass Producing of High-purity Graphitic Carbon NanoSphere .........206AMiR: An Autonomous Miniature Robot..................................................................269Analytical Evaluation of Unfairness Problem in Wireless LANs ..............................237An Embedded Explicit Runge-Kutta-Nystrom Method for Solving Oscillatory

Problems ..............................................................................................................271An Enzyme-based Biosensor for Determination of Formaldehyde in Fish and Fish

Products................................................................................................................191An Evasion Differential Game in Hilbert Space ........................................................192A New Algorithm for Divisible Load Schedulling with Different Processor Available

Times ....................................................................................................................290A New Approach in Cryptographic Systems using Fractal Image Coding ................198A New Path Estimation Strategy for Predicting Blind Persons’ Motion in Indoor

Environments .......................................................................................................227A New Two-step Gradient-type Method for Large-scale Unconstrained Optimisation ..

214A New Vertical Edge Detection Algorithm ................................................................212A New Vertical Edge Detection Algorithm ................................................................221An Improved Binary Method for Scalar Multiplication in Elliptic Curve

Cryptography .......................................................................................................199An Innovative Method to Reduce Evaporation by using Indigenous Material .........284An Invariant Approach to the Classification Problem of Finite-dimensional Filiform

Leibniz Algebras ..................................................................................................195Anonymous Author Discovery from Writing Style ...................................................217

A Novel Chrome (VI) PVC Sensor based on Complex Ionophore for Industrial Wastes ..................................................................................................................288

A Novel Method of Handling Material ......................................................................266A Novel Thermostable and Organic Solvent Tolerant Lipase from Aneurinibacillus

thermoaerophilus Strain HZ ...............................................................................294Apparatus for Automated Blending and Agitated Cooking .......................................274Application of Oscillatory Flow Biodiesel Reactor to Convert Jatropha curcas

Triglycerides into Biodiesel .................................................................................258A Proactive Architecture for Heterogeneous Subsystems Interoperability in Intelligent

Building................................................................................................................189A Study on Designing Optimal Layout by Metaheuristic Approaches for Optimising

Planting Areas ......................................................................................................209Authorised Control Frame Model to Prevent Virtual Carrier Sense DoS Attacks in

IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks ..........................................................................244Automated Generated 3D Reconstruction of Coronary Artery Tree in Angiogram

Images ..................................................................................................................205A XML based, User-centered Privacy Model in Pervasive Computing Systems ......271A Zero-dissipative Runge-Kutta-Nystrom Method with Minimal Phase-lag ............211Bio-based Kenaf Fibre Dielectric Composite: Electronic Goes Green .....................210Biodegradability and Controlled Release Studies on Carboxymethyl Cellulose

Hydrogels from Sago Waste ................................................................................253Biohydrogen Production from Food Waste Fermentation .........................................215Bottleneck Link Utilisation with New-additive Increase Multiplicative Decrease

Congestion Avoidance and Control Algorithm ....................................................224CEV: Cyberjaya Electric Vehicle ...............................................................................225Characterisation of Activated Carbon Derived from Durian Shell and Evaluation on

the Potential Removal of Toluene Vapour ...........................................................218Chemistry of Artocarpus kemando and Artocarpus odoratissimus .........................231Chicken Portable and Hygienic Slaughtering ............................................................286Classification Problem for PDE(S) with Variable Coefficients .................................288Clothing Storage ........................................................................................................224Cluster Based Routing Protocol for Mobile Nodes in Wireless Sensor Network ......202Coalescence of XML-based Really Simple Syndycator (RSS) .................................244Cola Nitida: A Potential Anticancer Agent in Hepatocarcinogenesis .......................289

Comamonas putranensis Sp. nov., a Novel Bacterium Producing Polyhydroxyalkanoates from Palm Oil Mill Effluent ..........................................238

Combinatorial Properties of Modified Chordal Rings Degree Four Networks .........236Comparative Study of the Digestive System of Red Jungle Fowl, Native Village

Chicken and Commercial Broiler ........................................................................298Comparison Kenaf Whole Pulp versus Softwood Pulp and Mechanical Treatment

(Beating) to Improve Old Corrugated Board (OCC) ...........................................196Comparison of MPI Benchmark Programs on Shared Memory and Distributed

Memory Machines (Point-to-Point Communication) ..........................................216Compression Testing Jig for Composite Buckling under Delamination at Sub-

laminate Layer .....................................................................................................267Concatenated Multi-dimensional Modulating Transmitter and Receiver for Digital

Communication Systems .....................................................................................234Controlled Release Formulation of 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetate based on Zn-Al-

Layered Double Hydroxide Nanohybrid .............................................................239Controlled Release Formulation of Agrochemical Pesticide based on

4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)butyrate .........................................................................294Cosmo Ball in Wastewater Treatment ........................................................................221Coupling Parallel Buildings by using Viscous Dampers under Dynamic Vibration .292Cream Spreader Device .............................................................................................298Design and Prototype of an Ergonomic Back-leaning Posture Support for Motorbike

Riders ...................................................................................................................296Design, Fabrication and Characterisation of Copper Selenide based Thin Film

Semiconductor as Photovoltaic Cell ....................................................................260Development of a Heuristic Model for Balancing of Mixed-model in Parallel

Assembly Lines (Type II) ....................................................................................243Development of a New Approach for Deterministic Supply Chain Network Design .....

258Development of a New Minimum Avoidance System for a Behaviour-based Mobile

Robot ....................................................................................................................265Development of Computational System in Safety Evaluation of Infrastructures such

as Roller Compacted Concrete Dams ..................................................................292Development of Ijuk (Arenga pinnata) Fibre Biocomposite for Small Boat

Application ...........................................................................................................275

Development of Macro Language for Robotics Behaviour Representing Spatial Relationships in Natural Language ......................................................................190

Development of Nanoconductivity Meter for Nanofluids .........................................260Development of Numerical 3D Finite Element Code F to Slimulate Structural

Response of Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete Bridges ...............................197Development of School Site Selection Model ...........................................................187Device for Extracting Coconut Juice .........................................................................280Diagnostic-robust Generalised Potentials for the Identification of Multiple High

Leverage Points ....................................................................................................247Diagonally Implicit Runge-Kutta Fourth Order Four-stage Method with Minimised

Error Norm for Solving Ordinary Differential Equations ....................................192Dialogue-based Visualisation for Quranic Text .........................................................264Disease Transmission MSEIR Model with Individuals Travelling between Patches i

and i+1 .................................................................................................................199Effect of Co Substitution on Magnetic and Magnetoresistance Effect in La0.67(Ba1-

xCox)0.33MnO3 System .....................................................................................214Effect of Internal Heat Generation on Marangoni Convection in a Fluid Saturated

Porous Medium ....................................................................................................257Effect of Nonuniform Temperature and Magnetic Field on Marangoni Convection .256Effect of Normal Contaminants on the Power of ZMAD ..........................................255Effects of MgO on Dielectric Properties and Electrical Conductivity of Ternary Zinc

Magnesium Phosphate Glasses ............................................................................209Efficient Rainwater Harvesting System for Terrace Housing ....................................261Electrochemical DNA Biosensor for the Detection of Specific Gene related to

Trichoderma harzianum Species ........................................................................256EMO: The Ajustable Hanging Table ..........................................................................228Enhancement of Critical Current Density in Non-stoichiometric MgB2

Superconductor ....................................................................................................263Enhancing Wireless Medium Access Control Layer Misbehaviour Detection System

in IEEE 802.11 Network ......................................................................................236Enzymatic Synthesis of Fatty Amides from Palm Olein ...........................................232Evaluation Linerboard Properties from Malaysian Cultivated Kenaf Soda-

anthraquinone Pulp Versus Commercial Pulps ....................................................196Evolutionary Algorithms for INS Error Prediction ....................................................269

Extracting Information from Semi-structured Web Pages .........................................194Fabrication of Functionally Graded Material by Pressureless Method .....................262Fast Hybrid Image Processing based on Graphic Processing Unit ............................270Fast ZeroX Algorithm for Routing in Optical Multistage Interconnection Networks .....

235FIOF: 4 in 1 Compact Portable Furniture ..................................................................228Flexibility Improvement of Poly (Lactic Acid) by Stearate Modified Layered Double

Hydroxide ............................................................................................................287Food Marinade Container ..........................................................................................287Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) Hyperspectral Scanner ......................................................190Fully Dress: Dressing Table with Full View Mirror ..................................................279Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide with Raspberry- and Plate-like Nanostructures using

Bacillus cereus as a Biotemplating Agent ...........................................................240Hydroxamic Acid Grafted Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fibre for Heavy Metal

Removal ...............................................................................................................235Hyperspectral Urban Feature Detection System ........................................................210Implementation of BB84 protocol on UDP 802.11i ..................................................276Improving Triple Play Services using Multi Protocol Label Switching Technology 248Insight of Self-assembly Formation of Palm-based Esters Nano-emulsion ..............239Investigation of Switching Duration for 3-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped Inverter ...270In Vitro Cytotoxic Study of Clausena excavata and Its Chemical Constituents.......291Irradiated and Crosslinked Ethylene Vinyl Acetate/Waste Tire Dust (EVA/WTD)

Blend ....................................................................................................................251Isomorphism Classes of Low-dimensional Dialgebras ..............................................248Koye Kacang Powder Forming Machine ...................................................................219Large Scale Dielectrophoretic Separation of Cells ....................................................276Localising Integrity Constraints Checking in Distributed Databases ........................195Manufacture and Application of Nano Silver Water Treatment Filters .....................229Melting Heat Transfer in Steady Laminar Flow over a Moving Surface ..................230Mesoporous Carbon Material Derived from Zinc Layered Gallate Nanohybrid .......240Mesoporous Polymer Derived Activated Carbon Monolith ......................................208MHD Mixed Convection Flow Near the Stagnation-point on a Vertical Permeable

Surface .................................................................................................................230Micropropagation of Strawberry cv. Camarosa: Prolific Shoot Regeneration from In

Vitro Shoot Tips using Thidiazuron with N6-benzylamino-purine .....................197Mining Web Navigation Profiles for Recommendation Systems ..............................253Mini Portable Generator ............................................................................................281Mobile Cubicle Cell ...................................................................................................279Mobile Electrical Generator .......................................................................................187Model of a Design Guidance System for Novice Object-oriented Designers ...........268Models of Students’ Mathematical Beliefs, Self-regulated Learning and Thinking

Skills on Mathematics Ability of Malaysian University Students .......................206Modification of Pickands’ Dependence Function for Ordered Bivariate Extreme

Distributions .........................................................................................................225Module Documentation-based Testing using Grey-Box Approach ...........................284Molecular Evaluation and Taxonomic Implications of Selected Malaysian Isolates of

Trichoderma harzianum .....................................................................................282Multipurpose Grass Trimmer .....................................................................................226Multivariate Control Chart based on High Breakdown Point Estimator ...................246Mutual Information for Mixture of Bivariate Normal Distributions based on Robust

Kernel Estimation ................................................................................................247MyOBE - Outcome Based Education Management System .....................................242Myoblast Seeded Bovine Pericardium for Repair of Abdominal Wall Defect ..........297Myoblast Seeded Bovine Tunica vaginalis for Repair of Abdominal Wall Defect ..297Natural-based Mica Network as Nanoreactor for Enzymes in Chiral Syntheses ......238New Approach to Use of Kenaf for Paper and Paperboard Production ....................250New Compounds of Dysoxylum acutangulum, Meliaceae ......................................211New Coumarins from Micromelum minutum (Rutaceae) as Potential Lead

Compounds for Anticancer Agents ......................................................................290New Designed Equipment for Soft Soil Stabilisation ................................................231New Evaluation Tool for Block Ciphers Symmetric Cryptosystems (NET-BC) .......254New Geometric Approach to Static and Dynamic Measurements of Risk, Bankruptcy

and Market Ranking .............................................................................................201New Record of Freshwater Fish Fauna and Species Invasion in Black and Brown

Water Habitats of the Same River System in Sarawak ........................................259New Technology to Determine Harvesting Date for the Oil Palm FFB ....................220New Xanthones with Promising Cytotoxic Activity and other Chemical Components

from Artocarpus obtusus (Moraceae).................................................................234

Nickel-cobalt Oxide Synthesised by Coprepitation for Supercapacitor Application .232Non-penetrative Vacuum Blood Container ................................................................264Novel Antifreeze Peptides derived from Fungal Protein ...........................................265Numerical Evaluation for Cauchy Type Singular Integrals on the Interval ...............223On Classification of Filiform Leibniz Algebras in Dimension 7 ..............................286On the Pinsky Phenomenon .......................................................................................241Optimisation of Cutting Parameters based on Surface Roughness and Assistance of

Workpiece Surface Temperature in Turning Process ...........................................243Optimisation of Earthquake Energy Dissipation System by using Genetic Algorithm ...

250Optimisation of Physical Factors Affecting the Production of Thermo-stable Organic

Solvent-tolerant Protease from a Newly Isolated Bacillus subtilis Strain Rand .241Palm Oil based Polyurethene Building Materials having Phase Change Material

(PCM) ..................................................................................................................251Parser Generators for Programme Understanding System ........................................262Pengutip Biji Kelapa Sawit Terlerai ...........................................................................280Performance of Hedges and their Characteristics for Buffering Noise in Urban

Residential Areas .................................................................................................202Petri Net Controlled Grammars: The Case of Special Petri Nets ..............................255Petri Net Controlled Grammars with a Bounded Number of Additional Places .......254Pineapple Multi-peeler Plus .......................................................................................272Plasticised PLA/Treated Kenaf Bast Fibre Bio-composites for Food Container

Application ...........................................................................................................216Porcine DNA Test Kit ................................................................................................207Portable Daylight Reflector Device ...........................................................................227Portable Heavy Metal Detector ..................................................................................188Potential Anti-fungal Agent from Ardisia crispa for the Treatment of Athlete’s Foot ....

200Preparation and Characterisation of Bismuth Niobium Oxide Ion Conductors as New

Sensor Materials ...................................................................................................222Preparation of Cellulose Nanofibres with Hydrophobic Surface Characteristics ......249Prolific Plant Regeneration through Organogenesis from Scalps of Musa sp. cv.

Tanduk .................................................................................................................252PROPHECY: Hybrid MPV with Intelligent Storage .................................................278

Pursuit-evasion Differential Game with Many Inertial Players .................................245Quadrature Formula for Approximating the Singular Integral of Cauchy Type with

Unbounded Weight Function on the Edges ..........................................................275Quorum-based Data Replication in Data Grid ...........................................................272Ranking of Influencing Factors in Predicting Students’ Academic Performance ......213Real-time Audio Transcription Technique using Static and Dynamic Window Sizes

with a Low-cost Hardware Interface ....................................................................273Real Time Oil Palm Fruit Grading System ................................................................189REEDY: Fuel Cell City Car .......................................................................................285Relationship between Percentage of Body Fat and Maximal Oxygen Uptake Among

Adults ...................................................................................................................200Robust Estimators in Simple Mediation Analysis .....................................................296Robust Individuals Control Chart using a Change Point Formulation ......................193Robust Multicollinearity Diagnostic Measures based on Robust Coefficient

Determination ......................................................................................................194Robust Remedial Measures of Heteroscedasticity in the Presence of Outliers .........246Role of Barium and Calcium in Lanthanum Titano-manganite Ceramic for Internal

Layer Capacitor ....................................................................................................233Rotating Bench ...........................................................................................................261ROTAZIONE: New Conceptual Occasional Table ....................................................282Safety-based Flight Scheduler and Management System ..........................................219Saltfish Drying Device ...............................................................................................281Semiparametric Modelling of Longitudinal Ordinal Data .........................................201Separation of Omega-3/6 Fish Oil from Fish Waste using Pressure Swing Technique

of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide ..........................................................................198Sign Based Automating Electrical Household Appliances ........................................203Social Learning in Evolutionary Computation for Tic-Tac-Toe ................................218Soda-anthraquinone Pulp from Malaysian Cultivated Kenaf for Linerboard

Production ............................................................................................................249Soft Systems Methodology for Environment-aware Case-based Reasoning Systems ....

273Soil Organic Matter Content Imaging System (SOMIS V1.0) ..................................242Solar Power Multipurpose Lighting Device ..............................................................285Solution of an Infinite System of Differential Equations ...........................................193

Spacer Architectonic Building System ......................................................................205Spectral Discrimination and Index Development Toolbox (SDIDT) ........................267Spectrum Efficiency Enhancement in Dynamic Space Coded Multiple Access

(DSCMA) System ................................................................................................204STAYER: Forest Surveillance UAV ..........................................................................277Structure, Microstructure and Superconductivity in YBCO with Additives of Nano-

Sm2O3 .................................................................................................................263Sumudu Transform and Differential Equations .........................................................233Superposition Coding with Unequal Error Protection for the Overloaded CDMA

System ..................................................................................................................203Sustainable Biocatalytic Synthesis of Xylitol Sugar Esters using Multivariate

Chemometrics Analysis .......................................................................................289Synthesis and Characterisation of Grafted Polystyrene with Acrylonitrile using

Gamma-irradiation ...............................................................................................208Synthesis and Characterisation of Silver/Clay Bionanocomposites by Green

Chemistry Method ...............................................................................................252Synthesis and Electrical Properties of Copper Substituted Bismuth Zinc Tantalates

(BZT) ...................................................................................................................274Synthesis of LDH-intercalated D-gluconate Nanohybrid as a New Functional Food

Additive Compound .............................................................................................293Synthesis of Zinc-layered-gallate Nanohybrid via its Structural Memory Effect

Property ................................................................................................................293Tank Mounting Bracket for Natural Gas Vehicle .......................................................295The Effects of Improved Land Use on the Meteorological Modelling in Klang Valley

Region, Malaysia .................................................................................................245The Generalised Localisation Principle on the Critical Line .....................................213The Production of Biohydrogen from Renewable Sources Towards Green Energy

Development ........................................................................................................237The Relative Influence of Carbon Doping and Disorder on Field and Temperature

Dependent Critical Current Density of MgB2 .....................................................266Thick Film Sensors ....................................................................................................215UKAN: Laptop Support Device .................................................................................283Uniaxial Die Compaction of Food Powders ..............................................................222Unsteady Flow Across a Stretching Surface ..............................................................204

Unsteady Shrinking Sheet with Mass Transfer in a Rotating Fluid ...........................257UPEM: User-centred Privacy Evaluation Model in Pervasive Computing Systems .217Variable Step Implicit Block Multistep Method for Solving ODEs ..........................223Visual Impaired Device ..............................................................................................283W2IF2A09 Protocol to Prepare and Measure, Point to Point Fibre Optics Quantum

Key Distribution ...................................................................................................268WATCHER: PDRM AI-Drone ...................................................................................278Watermelon Maturity Device .....................................................................................226Web-based GIS Application for Selecting Optimal Road and Bus Modelling for UPM .

191Xylitol Production from Sago Trunk Waste ...............................................................277Xylopia Leaf Oil - A Potential Care Product Ingredient ............................................188Zingiber species: Biossay studies, Chemical Constituents and Its Essential Oils .....291Z-Scan Technique for Determination of Nonlinear Refractive Index and Nonlinear

Absorption Coefficient of Metal Nanofluids ........................................................295

Agr

icul

ture

Agriculture

1

Keywords: Rice (Oryza sativa L.) var. MR219, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid phthalenacetic acid, 6-Benzylaminopurine

Somatic embryogenesis is an efficient plant regeneration system and it is a potentially useful tool for genetic transformation. An experiment was carried out on somatic embryogenesis from scutellar embryo of rice var. MR219. High intensity of callus formation (100%) was initiated through culturing the scutellar embryo on modified MS medium with the macro nutrients reduced to half-strength and supplemented with different 2,4-D concentrations (1, 2, 4 and 6 mgL-1). Meanwhile the highest percentage of embryogenic callus formation (80%) was obtained on modified MS medium containing 4 mgL-1 2,4-D. The calli produced were yellowish and friable with nodular structures on the surface. Rounded cells with highly dense cytoplasm were observed under an inverted microscope and their viability confirmed based on apple green fluorescence staining in FDA solution. High mean number of somatic embryos was also produced in this treatment at 85 somatic embryos per explant. Upon transferring the somatic embryos onto modified MS medium with 2 mgL-1 BAP and 0.05 mgL-1 NAA for germination, 82.5% of the somatic embryos germinated into seedlings.

Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Siti Nor Akmar AbdullahSyaiful Bahri Panjaitan, Maheran Abdul Aziz, Sariah Meon and Othman Omar

Institute of Tropical Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4117; sakmar@agri.upm.edu.my

Somatic Embryogenesis from Scutellar Embryo of Oryza sativa L. Var. MR219

Keywords: Elaeis guineensis, metallothioneins, promoter analysis, Zn2+ binding

Silico analysis showed that type 3 oil palm metallothionein-like gene MT3-B contain important putative promoter regulatory elements. The identified motifs include root-specific element, metal-responsive element, W-boxes, GCC-box, TATCCA element, binding element for cytokinin response regulators and pollen-specific elements. Promoter activity of the MT3-B gene was analysed using a transient assay by bombarding oil palm tissue slices with a ?-glucuronidase (GUS) gene construct and a stable reporter assay by analysing GUS expression in transformed Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Transient expression analysis revealed MT3-B promoter activity in oil palm root tissues but not in fruit mesocarp at 12 weeks after anthesis and spear leaves. The T3 homozygous transgenic Arabidopsis plants, harbouring the MT3-B promoter/GUS construct, showed reporter activity in cotyledons and mature leaves with lower expression levels in root tissues. The expression levels in the roots of the T3 homozygous transgenic plants increased five and 2.5-folds when treated with 80? M of Zn2+ and Fe2+ respectively. Altogether, these results indicate that the MT3-A and MT3-B promoter activities may be regulated by a variety of abiotic factors and MT3-B promoter may potentially be manipulated to be used in plant genetic engineering for induced synthesis of gene product.

Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Siti Nor Akmar AbdullahZubaidah Ramli

Institute of Tropical Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4117; sakmar@agri.upm.edu.my

Oil Palm Metallothionein-like Gene (MT3-B) Promoter as an Inducible Promoter for Root-specific Expression

Agriculture

2

Keywords: Salinity tolerance, water salinity, turfgrass, seawater

Irrigation seawater of different salinity levels (0, 24, 48, and 72 dS m-1) were applied to experimental plants grown in a plastic pots filled with a mixture of sand and peat (9:1). The results were analyzed using SAS and treatment means were compared using Tukeys Test. The results indicated that Paspalum vaginatum (seashore paspalum) (SP), Zoysia matrella (manilagrass) (MG), Pasplaum vaginatum local (SPL), Cynodon dactylon (common bermuda) (CB), Cynodon dactylon (bermuda greenless park) (GLP), Eremochloa ophiuroides (centipede) (CP), Axonopus compressus (cow grass) (CG) and Axonopus affinis (narrowleaf carpet grass) (NCG) experienced a 50% shoot growth reduction at the EC of 39.8, 36.5, 26.1, 25.9, 21.7, 22.4, 17.0 and 18.3 dS m-1 respectively, and a 50% root growth reduction at the EC of 49.4, 42.1, 29.9, 29.7, 26.0 24.8, 18.8 and 20.0 dS m-1 respectively. The ranking for salinity tolerance of selected grasses was SP>MG>SPL>CB>GLP>CP>NCG>CG. The results indicate the importance of the selection of turfgrass varieties according to the soil salinity and seawater salinity levels to be used for irrigation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Shukor JuraimiMd. Kamal Uddin, Mohd. Razi Ismail, Radziah Othman and Anuar Abdul RahimFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7259; ashukor@agri.upm.edu.my

Growth Response of Eight Tropical Turfgrass Species to Salinity

Keywords: Chlorophyll-a, SST, MODIS, seaWiFS, productivity regions, upwelling, Oman, Nortwestern Arabian Sea

This research studies the biological productivity of the Northwestern Arabian Sea. This has been investigated by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of -view Sensor (SeaWiFS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) ocean color remote sensing for the period January 2004 to December 2008. Synoptic data and observations of chlorophyll-a and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) were drawn along Omani coastal regions, with emphases on six stations, two in the Gulf of Oman (station 1 and 2), and three in the Arabian Sea southern coast of Oman (stations 3-6).The regions of high biological productivity were identified at the three stations in the Arabian Sea at southern coast of Oman particularly at inshore locations with high values of chlorophyll-a, and low values of SST which are ideal values representing regions of high biological productivity. On the other hand the two stations at the Gulf of Oman representing less biological productivity regions inshore, alternatively regions at offshore showed high biological productivity values. Recurrent and similar fluctuation patterns of stations (1 and 2), (3 and 4), and (5 and 6) indicated that the similar stations were sharing similar body of water, therefore leading to the recommendation for reducing the number of sampling stations.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff Harib Al-Habsi and Dr. Tan Chun KneeFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7543; rashidpls3@gmail.com

Chlorophyll and SST Analyses from Satellite Remote Sensing

Agriculture

3

Keywords: Hatching, larval development, strombus canarium, Malaysia

The dog conch, Strombus canarium Linnaeus, 1758 or locally known as ‘siput gonggong’ is a commercially important shallow water gastropod in the Johor Strait that is highly associated with dense seagrass habitat. The objectives of this study is to know the hatching process and describe the early development stages of the species. Strombus canarium females can reproduce as year round but showed peaks in spawning activity during the period from October to early March. They produced long gelatinous tube of an egg strand that coiled and intertwined to form an egg mass. The egg strand can reach up to 30 m in length. In this study, the conch embrynic development was described and its evolution in time was recorded. The incubation time (time from eggs deposition to completed hatching) ranged from 106 to 135 h in seawater at 30 PSU and 290c. The conch larvae emerged as swimming veliger and feeds on the plankton before metamorphosed and assuming a benthic life. Potassium chloride was applied as metamorphosis inducers, which is very important as otherwise the competent larvae were unable to metamorphose and will ultimately die of exhaustion. The planktonic stage lasted between 18 to 25 days. The metamorphosis competent period is relatively short, started from day 17 to day 23 post hatch. Description of each of the parval stages and its development time were presented in this paper.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aziz ArshadZaidi Che Cob, Japar Sidik Bujang, S.M.Nurul Amin and Mazlan Abd. Ghaffar

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4118; azizarshad@putra.upm.edu.my

First Hatching Success and Larval Development of Dog Conch, Strombus canarium (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in a Laboratory Condition

Keywords: Growth, mortality, recruitment, exploitation, lucifer intermedius, Malaysia

Growth, mortality and recruitment of sergestid shrimp, Lucifer intermedius was investigated using length frequency data between April 2007 and December 2007 in the Sungai Pulai seagrass beds, Johor strait, Peninsular Malaysia. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters, Asymptotic length and growth co-efficient (K) were estimated at 11.10 mm and 1.40/year. The growth performance index was calculated at 2.237. Total mortality was estimated at 5.32/year. The natural and fishing mortality was 2.99/year and 2.33/year, respectively. The recruitment pattern of Lucifer intermedius was continuous throughout the year with two major peasks. The exploitation rate was estimated at 0.44. This indicates that fishery status of Lucifer intermedius in the Sungai Pulai seagrass area was below the optimum level of exploitation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aziz ArshadNorhafizah Osman, S. M. Nurul Amin and Zaidi Che Cob

Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4118; aziz.upm@gmail.com

Population Parameters of Planktonic Shrimp, Lucifer intermedius (Decapoda: Sergestidae) from Sungai Pulai Seagrass Beds, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia

Agriculture

4

Garcinia is commonly found in Malaysia, but limited information is available regarding endophytic fungi associated with this plant. In this study, 24 endophytic fungi were successfully recovered from different parts of two Garcinia species. Characterisation of endophytic fungi was performed based on the conserved internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequence analysis and the antimicrobial properties. Results revealed that fruits of the plant appeared to be the highest inhabitation site (38%) as compared with others. Glomerella sp., Guignardia sp., and Phomopsis sp. appeared to be the predominant endophytic fungi group in Garcinia mangostana and Garcinia parvifolia. Phylogenetic relationships of the isolated endophytic fungi were estimated from the sequences of the ITS region. On the other hand, antibacterial screening showed 11 of the isolates possessed positive response towards pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cheah Yoke KqueenSim Jiun Horng, Khoo Chai Hoon and Son RaduInstitute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2343; ykcheah@medic.upm.edu.my

Diversity and Beneficial Endophytes from Mangosteen and Brunei Cherry

Keywords: Bacterial growth, penaeus monodon, probiotic, s algae, V. parahaemolyticus, v. alginolyticus

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Che Roos SaadSaadShahram Shakiba Zadeh, Annie Christianus, Mohd. Salleh Kamarudin, Kamaruzaman Sijam, Mariana Nor Shamsudin and Vasantha Kumari NeelaFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+608-946 4109; cheroos@agri.upm.edu.my

To combat disease problem in shrimp industries, probiotic biocontrol is a well known remedy now. The antagonistic ability of separated isolates from different parts of juvenile P. monodon was screened against shrimp Vibrio pathogens, V. parahaemolyticus and V. alginolyticus. The most antagonistic effect was observed for an isolate that primarily identified as ShewDiversity and Beneficial Endophytes from Mangosteen and Brunei Cherry anella algae using conventional method followed by Biolog GN and GP microplates. Since adaptability to the host optimum cultural condition of the target organism is of the great importance, response surface methodology, with central composite design, was applied to assess log cell count response of S. algae in different incubation conditions. Therefore, four independent variables were assumed as: temperature (10- 50C), pH (6-10), NaCl concentration (0-50%) and time (12-60 h). The coefficients of multiple determinations (R2) for the responses log cell count of S. algae being 0.827. Temperature was the merely significant independent variable that affected the log cell count of the candidate probiotic. The candidate probiotic revealed a reasonable growth response in quite wide range of temperature, pH and NaCl concentration in which the maximum levels were in the same range of optimum shrimp culture.

Assessment of Growth Condition for a Candidate Probiotic, Shewanella algae, Isolated from the Digestive System of a Healthy Juvenile Penaeus monodon

Keywords: Mangosteen, Brunei Cherry, enophytic fungi, antimicrobial

Agriculture

5

Keywords: Lactobacillus plantarum, metabolite, tilapia, feed supplement

Feeding the aquaculture animal with additive such as antibiotic to enhance the productivity of the farm had been a common practice in aquaculture farming. However, the usage of antibiotics as growth enhancer is prohibited in many countries due to the increasing evolution of bacterial pathogens, leading to the development of resistance to the treatment antibiotic. Therefore, this study was conducted to reveal the probiotic effect of the novel feed supplement derived from the metabolite produced by probiotic strain of Lactobacillus plantarum I-UL4 to replace the usage of antibiotic as growth promoter in aquaculture animals. The effect on the growth performance, antibody production, survival rate after being challenged with Aeromonas hydrophila and the total viable count of Enterobacteriaceae, A. hydrophila and LAB count in fish digesta was investigated for the L. plantarum I-UL4 metabolite mixed in fish feed. A total of 48 tilapias, with body weight of 17-18 g each were randomly assigned to two treatment groups: fed with commercial feed added with spray-dried UL4 metabolite and fed only commercial feed for a period of four weeks before being challenged with A. hydrophila for 10 days. The growth performance and antibody level increased significantly in UL4 group compared to the control group. The challenge test with A. hydrophila at 108 cfu/ml yielded significantly greater survival in UL4 group compared to control fish (P<0.05). The UL4 group had significantly lower Enterobacteriaceae and A. hydrophila count compared to control. In contrast, the LAB count maintained at higher count in UL4 group. The results obtained in this study indicated that oral supplement with UL4 metabolite is a promising approach to reduce the extensive use of antibiotic in controlling diseases, overall improvement of growth performance and the health of fishes.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Foo Hooi LingAnuradha Karunakaramoorthy, Loh Teck Chwen, Mariana Nor Shamsudin and Raha Abdul Rahim

Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7476; hlfoo@biotech.upm.edu.my

Novel Feed Supplement for Aquaculture Animals derived from the Metabolites of Probiotic Strain of Lactobacillus plantarum I-UL4

Keywords: Candida, allicin, biofilm, MIC

Candida albicans is an opportunistic human pathogen with the ability to morph and grow in filamentous forms and exist as biofilms. The biofilms are a barrier to treatment as they are often resistant to the anti-fungal drugs. In this study, we investigated the antifungal activity of allicin, an active compound of garlic on various Candida species. The effect of allicin on biofilm of Candida albicans was investigated using XTT and CV assays. Several genes involved in biofilm and hypha formation were profiled via real-time PCR analysis when the Candida cells were treated with varying dilutions of the MIC values of allicin. Fluconazole was used as a standard control drug. The results showed that allicin could inhibit biofilm formation to a significant extent similar to fluconazole. Gene expression of INT1, HWP1 was differentially regulated upon treatment of the Candida cells with allicin. These encouraging results demonstrated that allicin could be further developed into an alternative or supplementary therapeutic arsenal against Candida infections in humans.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chong Pei Pei Alireza Khodavandi, Fahimeh Alizadeh, Zamberi Sekawi, Shiran Md. Sidik and Fauziah Othman

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2302; cpp@medic.upm.edu.my

Investigation of the Effect of Allicin on Biofilm Growth and Gene Expression in Candida albicans

Agriculture

6

Keywords: Seabass immunity, freshwater seabass

Adaptation of seabass from brackish water to freshwater is an attractive alternative for fish enthusiasts. Freshwater seabass offers added advantage to their brackish water counterpart in that the flesh is fresh, tasty, odourless, soft and organoleptic acceptable by most fish eating individuals. In this project, an adaptation module was designed with particular focused on the ability of sea-bass to maintain their immune balance in freshwater. The effects of short-term freshwater acclimatization were investigated in juvenile sea-bass Lates calcarifer to determine whether all sea-bass juveniles are able to live in freshwater and to investigate immunological basis of a successful adaptation to freshwater. This laboratory trial was conducted to determine the use of fish feed incorporated with formulated diet and the effect of salinity on growth and survival. The adaptation system comprised salinity reduction of brackish water to freshwater in four steps, resulting in about two folds reduction. In addition, the adaptation module is designed complete with feed in the form of pellets with immune-enhancing capability. Throughout the experiment, the effects of abrupt transfer to lower salinity on their behaviour, daily rates of growth and feeding, maintenance requirement and food conversion efficiency were studied. The system was carried indoor, in a confined space and feasible to be practiced by any fish enthusiasts. The experimental trial showed that reducing salinity was not found to be stressful and comparable survival to the control group was evidenced through immunological response. On the differences in the dynamics (growth and mortality), energetic properties and proximate analysis between marine and freshwater seabass, important implications for determining the relationship between immuno-stimulation and immuno-suppression under environmental factors, can be determined.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Nor ShamsudinC Girish Palaniyappan, Mohd. Shater Zakaria and Nurul Hidayah IdrisInstitute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2138; mariana@medic.upm.edu.my

Freshwater Sea Bass Module with Immune-enhancing Capability

Keywords: Huanglongbing, citrus greening, diaphorina citri

In Malaysia, citrus is grown in commercial orchards, backyard and small holdings in various parts of the country. Known citrus growing areas in Malaysia include Sarawak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perak, Johor, Selangor and Pahang. Citrus trees are subjected to various diseases. Citrus huanglongbing (HLB) disease is the most destructive disease to citriculture in Africa, Asia and America. The causal agent of HLB disease was identified as a Candidatus liberibacter Asiticus. It is phloem-restricted bacterium belonging to a new genus in the alpha-subdivision of the?-Proteobacteria. This disease is transmitted by citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, usually found in poorly managed orchards and on new flushes. This disease is also considered to be one of the major limiting factors in citrus production in the country. Recent studies showed that all the major citrus growing localities in Peninsular Malaysia were shown to have incidence of HLB infection. Estimated percentage of HLB disease incidence varied between localities, ranged from 28.3 to 53.8%. Generally, leaves of infected trees showed mottling with green vein symptom. Population of D. citri is more abundant in the lowland areas such as Selangor and Terengganu but was not detected at highland areas such as Cameron Highland, Pahang. However, moderate level of vector infestation was observed in Lojing Highlands, Kelantan. Among the nine citrus species assessed in the field, pummelo and Troyer citrange were recorded the highest number of trees with HLB infection which highly correlated with the number of vector population on those species, followed by honey mandarin, Cleopatra, mandarin and citrimelo. HLB incidence was not detected on kaffier lime. Management strategies of this pathogen can be done through the use of healthy planting materials, quarantine, eradication of the source of inoculums, chemical control of insect vector, proper fertilisation dates and other integrated pest management practices.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamaruzaman SijamKhairulmazmi AhmadFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7234; kama@agri.upm.edu.my

Management of Citrus Huanglongbing Disease in Malaysia

Agriculture

7

Keywords: Coconut smallholdings, product diversification, beekeeping, government incentives, rural development

Beekeeping, a traditional subsistence industry in coconut smallholdings, has long been ignored by many developing countries as a source of additional income to farmers and as a foreign exchange earner to the country. The industry is not something recent in Malaysia as many farmers and individuals have ventured into this lucrative project as early as in the 1980s. Since then, not many researchers have assessed the profitability of such a project under the incentive program. The states of Perak, Selangor, Melaka, Johore, Sabah and Sarawak have long been the centre for beekeeping activity in Malaysia. There are two main species reared in Malaysia, namely Apis cerana (local bees) and Apis mellifera (imported bees). The study is being done to ascertain the benefits to beekeepers in the pineapple smallholdings under the potential incentive for agriculture and agro-based industry. It is an attempt to look at how much a beekeeper can actually earn after taking into account the incentives provided. Data for this study were collected from surveys involving beekeepers rearing Apis mellifera in Johor. The methods used include the common project evaluation indicators and its impact on the potential incentive. Since beekeeping project is viable, the introduction of this project to rural farmers will contribute positively to product diversification and rural development.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Mansor IsmailZakbah Mian

Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4123; mmi@agri.upm.edu.my

Beekeeping in Pineapple Smallholdings: A Case of Apis Mellifera

Keywords: Urban, backyard, grouper, fingerling

Urban backyard module is an indoor culture system designed to be used inside the building, utilising limited space and accessible at relatively low cost in terms of technologies and the capital cost. The system is suitable for nursery of fingerlings. Urban backyard system make life easier by providing ease in operation and management, require less man power, and easily adapted to culture a range of different species. The culture conditions can be controlled which include temperature, salinity, DO and the pH. The module is designed to assist users with minimum background and skills in aquaculture to set-up and culture their own fish cultivation system with ease and less manpower. Fingerlings of brown marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus is used as culturing model in this study as groupers have high demand in the market. The trade for local grouper fishery is affected by lack of seed supply due to inefficient culturing practice. Therefore, the present design module can offer a simple cultivation alternative to fulfill domestic needs. Grouper makes up over 16 per cent by weight and 30 per cent by value of total marine finfish produced by aquaculture in Malaysia.The fingerlings of brown marbled grouper, E. fuscoguttatus were cultured in urban backyard condition with physical water parameters maintained as such, temperature, salinity, pH and DO. The fishes were enhanced with formulated diet and determined for immunological response, growth and survival as well as proximate analysis, to ensure efficacy of module. A convincing result indicating good immune response, growth, survival and nutritional values was observed in the fish cultivated using the designed module. Urban backyard is an effective indoor system to culture grouper as long as basics needed for grouper culturing are supplied and maintained.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Nor ShamsudinAinatul Hakimah Zakaria, Nurul Hidayah Idris and Norfarrah Mohamed Alipiah

Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2138; mariana@medic.upm.edu.my

Urban Backyard Module of Immuno-enhanced Marine Fish

Agriculture

8

Keywords: Embryonic development, caspian kutum, rutilus frisii kutum

Rutilus frisii kutum (Kamensky 1901) is related to the Cyprinid family and an endemic fish of the Caspian Sea. This study describes the characteristics of 30 embryonic developmental stages of Caspian kutum. Sperm and ova were obtained from one female and two male Caspian kutum by artificial propagation with the use of hypophysis injection. The eggs were incubated at 14-16 C in three veis-type incubators (jar). The eggs and embryos were studied at various developmental stages.The eggs of kutum were demersal and measured 2 mm diagonally. The chorion had small excrements. Nine main stages and 30 substages were determined in Caspian kutum. The main stages were zygote, cleavage, morula, blastula, gastrula, neurula, segmentation, pharyngula, and hatching. Embryonic developmental stages occurred in 9 d at 14-16 C. These results showed important changes in the embryo of Caspian kutum that could be very important for achieving a successful hatch.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Salleh KamaruddinMahdieh Jafari, Che Roos Saad, Aziz Arshad, Shahrbanoo Oryan and Mahmoud BahmaniFaculty of Agriculture ,University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+608-946 4103; msalleh@agri.upm.edu.my

Development of Morphology in Hatchery-reared Rutilus Frisii Kutum Larvae

Keywords: Competitiveness, RCA, Malaysian palm oil, plantation commodities, ASEAN

This paper examines the competitiveness of the Malaysian palm oil products compared to other industrial plantation products (cocoa products, coconut, tea, and pepper) in selected ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) and China by using the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) and the revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) indices. The export data for seven groups of products based on the standard commodity categories as defined in the harmonized tariff system (HTS) at the 4-digit level were employed. The results indicate that Malaysia has comparative advantage in six products (palm oil (HS 1511), coconut (copra) and palm kernel oil (HS 1513), cocoa butter (HS 1804), cocoa powder (HS 1805), cocoa paste (HS 1803), and pepper (HS 0904)), but has comparative disadvantage in tea (HS 0902). Based on the competitiveness position, Indonesia ranked first while Malaysia ranked second in the oil palm products.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Mansor IsmailInstitute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4123; mmi@agri.upm.edu.my

Regional Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness of Malaysian Palm Oil Products

Agriculture

9

Keywords: Early ontogenic development, rutilus frisii kutum, morphological changes, the caspian sea

Most fish are poorly developed at hatching. They undergo important functional and morphological changes during the early larval period. This study was conducted to monitor the morphological changes of Caspian kutum, Rutilus frisii kutum larvae in early life stages. Fertilised kutum eggs were incubated at 16-19ºC in 8 l glass incubators for 9.5 days. At first feeding (3 days after hatch) larvae were fed two times per day with egg yolk for five days, and then Artemia nauplii and egg yolk until day 30. The juveniles were then transferred to an outdoor fish hapa nets and further reared until day 60. Larval development, growth, and some morphological changes were described from day 0 to end of experiment. The results showed that there were three main stages and 18 sub-stages of ontogenetic development in Caspian kutum from hatching to juvenile stage. The most important change in these stages was change from endogenous to exogenous feeding. During post hatch development, the various organs gradually differentiated and became identifiable.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Salleh KamarudinMahdieh Jafari, Che Roos Saad, Aziz Arshad, Shahrbanoo Oryan and Mahmoud Bahmani

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+608-946 4103; msalleh@agri.upm.edu.my

Embryonic Development of Caspian kutum, Rutilus frisii Kutum

Keywords: Oil palm, genetic variation, microsatellite markers, genetic distance

Knowledge on genetic distances and relationships among breeding materials has a significant impact on crop improvement. Molecular markers are being used increasingly to determine the genetic distance between individuals. In this study, microsatellite markers were used to estimate the genetic distances between selected oil palm parent lines. Microsatellite markers are highly reliable, inherited in codominant fashion whereby heterozygotes and homozygotes are distinguishable, easy to score and can be rapidly produced using PCR technology. Nine microsatellite markers were used to screen selected parent palms (15 duras and 4 pisiferas)and their progenies (16 DxP crosses). Data were scored and analysed using the Biosys-1 software to calculate the genetic distance values. A total of 29 polymorphic bands were generated. The genetic distances between progenies ranged from 0.089 to 0.313. These results indicate that microsatellite markers are powerful tools for studying genetic relationships among DxP progenies. These markers should be further explored to assist oil palm breeding.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Rafii Yusop Norziha Abdullah, Maizura Ithnin and Ghizan Saleh

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

+603-8946 6950; mrafii@putra.upm.edu.my

Identification of Genetic Variation among Oil Palm Parent Genotypes and their Progenies based on Microsatellite Markers

Agriculture

10

Keywords: cGnRH-II, African catfish, ovulation, plasma steroid level, germinal vesicle

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of single injection of graded dosage of native chicken GnRH-II (cGnRH-II) in African catfish, Clarias gariepinus with body weight ranging between 450 and 500g. The fish were divided into four groups (n=6 per group) with group one injected with saline, the second group received cGnRH-II at 2µg/kg body weight (BW), the third group was given cGnRH-II at 20µg/kg BW and the fourth group received cGnRH-II at 200µg/kg BW. The degree of maturation or ovulation, plasma steroid level and germinal vesicles (GV) migration of oocytes were examined prior to injections at 0h, 6h, 12h and 24h post injection. In this experiment, 50% of the fish ovulated in the group treated with cGnRH-II at 200µg/kg BW. Fertilisation and hatching rates in ovulated fish were 61% and 56%, respectively. Steroid level for saline injected fish remained the same throughout the experiment. Initially the plasma of steroid level for fish treated with 200?g/kg cGnRH-II was low and increased after six hours. Then it reached the highest peak at 12 hours. However the level decreased after 24 hours. All the treated groups that received cGnRH II showed a significant increase of plasma steroid level and also GV stages. The Germinal Vesicle Breakdown (GVBD) was also observed in three of the fishes receiving 200µg/kg BW of hormone after 12 hours of treatment. Our study demonstrated that administration at a high dosage of cGnRH-II accelerated the process of maturation and ovulation in African catfish.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharr Azni HarminNorhidayah Mohd. Taufek and Annie ChristianusFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603- 8946 4106; sharr@agri.upm.edu.my

Effect of Graded Dosage of Chicken Gonadotropin Releasing-hormone II (cGnRH-II) in African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus

Keywords: Humic substances, compost, sago waste, waste management nutrient use efficiency

Substantial amount of sago waste is produced. However, the waste is yet to be properly managed and utilised. As a result, there is the tendency of discarding it into rivers and streams because most of the sago factories are located near rivers and streams. Value was added to this waste by producing humic acids, fulvic acids and humin. While the humic and fulvic acids were able to significantly reduce ammonia loss, the humin produced also significanly increased maize dry matter, and N,P, and K use effiency. Additionally, high quality compost know to significantly improve soil physical, chemical and biological properties was produced. The significance of this work is that it may be beneficial to the fertiliser, plantation and waste management industries interested in using simple and cost effective means of adding value to their wastes.

Assoc. Prof.Dr. Osumanu Haruna AhmedAuldry Chaddy Petrus, Nik Muhammad Abd. Majid, Make Jiwan, Susilawati Kasim and Hassan Mohammad NasirFaculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+608-685 5406; osman60@hotmail.com

New Technology for Zero Wastes Management and Utilisation

Agriculture

11

Keywords: Dopamine inhibitor, pimozide, cGnRH-II, African catfish, ovulation

An intramuscular single injection experiment was conducted to induce ovulation in African catfish, Clarias gariepinus using cGnRH-II alone or in combination with pimozide (PIM). Fish were divided into four groups (n=6 per group) with group one receiving cGnRH-II at 200?g/kg body wt (BW), the second group was treated with cGnRH-II 200?g/kg BW + 5mg/kg (PIM), the third group was given 5mg/kg BW (PIM) alone and the last group was given saline as control. Plasma steroids level of 17ß-estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) and germinal vesicle stages (GV) were measured as the experimental parameters. The samplings were carried out at 0h (prior to hormone administration), 6, 12 and 24 h post injections. Administration of cGnRH-II alone or in combination with PIM successfully induced ovulation in group treated with cGnRH-II alone and cGnRH-II + PIM with 100% ovulation in both groups after 12 hrs post injection. Fertilisation rate of both treatments was 73 and 80% for cGnRH-II alone and cGnRH-II + PIM, respectively. In addition to that, the hatching rate constituted of 58% for cGnRH-II alone and 67% for cGnRH-II + pimozide. Plasma level of E2 increased sharply at 12h and the level was parallel with plasma T in both groups of cGnRH-II alone and cGnRH-II + PIM. However, the level decreased dramatically at 24h in both groups. For the unovulated groups, plasma level of E2 and T remained elevated towards the end of the experiment. GV showed significant migration throughout the experiment as correlated with plasma steroids level. Our study suggests that administration of cGnRH-II alone is sufficient to induce ovulation in African catfish

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharr Azni Harmin Norhidayah Mohd. Taufek and Annie Christianus.Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4106; sharr@agri.upm.edu.my

Induction of Maturation in Clarias gariepinus using Chicken Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Ii (cGnRh-Ii) in Combination with Pimozide

Keywords: sGnRHa, LHRHa, cGnRH-II, African catfish, ovulation, germinal vesicle, testosterone, 17ß-Estradiol

Chicken Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone II (cGnRH-II) is one form of GnRH commonly occurred in the brain of teleost to induce ovulation and spawning. Thus, our study has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of cGnRH-II when compared to Lutenising Hormone Releasing Hormone Analog (LHRHa) and Salmon Gonadotrophin releasing Hormone Analog (sGnRHa) to promote maturation and ovulation upon treatment to African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. The fishes were separated into four groups of six sexually mature females per group ranging from 450-550g in body weight (BW). They were treated with either 20?g/kg cGnRH-II, 20?g/kg LHRHa, 20?g/kg sGnRHa or saline as the control. All hormones were administered as single injection. The experimental parameters observed were hormone changes and germinal vesicle (GV) movement during the experiment. GV was examined prior to injection at 0h, 6h, 12h and 24h. Plasma samples were analyzed for testosterone (T) and 17ß-Estradiol (E2) concentrations using ELISA. Hatching and fertilization rate were also determined. sGnRHa proved to be the most potent hormone compared to LHRHa and cGnRH-II. Sixty seven percent of the fish treated with sGnRHa ovulated with 95% and 78% of the fish were found to be fertilised and hatched, respectively. However no ovulation for cGnRH-II and LHRHa, therefore the plasma steroid level continue to increase until the end of the experiment. Plasma steroid levels (E2 and T) for sGnRHa increased after 6 hours and elevated significantly (P<0.05) towards the peak level at 12 hours but the concentration decreased after 24 hours. Saline injected fish did not show any significant changes in steroid levels and GV migration during the experiment. This result indicates that sGnRHa can induce ovulation in African catfish with only 20?g/kg. LHRHa and cGnRH-II did not show any ovulation although the responses in GV migration and plasma steroid levels were observed in both hormones

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharr Azni HarminNorhidayah Mohd. Taufek and Annie Christianus

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4106; sharr@agri.upm.edu.my

Effect of cGnRH-II on Maturation and Ovulation in Comparison to sGnRHa and LHRHa

Agriculture

12

Keywords: Chytridiomycota, synchytrium psophocarpi, winged bean, false rust, pathogenicity

Synchytrium psophocarpi (Rac.) Baumann is the only chytrid representative known to be a plant pathogenic fungi in Malaysia. It attacks specifically only winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L.) cultivated in this country causing false rust disease. As the sole example of the Chytridiomycota here, it is important that the species found locally are documented in terms of its morphological characteristics and pathogenicity. So far, there has been no published literature of this and other closely related species in Malaysia. This study was based mainly on samples of the fungi sampled in Serdang, Selangor. It reports methods used to examine characteristics of the sporangia and zoospores using dark field and scanning electron microscopy. The pathogenicity of the fungus was also tested on using two methods viz. winged bean seedling inoculation in a moist chamber, and detached winged bean leaf inoculations on a Petri dish. The results hitherto reported is the first detailed report for Synchytrium spp in Malaysia and could serve as useful information to aid taxonomic understanding of the group member and new knowledge to local fungal diversity.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin Mior AhmadKamaruzaman Sijam and Abdollah KaramiFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6986; zainal@agri.upm.edu.my

Synchytrium: The Only Plant Pathogenic Chytrid in Malaysia

Keywords: AcRbcS promoter, Ankistrodesmus convolutus, cDNA library, cis-acting elements, expressed sequence tags (ESTs), unicellular green microalga

As photoautotrophs, microalgae have many advantages as bioreactor for the production of transgene heterologous proteins. The promising opportunity to use transgenic microalgae derived from a fast growing species has already resulted in several business start-ups in expression of therapeutic proteins during the last few years. However, the lack of highly active promoters has been a major hurdle in the development of microalgae transformation system and improvement of the transformation efficiency. As a fast growing alga producing appreciable amount of carotenoids and polyunsaturated fatty acids, unicellular green microalga Ankistrodesmus convolutus is being considered as an interesting candidate for many biotechnological applications. As a first step toward the establishment of an alternative expression system using A. convolutus, the present study was undertaken to clone and computationally analyse a highly-expressed native promoter of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit (RbcS) from the full-length RbcS cDNA clone identified as Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) from the cDNA library of A. convolutus. Beside the potential transcription start site (TSS) and consensus TATA-box, several putative cis-acting elements and conserved motifs, which were reported to confer light-responsive gene expression in plants and green algae, were found in AcRbcS promoter region. These results indicated that the cloned AcRbcS promoter region was a full and active promoter sequence, and this promoter could be used for the establishment of an alternative expression system using A. convolutus. Promoter deletion studies of this and studies of other potential candidate promoters are presently being carried out.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suhaimi Napis Tran Thanh, Vu Thi Quynh Chi, Mohd Puad Abdullah, Hishamuddin Omar and Mostafa Noroozi Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8941 0602; suhaimi@putra.upm.edu.my

Towards the Establishment of an Alternative Eukaryotic Expression System using Unicellular Green Microalga ankistrodesmus Convolutus

Agriculture

13

Keywords: Stress, music teaching

This study was designed to examine the level of stress according to selected stressors experienced by primary school music teachers. The stressors under study were categorized into six subscales which are ‘student characteristics’, ‘teacher characteristics’, administrative procedures’, ‘social support’, ‘facilities and equipment’ and ‘music syllabus contents’. Respondents of this study consist of 326 trained and untrained music teachers in Selangor. Music Teacher Stress Inventory was developed based on problems faced by Malaysian music teachers with 44 stressors extracted from 99 sources of stress collected through various sources. The research findings indicate that generally, music teachers in this study were experiencing mild stress in their teaching and learning music in school. Among the particular item of stressors, ‘lack of trained music teacher’, ‘lack of music resources and book’, ‘lack of skill in playing musical instrument’, ‘inadequate allocation to buy costume for music performance’ and ‘lack of recognition for music education’ were rated by the teachers as the main sources of their stress.

Dr. Chan Cheong Jan Juriani Jamaludin

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7793; chanupm@gmail.com

Stress in Music Teaching: Identifying Job Related Stressors in the Context of Malaysian National Schools

Keywords: Triploid, polyploidy lines, African catfish

In aquaculture industry, producing triploid fish has its advantages since they are sterile and in most cases grow faster than normal diploid. Triploids can be produced through applying shocks to newly fertilised eggs. However, not 100% of the resulted larvae are triploid. Screening of triploids can be very time consuming and costly. In this study, one economical and rapid method for the verification of triploidy in African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) based on selected morphological criteria was established. However, this process of verification can be omitted if there is a method for producing 100% triploid fish. In this study, it was found for the first time that advanced vitelogenesis in the oocytes of triploid African catfish can be achieved after weekly injection of ovaprim hormone. Therefore it is highly possible to produce polyploidy lines for African catfish.

Dr. Annie ChristianuAli Karami Varnamkhasti, Simon C. Courtenay, Zamri Ishak, Mohd. Arif Syed and Khairul Zamri Md. Saad

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4111; annie@putra.upm.edu.my

An Economical Triploidy Verification Method and New Avenues for The Production of Polyploidy Line of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

Agriculture

14

Keywords: Genetic engineering, pisang nangka, fusarium wilt, thaumatin-like protein

Banana is a staple food for millions of people in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world and their export contributes to the economies of many countries. But, in recent years, their production has been seriously threatened by diseases. Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxsiporum f.sp. cubense fungus, is one of the most important diseases of banana (Musa spp.). It is prevalent in all banana-growing countries, especially Southeast Asia and caused significant yield losses. Among four races of F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense, only three of them (Race 1, 2 and 4) affect banana and Race four the is most destructive. The wide spread presence of race 4 of the pathogen has been reported as a serious disease for most of the banana cultivars such as Pisang Nangka (AAB). In this research we transferred the rice thaumatin-like protein gene and evaluated the effect of its expression over Fusarium oxsiporum f.sp. cubense race 4 in Pisang Nangka which has a big market in Malaysia. The objective of the study was to produce a new tolerant cultivar of Pisang Nangka to Fusarium wilt which will be used for plantation scale. The obtained results confirmed by PCR, Southern blot and RT-PCR techniques showed the presence and expression of rice thaumatin-like protein gene in genomic DNA transformed plants. Besides, the transgenic plants showed significant resistance against Fusarium wilt after their inoculation with Fusarium oxsiporum f.sp. cubense race 4 spores suspension. We have, therefore, successfully produced a new tolerant cultivar of Pisang Nangka (AAB) and at the same time overcome the Fusarium wilt disease significantly.

Prof. Dr. Maziah MahmoodFatemeh Mahdavi Darvari, Sariah Moen and Mohd. Puad AbdullahInstitute of Tropical Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6703; maziahm@biotech.upm.edu.my

Production of Pisang Nangka (AAB) Disease Tolerant by Expressing the Rice Thaumatin-like Protein (TLP) Gene

Keywords: Halal food, demographic characteristics, halal principle, non-muslim consumers, logit model

Halal is an Arabic word meaning lawful or permitted and all foods consumed by Muslims must meet this Islamic dietary code. It also stands for just and fair business transactions, caring for animals and the environment, social justice and welfare. It is not limited to what the public mostly perceived, confined or restricted only to the slaughtering of animals for consumption by Muslims, but encompasses products and services of the highest quality to meet the ever increasing awareness and needs of consumers in a demanding global market. Although the Halal concept has not been a major element in the non-Muslim consumers living in an Islamic country, however, whether the non-Muslim consumers are aware of the underlying advantages that come with Halal food products or their viewpoint from its religious belief, are some intriguing questions that need to be answered. A survey was conducted in the Klang Valley Selangor where 400 non-Muslim respondents were interviewed via structured questionnaires to gather information on their awareness and attitude towards Halal food products in the Malaysian food market. Descriptive statistic was used to identify the socio-economic/demographic characteristics and attitudes of the respondents toward the Halal food principles. The logit model was used to determine the extent to which selected socio-economic/demographic characteristics influenced the respondents’ attitude and understanding on Halal principles and Halal food products. The results of this study suggest that non-Muslim consumers are aware of the existence of Halal food and Halal logo on food products. In general, various socio-economic/demographic and attitudinal characteristics significantly influenced the likelihood of respondents in understanding of Halal principles and concepts.

Dr. Golnaz RezaiZainalabidin Mohamed, Mad Nasir Shamsudin and Eddie Chiew Fook ChongFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4120; rgolnaz@putra.upm.edu.my

Are Non-muslims Aware of the Principles of Halal Food Products in Malaysia?

Agriculture

15

Keywords: Off-farm employment, paddy farmers, logit model, participation decision

The off-farm employment is gaining attention particularly as a strategy for supplementing the farmers’ income, and it has been widely recognised that the off-farm work plays a very important role in augmenting small farmers’ income in developing countries. In fact, it has been considered as an alternative source of income for the agricultural sector and an essential way to increase the overall rural economic activity and employment in many developing countries. The objectives of the present study are to assess the off-farm employment decisions of 500 paddy farmers in the granary areas of MADA and Kemasin Semerak. Specifically, the study (a) determines the relationship between the determinants of off-farm employment and the off-farm participation decision, (b) describes the characteristics of respondents and their status in off-farm employment, (c) examines the income level of the farm households attributable to paddy farming and off-farm employment, and (d) describes the effect off-farm employment has on paddy farmers. The results reveal that the farmers’ age, gender and number of dependants, as well as other income and the types of farm were the variables that influenced their likelihood to engage in off-farm employment. Evidently, the variables of farm size and level of education were insignificant in affecting off-farm participation.

Dr. Norsida ManFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7501; norupi@hotmail.com

Off-farm Employment Participation among Paddy Farmers in the Muda Agricultural Development Authority and Kemasin Semerak Granary Areas of Malaysia

Keywords: Internet, e-Commerce, logistics activities, e-Logistics

With the advancement of Internet technologies, many companies have adopted the use of the technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their activities. This paper aims to investigate the utilisation of Internet technologies in the Malaysian Palm Oil Industry (MPOI) and explore how the technologies have been exploited by the palm oil industry participants to manage their logistics activities. The respondents of this study were MPOI participants involved in Internet-based activities. The findings revealed that Internet applications were still new and at an early stage. Many participants did not realise the potential of advanced Internet technologies in managing their business activities. Lack of understanding of advanced Internet technologies explains the low level of utilisation of these technologies among the MPOI participants. Most of the participants were comfortable with conventional ways of managing their logistics activities.

Dr. Nitty Hirawaty KamarulzamanNolila Mohd. Nawi

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4133; nitty@agri.upm.edu.my

The use of Internet Applications in Managing Logistics Activities among Palm Oil Industry Participants

Agriculture

16

Keywords: Nitrate assimilation, vegetative compatibility groups, fusarium proliferatum, f. sacchari, rice

Vegetative compatibility (VC) concept encompasses the ability of the two fungal hyphae to formed viable heterokaryon and is therefore a useful tool to study the genetic diversity of fungal isolates, including Fusarium species. Vegetatively compatible isolates from the same vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) shared more traits compared to those grouped in different VCG. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to generate the nitrate non-utilising (nit) mutants and to investigate genetic diversity of two closely related species i.e. F. proliferatum and F. sacchari, associated with rice plants showing typical bakanae symptoms, by classifying the isolates into VCGs. A total of 539 nit mutants were obtained from 26 isolates when cultured on minimal medium and potatoes dextrose agar amended with 2.5% KClO3 (MMC and PDC, respectively). Three phenotypic nit mutant classes i.e. nit1, nit3 and NitM were identified. The frequency of the nit1 mutants recovered was higher on MMC than those on PDC. For VCGs of F. proliferatum, the complementation test identified 8 VCGs among 13 isolates and the genetic diversity based on number of the VCGs per number of isolates was 0.62. However for F. sacchari, the 13 isolates were grouped in 7 VCGs with the genetic diversity of 0.54. The isolates of both species were genetically diverse based on multiple VCGs.

Dr. Nur Ain Izzati Mohd. ZainudinNor Azliza Ismail, Nik Mohd. Izham Mohamed Nor, Azmi Abd. Razak, Siti Nordahliawate Mohamed Sidique and Baharuddin SallehFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6642; izzati@science.upm.edu.my

Nitrate Assimilation and Vegetative Compatibility Groups of Fusarium proliferatum and F. sacchari Isolated from Rice

Keywords: Off-farm employment, paddy farmers, logit model, participation decision

Poverty is one of the most serious problems confronting paddy farmers worldwide, and Malaysia is not an exception. Off farm employment is an alternative strategy and it has a potential to improve the income and well-being of the paddy farmers. This study assessed the off-farm employment decision among 250 paddy farmers in Kemasin Semerak granary area. In specific, the study attempted to determine the relationship between the determinants of the off-farm and the off-farm participation decision. It was also undertaken to describe the characteristics of respondents and their status in the off-farm employment. Furthermore, it examined the income level of the farm households from the paddy farming and the off-farm employments as well as showed the effects of the off-farm employment to the paddy farmers, using the descriptive analysis and logit regression methods. The variables which were found to influence the likelihood of the paddy farmers to engage in the off-farm employment included the farmers’ age and gender, the number of dependants, as well as other income and farming types. From the study, it was evident that the farm size and education were not significant factors as no significant association was observed between them and the off farm participation.

Dr. Norsida ManFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7501; norupi@hotmail.com

Factors Affecting the Decision Making in Off Farm Employment among Paddy Farmers in Kemasin Semerak Granary Area

Agriculture

17

Keywords: RAPD, fusarium species, liseola, rice, bakanae disease

Bakanae is an abnormal elongation disease of rice, Oryza sativa. A total of 59 Fusarium isolates from bakanae affected rice plants were collected from nine states in Malaysia and two provinces in Indonesia. About 14 standard tester isolates of Fusarium species were obtained from Kansas State University, U.S.A. The Fusarium isolates were assessed for genetic diversity using the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. The amplifications with 10 primers identified the scoreable polymorphisms among the isolates. The dendogram, based on UPGMA cluster analysis, clearly separated the six Fusarium species i.e. F. fujikuroi, F. proliferatum, F. nygamai, F. sacchari, F. subglutinans and F. verticillioides, into two distinct clusters. Based on morphological characteristics, the isolates of F. fujikuroi and F. proliferatum were not confidently separated into distinct species, as happen for F. sacchari and F. subglutinans. However in present study, RAPD analysis was potentially used for distinguishing the closely related species into separate sub-clusters. F. fujikuroi and F. proliferatum isolates shared a similarity of approximately 75% whereas F. subglutinans and F. nygamai isolates shared a similarity of around 65%. The similarity matrixes based on simple matching coefficients (SMC) for the six Fusarium species were from 0.387 to 1.000, indicating a broad range of similarities.

Dr. Nur Ain Izzati Mohd. ZainudinBaharuddin Salleh

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

+603-8946 6642; izzati@science.upm.edu.my

Genetic Characterisation by RAPD Analysis of Fusarium Species Isolated from Rice Plants Infected with Bakanae Disease

Keywords: Grasses, rice, sugarcane, fusarium species, f. semitectum, f. sacchari, f. fujikuroi

Fusarium species are well-known soil fungi and widely distributed and associated with all parts of various plants, including grasses. In the present study, Fusarium species were isolated from samples of 25 species of grasses collected from 10 states in Peninsular Malaysia. The isolates were single-spored and identified based on morphological characteristics, and preserved at -800C. A total of 474 isolates were identified into 12 species i.e. F. semitectum, F. sacchari, F. fujikuroi, F. solani, F. proliferatum, F. oxysporum, F. subglutinans, F. equiseti, F. verticillioides, F. compactum, F. chlamydosporum, and F. longipes that belong to six sections i.e. Arthrosporiella, Elegans, Gibbosum and their allied, Liseola and their allied, Martiella, Sporothrichiella and Ventricosum. F. semitectum was frequently isolated (23.6%), followed by F. sacchari (15.4%) and F. fujikuroi (14.6%). However, based on Shanon-weiner Index, F. solani was highly diverse with H’ = 2.62, followed by F. semitectum (2.45), F. equiseti (2.13) and F. compactum (2.06). A less uniform pattern of species dispersion could be observed in non-agricultural ecosystems as no specific pattern of Fusarium species colonised the grass samples.

Dr. Nur Ain Izzati Mohd. Zainudin Siti Nordahliawate Mohamed Sidique, Nor Azliza Ismail and Baharuddin Salleh

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6642; izzati@science.upm.edu.my

Isolation and Identification of Fusarium species Isolated from Agricultural and Non-agricultural Grasses

Agriculture

18

Keywords: Fusion, optical, SAR, RADARSAT-1, SPOT-5, Marang, Malaysia

Melaleuca Cajuputi and Acacia Auriculiformis trees are major sources of nectar and pollen for A. dorsata and the colonies are a major source of honey to the rural poor honey hunters. Honey is a supplementary income to many of these people (including school children) in the Marang district, Terengganu. Apis dorsata colonies are hunted during the honey season in flowering period between May to October. Increase in the number of honey hunters in Marang area shows the importance of Apis dorsata and its honey for local people. To make any decision for improving honey products from Apis dorsata, vegetation mapping is essential to provide information about trees and flowers which are sources of nectar and pollen for Apis dorsata.In this study, Marang area with 270 square kilometers was chosen as pilot study area in Terengganu state for mapping Melalueca Cajuputi and Acacia auriculiformis as two dominant species in low land secondary forest. To inventory and produce land use map of Melaleuca forest in Marang area, in this study, SPOT-5 satellite image in multispectral mode with 10 meter resolution which acquired in 2007 as optical satellite were utilised. Most images from optical satellites had some null data from ground because of clouds and shadow of clouds. To solve this problem, Hue, Saturation and Value (HSV) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used as fusion techniques to replace null data with microwave data which taken from Radarsat-1 image in C-band with 25 meter resolution image. Accordingly, fusiontechniques which were used in this research show that statistically fusion technique has better results than color related technique for mapping Melaleuca forest.

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mahdzir MardanMohammad Mehdi Saberioon, Laili Nordin and Alias mohammad SoodFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4101; makhdzir@gmail.com

Fusion SPOT-5 and Radarsat-1 Images for Mapping Major Bee Plants in Marang District, Malaysia

Keywords: Durian shell, characteristics, biofilter

Malaysia is an agriculture-based country that produces a lot of agricultural by-products every year. There are potential agriculture by-products yet to be investigated, which can be used as biofilter carriers. This study investigates the physical and chemical characteristics of Durian Shell (DS), an agricultural waste, in assessing its potential to be used as a biofilter media for removing toxic vapors. Ultimate analysis was performed using an elemental analyzer. The presence of functional groups in samples was determined by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The powdered DS was mixed with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) in 23:1 ratio (w/w) dry basis for pH adjustment to be within pH 7-8. The sample was then prepared into a pellet (30 mmØ) by hydraulic hand pressure (5 psi). The specific surface area and average pore size were measured based on the Brunauer-emmet-Teller (BET) method and surface morphology was determined by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analyzer. The results showed that DS has a potential alternative to other carriers, especially peat in terms of characteristics, which is not available at a low price or in large quantities in Malaysia.

Dr. Puziah Abdul LatifNur Hidayah Abdul LatipFaculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6744; puziah@env.upm.edu.my

Characteristics of Durian Shell as Support Media in Biofilter

Agriculture

19

Keywords: H5N1, DNA Vaccine, adjuvant, mycobacterium genes with immunomodulatory properties

Studies have shown that DNA vaccine is an attractive approach in vaccination compared to the conventional approach using inactivated and live vaccines. However, DNA vaccine has several limitations including not able to induce strong immune responses. Prudent farm biosecruity and vaccination are important strategies to control outbreaks of avian influenza virus H5N1 in chickens since it is not feasible to implement stamping out program of chickens surrounding outbreak areas. It has been established that bacteria such as Mycobacterium is able to elicit strong cell-mediated immune responses. In addition, Bacillus of Calmette and Guérin (BCG), a vaccine for tuberculosis is a proven adjuvant in vaccination and immunotherapy against several infectious diseases and cancer, respectively. In this study we explore the application of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis encoded genes such as Esat-1, HSP70 and MDP-1 as genetic adjuvant in chickens vaccinated with avian influenza virus H5 DNA vaccine. Chickens that were vaccinated with H5 DNA vaccine with Esat-1, HSP70 and MDP-1, respectively, developed stronger immune responses compared to chickens vaccinated with H5 alone. This study shows for the first time that Mycobacterium encoded gene are potential genetic adjuvant for the development of effective H5 DNA vaccine in chickens.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman OmarMehdi Rasoli, Babak Jalilian, Sara Oveissi, Aini Ideris, Mohd. Hair Bejo, Noorjahan Banu Alitheen, Khatijah

Yusoff, Fatemeh Jahanshiri, Sharifah Syed Hassan and Maizan MohamedInstitute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2102; aro@ibs.upm.edu.my

H5 DNA Vaccine Encoding Mycobacterium Gene as Genetic Adjuvant Improved Avian Influenza Virus Immune Responses in Chickens

Keywords: Microalgae, water treatment, immobilisation, toxic compounds

Current technologies for treatment of water or wastewater are a slow process which takes several days. Thus wastewater is retained for several days in facultative or high rate oxidation ponds. In aquaculture practices nutrients such as ammonia, nitrite and phosphorous loaded effluent are usually discharged without treatment thus polluting the environment. In aquaculture hatcheries, daily exchange of water is required to dilute the toxic effect of nutrients which is generated from feeding and defecation. Daily exchange of water increases the risk of introducing disease agents along with the water supply. Microalgae are used extensively in the treatment of wastewater because of their ability to sequester large amounts of nutrients and other pollutants. However, one of the major bottlenecks is separation of algal biomass from the treated water being low in efficiency and due to higher cost. The present finding provides rapid and effective solution to the issues related to water or wastewater treatment with the use of periphytic microalgae immobilised in the form of beads. The technique uses alginate to immobilize selected purified periphytic microalgae to rapidly reduce toxic compounds such as total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), nitrite (NO2-N) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) from water. Results showed that immobilized periphytic microalgae significantly and rapidly reduced TAN and NO2-N from 7.0 mg/L to 0.0 mg/L in 1 day. Soluble reactive phosphorous was also reduced significantly from 7.0 mg/L to 2.1mg/L within two days. In comparison, un-immobilized periphytic microalgae take 3-7 days to reduce toxic compounds from water. With the reduction of toxic compounds from the water, the water can be re-used or discharged into the environment safely and helped to retain the normal flora and fauna of the water bodies. The immobilization of periphytic microalgae is a low cost technology which is environmental friendly having commercialisation potential.

Prof Dato’ Dr. Mohamed Shariff Mohamed DinFatimah Md. Yusoff, Sanjoy Banerjee and Helena Khatoon

Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia.43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8288; shariff@vet.upm.edu.my

Immobilised Periphytic Microalgae for Rapid and Efficient Removal of Toxic Compounds from Water

Agriculture

20

Keywords: Nano-emulsio esters, pesticides, sustainable agriculture

The global pesticides production is amounted to 1.5 - 2.5 million tons of active ingredients (AIs) annually. However, less than 0.1% conventionally applied pesticides reaches the target sites, with the pesticides being lost via spray drift, off-target deposition, run-off and photodegradation. To minimize the pesticides dissipation, one of the most important ways is to increase the penetration of AIs into plant foliage. A new nano-emulsion system containing oil phase, surfactants and water, offers large surface area for absorption with the droplet size extremely small (20-200nm), and uniformly distributed, thus provides enhanced and rapid penetration. Glyphosate isopropylamine (IPA), a water-soluble herbicide active, the penetration through hydrophobic epicuticular wax and cuticle are the main barriers. Oil phase in nano-emulsion could make glyphosate increases its bioavailability to penetrate and translocate well into the waxy layers of leaves. Water in the nano-emulsion system provides hydration and solubilisation medium to the hydrophilic glyphosate in the foliar uptake. The nano-emulsion system uses less surfactant than commercial herbicide (Roundup®), reduces the great impact to the environment. The use of renewable resources of nonionic surfactant, alkylpolyglucosides (APG), and vegetable oils of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), in the nano-emulsion system to replace the toxic surfactant polyoxyethyleneamine (POEA) in Roundup®, renders good biodegradability, environmentally friendly and economic viability to foster sustainable agriculture. The surface tensions of the nano-emulsion systems are extremely low at 24.0 - 27.0 mN/m. The nano-emulsion formulations showed very good control on weeds Asystasia gangetica, Diodia ocimifolia, Eleusine indica and Paspalum conjugatum.

Prof. Dr. Mahiran Basri Lim Chaw Jiang, Dzolkifli Omar, Abu Bakar Salleh and Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman and Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abdul RahmanFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7266; mahiran@science.upm.edu.my

New Nano-emulsion System in Weeds Control Formulations

Keywords: Integrated pest management, economic benefits, cabbage production

Environmental protection is a basic element of sustainable agricultural development. Agricultural production practices, however, can cause negative externalities. One main concern of the externality is the negative effects of pesticide use. This has motivated the application of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. This study attempts to evaluate the economic benefits of IPM to address the widespread misuse of pesticides in cabbage production. IPM application in cabbage production includes initiatives on the optimal use of pesticides, complementary weed control strategies, and alternative cultural and biological controls. Results of this study showed that the programme would generate economic benefits which include improvements in water quality, food safety, pesticide application safety, and long term sustainability of pest management systems.Thus there is justification for public investment of resources in training and educational programs to increase awareness about IPM and promote IPM adoption.

Prof. Dr. Mad Nasir ShamsudinHairuddin Mohd. Amir and Alias RadamFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4170; nasir@agri.upm.edu.my

Economic Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture

Agriculture

21

Keywords: Elaeis guineensis, oil palm, aluminium, photosynthesis, oxalic acid SPAD chlorophyll value

Keyword: Acidogenesis, anaerobic treatment, organic acid, palm oil mill effluent, recovery.

In this study, low molecular weight organic acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acids generated from partial anaerobic treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) were recovered using pilot scale filtration and evaporation system. Mechanical filter press (14 L) was used for removing solid fractions and fraction distillation unit (40 L) for evaporation and clarification of concentrated acid from POME. Clarification using rotary evaporator was found to be more suitable than distillation column. Due to the presence of more than 90% of water in POME, the final clarified roduct comprises only 7% of the total volume. The material balance for the overall process was estimated and integrated system for the bioconversion of organic acids into olyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) was proposed. The recovery of organic acids has a significant and economical impact, since around 50% cost of PHA production is believed to be associated with the substrate itself.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Ali HassanTabassum Mumtaz, Suraini Abd-Aziz, Nor’Aini Abdul Rahman, Phang Lai Yee and Yoshihito Shirai

Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7514; phaglaiyee@biotech.upm.edu.my

Pilot Scale Recovery of Organic Acids from Treated Palm Oil Mill Effleunt (POME)

Aluminium (Al) phytotoxicity is one of the important soil constraints that limits crop yields. The objectives of this study were to investigate how growth, physiology, nutrient content and organic acid concentration were affected by Al, and to assess the degree of Al-tolerance in different oil palm progenies (OPPs). Four progenies [‘A’ (Angola dura × Angola dura), ‘B’ (Nigerian dura × Nigerian dura), ‘C’ (Deli dura × AVROS pisifera), and ‘D’ (Deli dura × Dumpy AVROS pisifera)] were subjected to different Al concentrations (0, 100 and 200 µM) in aerated Hoagland’s solution at pH 4.4 for 80 days. We observed a severe reduction (57.5%) in shoot dry weight. Root-tips were reduced by 46.5% at 200 µM Al. In ‘B’ and ‘C’ progenies, the majority of macro- and micronutrients were reduced significantly in different proportions by 200 µM Al, with Mg being lowered at more than 50% in roots and shoots. The concentration of 200 µM Al resulted in 56.50% reduction in the total leaf area followed by net photosynthetic rate (20%) and SPAD chlorophyll value in the third leaf (17%). Root-tips (0-5 mm) showed a significant increase of oxalic acid content with increasing Al concentrations (~5.86-fold). Progeny ‘A’ had the highest concentration of oxalic acid. There was a significant interaction of Al concentrations × progenies on total leaf numbers, root volume, lateral root length, Mg and K in both tissues, and Ca and N in shoot. The OPPs could be ranked in their tolerance to Al as: ‘A’ > ‘D’ > ‘B’ > ‘C’.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Hanafi MusaSyed Omar Syed Rastan, Mohd. Rafii Yusof and Jose Alvaro Cristancho Rodriguez

Institute of Tropical Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7842; mmhanafi@agri.upm.edu.my

Variation of Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Progenies Responses to High Aluminium Concentrations in Solution Culture

Agriculture

22

Keywords: Bio-priming, biological control, agro-productivity, sustainable agriculture

The soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is one of the most important legume crops, grown for its quality protein and vegetable oil for human and animal consumption. Anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum truncatum is the most destructive seed-borne disease, affecting seed viability and vigour resulting in reduced seed germination and seedling establishment. Fungicides have been used to control seed-borne fungi of soybean. However, increasing concern regarding possible risks associated with fungicides has given an impetus to search for alternative strategies for mitigating losses in seed vigour. Bio-priming of seeds using biological control agents (BCA) offers an alternative to fungicides. Bio-priming generates an environment for BCAs to proliferate on the seed surface through increase moisture and nutrient uptake from seed exudates. The in vitro study indicated that two fungal isolates Trichoderma harzianum (UPM40) and T. virens (UPM23), and a bacterium P. aeruginosa (UPM13B8) demonstrated antagonistic activities against C. truncatum using both dual culture and culture filtrate tests with percentage inhibition in mycelial growth of >80%. The efficacy of bio-priming for the control of damping-off in soybean and seedling establishment using these isolates was evaluated under field conditions. All bio-priming treatments significantly reduced pre- and post-emergence damping-off relative to controls. In general, bio-priming with P. aeruginosa was the most effective treatment for controlling pre and post-emergence damping-off, with percentage disease reductions of 50 % and 81%, respectively. Moreover, P. aeruginosa resulted in enhancement of seed germination and healthy seedling stand. Bio-priming with T. harzianum reduced pre- and post-emergence damping-off by 44 % and 60 %, respectively. However, P. aeruginosa was generally comparable to T. harzianum and the fungicide Benlate®. Therefore, bio-priming can be used to increase agro-productivity for sustainable agriculture.

Prof. Dr. Sariah MeonMost. Mahbuba Begum and Yasmeen SiddiquiInstitute of Tropical Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8967; sariahm@putra.upm.edu.my

Improving Seed Viability and Vigour through Bio-priming

Keywords: Freeze-drying, water extraction, bioplastic, recovery, purification

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters of various hydroxyalkanoates, which are accumulated as carbon and energy storage materials in various microorganisms usually under the condition of limiting nutritional elements but in the presence of excess carbon source. PHAs have been drawing much attention as promising substitutes for chemically synthesized polymers due to their similar mechanical properties to petroleum-derived plastics and complete biodegradability. Currently, methods of PHA extraction and purification from bacterial suspension use solvent or halogenated-based approaches which are costly and possess severe environmental damage. This invention describes a cost-effective method for recovery and purification of PHA from freeze-dried cell by using water.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Ali HassanMitra Mohammadi, Nor Asma Abd Razak, Chong Mei Ling, Yoshihito Shirai, Wan Md Zin Wan Yunus, Suraini Abd. Aziz, Amirul Al-Ashraf Abdullah, Hasfalina Che Man, Siti Nor Syairah Anis and Phang Lai YeeFaculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7514; phaglaiyee@biotech.upm.edu.my

Efficient Recovery Method for Intracellular Polyhydroxyalkanoates by Non-solvent System

Agriculture

23

Keywords: Malaysian catfishes, karyotyping

Karyotyping is one of the useful tools in species identification, taxonomy, evolutionary and breeding selection. The importance of this study is to provide documentation on the karyotypic structure of selected catfishes and generates genetic marker for species identification. To date, little information on karyotyping of freshwater catfishes were documented. The aims of this study were to determine and differentiate the karyotypic structure and fundamental arm numbers of selected catfish families namely: Bagridae, Clariidae and Pangasiidae for species identification. Five fishes of Family Bagridae (Pahang) and three to eighteen catfishes from Family Clariidae (Kelantan, Pahang, Sarawak, Johor and Selangor) were used. Only four catfishes from Family Pangasiidae were collected from Perak and Pahang. The fish samples ranging from 23 - 300 g in weight and 16 - 40 cm in standard length were used to obtain the chromosomes from the first pair of gill filaments by subjecting to a combination of colchicine and phytohaemagglutinin (m-form) for arresting a mitotic division. The slides were prepared by flame drying technique and stained with giemsa solution for observation. The karyotype of each species was arranged according to size, type and structure such as metacentric (M), submetacentric (SM), subtelocentric (ST) and acrocentric/telocentric (A/T). The diploid chromosome numbers ranged from 2n equal to 52 (Clarias nieuhofii); 54 (Clarias macrocephalus, Clarias batrachus); 56 (Hemibagrus nemurus and Clarias gariepinus) and 60 (Pangasius pangasius and Pangasius sutchi). The fundamental arm numbers ranged from 92-100 (Clarias macrocephalus; Clarias batrachus; Clarias gariepinus; and Clarias nieuhofii) in Clariidae; 103-104 in Bagridae (Hemibagrus nemurus) and 96-102 in Pangasiidae (Pangasius pangasius and Pangasius sutchi).

Prof. Dr. Siti Shapor Hj. SirajSiti Khalijah Daud, Ratiah Sukardi and Jothi Panandam

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4172; shaporsiraj@yahoo.com

Tracing of Phylogeny through Chromosomal Approaches in Malaysian Catfishes

Keywords: Acetes shrimp, population characteristic, peninsular Malaysia

Genomic DNA of sergestid shrimp, Acetes japonicus was successfully extracted by using the Promega Wizard Genomic DNA Purification Kit. Population genetic characterization of A. japonicus along the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia (state of Perak, Malacca, and Kedah) was examined using the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker. Twenty oligonucleotides from operon a kit were used to screen the populations, of which six were able to be amplified (OPA03, OPA04, OPA07, OPA09, OPA10, OPA16). The percentages of polymorphic bands of the three populations investigated varied from 57.77% to 87.77%. Genetic distances between populations and cluster analysis from UPGMA grouped the populations into two major clusters. The Perak and Malacca populations were in one cluster, while the Kedah population was clustered by itself, indicating a different population. The genetic distance was highest 0.0999 for the Kedah and the Malacca populations while lowest value was 0.0413 for the Perak and the Malacca populations, which probably have a closed ancestral relationship. The results of this study suggested that RAPD analysis, if carried out carefully and accurately would give a good indication of the separation between individuals of different populations and are suitable for identification of closely related genotypes.

Prof. Dr. Siti Shapor Hj. SirajDania Aziz

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4172; shaporsiraj@yahoo.com

Shrimp Fishery: Genetic Structure of Planktonic Shrimp, Acetes japonicus (Decapoda: Sergestidae) of the Straits of Malacca Waters

Agriculture

24

Keywords: Upland rice, root characteristics, nitrogen fertiliser, nitrogen use efficiency

Nitrogen is the most limiting plant nutrient that controls the growth and yield of rice and most other plants. Currently, farmers in Asia typically apply 86 to 136 kg N ha-1, while in Malaysia, up to 170 kg N ha-1 has been proposed. Increased N application is not advocated due to high cost of N fertilisers and from environmental perspective, excess N fertiliser use has been associated to eutrophication of surface and ground water resulting from leaching of excess nitrates. The size and architecture of the root system is an important variable ensuring adequate access to soil N. The architecture of the root is determined by the pattern of root branching and the size of the root relative to the rest of the plant. It has been predicted that in the next 30 years, increase of up to 60% of the current rice yield must be targeted to sustain the population consumption of rice. Most of the crop varieties grown in the developed world have been bred under conditions of high fertiliser input, while the indigenous upland rice grown by most small farmers have not been tested for their N uptake efficiencies, since they have been normally grown with minimal fertiliser input. This experiment was carried out where eight local upland rice landraces and two genotypes obtained from Africa Rice Center (WARDA) were screened for their root architectural characteristics and to relate to N uptake efficiency using N-15 labelled ammonium sulpahte. Our study showed that total N uptake from fertilizer ranges from 60.98 kg/ha to 120.98 kg/ha and N use efficiency ranges from 40.65 to 80.65. Variety Merah showed the most efficient N uptake, with 120.98 kg/ha, corresponding to 80.65% N fertiliser use efficiency. Total N uptake g/plot showed positive correlation with root surface area (r=0.37751) and root volume (r=0.41346).

Prof. Dr. Zaharah A. RahmanMohamed Hanafi MusaFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6932; zaharah@agri.upm.edu.my

Nitrogen Uptake by Some Upland Rice Landraces and Their Relationships to Root Characteristics

Keywords: Oil palm genotypes, P use efficiency, high affinity phosphate transporters

Increasing the yield of oil palm in Malaysia depends much on the application of fertilisers due to oil palm high nutrient demand, uptake and removal. Malaysian soils are highly weathered, acidic and inherently low in phosphate (P) and have high P fixing capacities, making P unavailable for plant uptake. P fertiliser is the third most applied to oil palm to optimise and sustain high yields. Over the years, this has resulted in substantial P accumulation in the oil palm soils. This could lead to eutrophication effects to ground water and other water source. In light of this, a concept of “tailoring the plant to fit the soil” should be implemented in plant and soil research. Instead of altering the fertility status of the soil to accommodate the plant nutrient demand, plants with better P uptake should be used. Adopting plants with better nutrient uptake efficiency means more environmentally friendly and ecologically feasible strategy to improve the growth of plant in low phosphorus soil. Our study has shown differences in P uptake (12-46%) among oil palm genotypes by means of P-32 radioisotope study. The significant difference of oil palm in P uptake implies that good planting materials with high P uptake ability could optimise the usage of P fertiliser input. The presence of high affinity phosphate transporters was successfully detected. We used a protein probe to locate the phosphate transporters in oil palm roots. By measuring the probe activity in the root, we are able to measure the uptake ability of P by oil palm genotypes. The outcome of the study will help in breeding superior oil palm genotypes for efficient P uptake ability. Our research aligns with the concept of “tailoring the plant to fit the soil” in improving crop production in a more environmentally friendly manner to benefit mankind.

Prof. Dr. Zaharah A. RahmanSiti Nor Akmar AbdullahFaculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6932; zaharah@agri.upm.edu.my

Increasing Phosphate use Efficiency of Oil Palm through the Use of Appropriate Promoters from Selected Oil Palm Genotypes

Agriculture

25

Keywords: Soil texture, soil apparent electrical conductivity, particle size distribution, saturated hydraulic conductivity

The study on sensor-based measurement such as Veris 3100 and soil particle size distribution (PSD) related to soil quality is useful for precision farming. It helps in determining soil variability and root growth which can be used in site specific management. The main purpose of the study was to determine whether sensor-based apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) could be used as indicator of soil texture. A model of the soil physical properties can be developed based on the ECa values. This ECa sensor was pulled across 380 ha paddy field and used in conjunction with Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) receiver. ECa data were geo-referenced to create spatial variability map. Soil samples were taken by referring to the ECa zones and located by using RTK GPS. The samples were sent to the laboratory to analyse the Particle Size Distribution (PSD) using pipette method and the textural class were determined by Texture Auto Lookup (TAL) using Excel. From mean of soil distribution size, the soil texture class for the study area was silty clay. The correlations analysis shows that deep ECa and percentage of clay were significantly correlated with r=0.701**. Significant correlation were found for deep ECa and the percentage of sand(r=0.479**) and for silt, (r=0.533**). From the results, the study shows that the relation of PSD to deep ECa has high significance. Therefore ECa can be used to predict soil PSD of paddy soils in the study area. The model developed from the regression analysis, can be used as an estimator of other soil properties. Consequently, the saturated hydraulic conductivity or deep percolation rate of the soil can also be estimated from the calculated soil textures. A graphical user interface was created to show the various estimated textures and percolation rate of the paddy soils.

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd. Amin Mohd. SoomAimrun Wayayok and Mastura Mohamed

Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6427; amin@eng.upm.edu.my

Soil Physical Properties Calculator

Keywords: Consumers concern, halalness, halal food products, religiosity, halal logo

The introduction of Halal logo by the Malaysian Department of Islamic Development (JAKIM) has triggered a greater awareness among the Muslim communities about the importance of consuming products or engaging in services that follow Islamic guidelines and principles. Unfortunately there is a lack of enforcement in monitoring the usage of certified Halal logo causing the public to question the validity of some of the products that are claimed to be Halal. This Paper focuses on the concerns of Muslim consumers in Malaysia about the Halalness of manufactured foods which carry Halal logo. Cross-sectional consumer data were collected in a survey of 1,560 Muslim respondents in 2008. The results of this study show the consumers from East part of Peninsular Malaysia; with higher level religiosity and also education level of are more likely to be concerned about the Halal status of food products. Understanding of the extant of consumers’ concerns towards the Halalness of Halal labeled food products from the religious viewpoint and relevant policy formulation in ensuring Halalness of food products are vital in order to make Malaysia a successful World Halal Food Hub by 2020.

Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin Mohamed Golnaz Rezai and Mad Nasir Shamsudin

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4121; zam@agri.upm.edu.my

Concerns for Halalness of Halal-labelled Food Products among Muslim Consumers in Malaysia: Evaluation of Selected Demographic Factors

Agriculture

26

Keywords: Scalp induction, banana, micropropagation, cytokinins

Shoot tip cultures produce only maximum 3.44, 7.07 and 4.22 shoots per explants in Berangan Intan, Rastali and Berangan, respectively, with the optimum concentration of BAP (22.2 ?M), but SCALPs which consist of several fleshy bulbous structures possessing highly proliferating meristems, are able to produce at least the average number of 11.67, 14.33 and 9 shoots per explants in Berangan Intan, Rastali and Berangan, respectively, with similar level of BAP treatment (22.2 ?M). Therefore, they can be a good replacing source compared to shoot tips for rapidly mass propagation of bananas. The effect of cytokinins on scalp induction from in vitro propagating shoot tips of different banana (Musa spp. AAA and AAB) cultivars was investigated. Lower level of BAP (11.1 ?M) increased scalp induction. Kinetin caused an increase in scalp induction rate at higher concentration (22.2 ?M). The highest ratio of scalp formation (8.89) was recorded for Rastali at the highest concentration of TDZ (7.5 ?M), but for Berangan Intan and Berangan (AAA), TDZ increased scalp induction rate from 0.00 and 0.43 at 0.5 ?M to 4.22 and 2.67 at 5 ?M respectively before falling to 2.11 for both at 7.5 ?M. BAP at 22.2 ?M was considered optimal for shoot proliferation as well as shoot elongation from excised scalps of banana cultivars. These scalps with high proliferating capacity can be used for mass clonal propagation which consequently can also be the preferred target material, for induced mutations and genetic engineering studies.

Prof. Dr. Maziah MahmoodSiamak Shirani, Sariah Moen and Zakaria WahabInstitute of Tropical Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6703; maziahm@biotech.upm.edu.my

Improved Plantlet Production by Scalp Formation in Tissue Cultured Bananas

Keywords: Antioxidant enzymes, Lipid peroxidase, cultivars, periods of stress, rice, submergence stress

Submergence is the major risk factor limiting yield in several lowland rice-growing areas in South and South-East Asia, especially in Malaysia. Although, the rice plant is one of the few crop species that can live permanently waterlogged soils, it is unable to survive if it is completely submerged in water for an extended period. Physiological comparisons between contrasting abiotic stress tolerant cultivars will improve the understanding of stress-tolerant mechanisms. The potential involvement of activated oxygen species by submergence stress was studied in two Malaysian rice cultivars, MR219-4 and MR219-9, and cultivar FR13A which is known to be tolerant to submergence. Seedlings of these three rice cultivars were subjected to different submergence periods (4, 8 and 12 days). Under 8 days of complete submergence, FR13A cultivar showed higher lipid peroxidation in terms of malondialdehyde (MDA) level and activities of antioxidative enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) when compared to the MR219-4 and MR219-9 cultivars. MR219-9 cultivar showed higher SOD (1.3 fold), APX (1.8 fold) and GR (3.6 fold) activities after 12 days of submergence when compared to FR13A. The levels of SOD activity indicated that detoxification of O2.- to H2O2 was maintained at a stable level throughout the submergence stress until up to 8 days and increased rapidly at 12 days of submergence. The results indicated that tolerance to submergence in rice is associated until 8 days submergence for MR219-4 and FR13A cultivars, but mechanism in MR219-9 cultivar is associated until 12 days submergence. These findings suggested that tolerance to submergence stress in rice may be proved by increasing the capacity of antioxidative system.

Prof. Dr. Maziah MahmoodRevandy Iskandar Damanik, Mohd. Razi Ismail, Syahida Ahmad and Abd. Mohd. ZainFaculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences,University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6703; maziahm@biotech.upm.edu.my

Antioxidative Enzymes as Biochemical Markers in Malaysian Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars under Submergence Condition

Agriculture

27

Keywords: Honeybee, Apis dorsata, honey, probiotic, lactic acid bacteria

The aim of this study was to isolate and identify novel potential probiotic Lactobacillus using culture method and applies polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 16S rRNA gene. Seventeen Lactobacillus strains were isolated from the fully honeycomb of honeybee Apis dorsata using selective media. The 16S rRNA genes from extracted DNA of bacterial colonies were amplified with PCR using lactobacilli genus primers. All bacterial 16S rRNA genes were sequenced, alignment and the distant bacteria deposited in GenBank. The Lactobacillus strains were identified as Lactobacillus sp. related-sequences (64.15%) with other abundant sequences being related to Lactobacillus kunkeei (34.85%). However, it appears that Apis dorsata honeycombs could be a source of new bacteria. These strains could be good candidates for potential application as probiotics in honeybee and also as natural food preservatives, which also suggests their possible use in the food industry.

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mahdzir MardanMohammad Mehdi Saberioon, Laili Nordin, Alias Mohammad Sood and Asa Ggholizadeh

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4101; makhdzir@gmail.com

Predict Location(s) of Apis dorsata Nesting Sites using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System in Melalaeuca Forest

Keywords: Kenaf, water use efficiency, growth efficiency, biomass, BRIS soil

Attainment of targets for multiple production from plant-based products, Hibiscus cannabinus or well-known as Kenaf was selected as one of the national crops to be planted nationwide. With the intimate collaboration between INTROP and Lembaga Tembakau Negara (LTN), some preliminary investigations on upstream activities were carried out especially those related to the reliability of Kenaf planted in Beach Ridges Interspersed with Swales (BRIS) soils. Since BRIS area in Peninsular Malaysia covered an area of 162,000 ha, they should be exploited despite being physically and chemically imperfect. One of the main problems of BRIS is soils related to poor water holding capacity. Hence, ecophysiological study of Kenaf varieties was carried out involving water use efficiency (WUE) and growth efficiency (EG) of nine varieties of Kenaf. This pilot study was done in experimental plot, Taman Pertanian Universiti, UPM. The WUE and EG values were found significantly different between varieties. The WUE values ranged from 90.1 mmol mol-1 (Q-Ping) to 201.6 mmol mol-1 (KK60) and the EG values ranged from as low as 0.052 g cm-2 month-1 (V19) to 0.196 g cm-2 month-1 (Q-Ping). The contrasting results obtained for Q-Ping variety have led to the derivation of regression analysis. The slope coefficient revealed that WUE of Q-Ping variety estimated from plotting Amax against Gsmax was 0.219 and found higher than the other varieties. The allocations of mass between aboveground and belowground were similar among varieties except TK. Based on WUE and EG, these preliminary results showed that the early flowering varieties; Q-Ping and KK60 are the most promising varieties to be planted in BRIS soil compared to the rest even though their biomass production was slightly less compared to V132, V133 and V19. However, rigid conclusion on the appropriate variety cannot be made so far. Sample size and study site need to be expanded.

Dr. Hazandy Abdul Hamid Nor Aini Ab. Shukor, Arifin Abdu, Mohd. Basri Hamzah, Baharom Zainal and Mohd. Hazimy Yusoff

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2173; hazandy@gmail.com

Water Use and Growth Efficiency of Nine Varieties of Hibiscus cannabinus (Kenaf)

Food

Food

29

Keywords: Supercritical fluid extraction, squalene, palm fatty acid distillate

Currently, the high demand on squalene in pure form is because of the potential benefits in human being. The objective of this study is to develop a processing procedure to extract squalene from palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) and to improve the recovery of squalene from PFAD by applying pressure swing technique in the extraction process. The process consists mainly elimination of free fatty acids normally occurring in PFAD by applying enzymatic hydrolysis and followed by neutralization. The concentrated PFAD is then extracted with supercritical carbon dioxide using pressure swing technique. Relationship between the squalene yield and experimental conditions such as temperature, pressure and holding time for pressure swing was studied. The significant differences in volatility and solubility between squalene and other compounds in PFAD required the conditions for squalene extraction at the highest solubility of squalene. The squalene yield gradually increased with the increase of temperature and holding time. Results obtained are applicable to processes for extracting squalene from PFAD at optimal process conditions.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Badlishah Sham BaharinNorhidayah Suleiman, Md. Zaidul Islam Sarker and Seyed Hamed Mirhosseini

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8355; badli@food.upm.edu.my

Recovery of Squalene from Palm Fatty Acid Distillate using Supercritical Fluid Extraction

Keywords: Psidium guajava, industrial waste, extraction, polyphenols powder, halal antioxidant

In the Third National Agricultural Policy (NAP3) (1998-2010), developing new high value products from agricultural wastes and by-products would further improve our productivity and global competitiveness. Food processing by-products might potentially consist of high valuable bioactive components. Malaysia is one of the largest pink guava (Psidium guajava) puree exporters in the world which produces about 3000 metric tonnes annually which is 20% of the world guava puree. In the production of pink guava puree, large amount of by-products are generated during crushing, refining and sieving stages namely refiner, siever and decanter, respectively. Utilisation of the by products in the creation of high market value products can minimise the cost and by-products disposal problems. Refined by-product is a by-product fraction that is rich in guava seeds and peels. It was found to have the highest polyphenols content. Polyphenols have received much attention because of their antioxidant properties in food, nutrition and health. This work was focused in optimising the extraction conditions to obtain the maximum amounts of guava polyphenols using response surface methodology. Different extraction parameters evaluated were (i) temperature, (ii) pH and (iii) time. The model obtained produced satisfactory fitting the experimental data with regard to polyphenols content (R2= 0.902, P= 0.001). The best extraction conditions for the guava polyphenols could be obtained at 60 ºC for five hours using 80% ethanol at pH 2. This invention could produce guava polyphenols-rich powder that can be exploited as halal functional food ingredients.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amin IsmailAbd. Razak Ismail, Kong Kin Weng, Azizah Othman and Tan Seok Tyug

Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8941 1287; amin@medic.upm.edu.my

Polyphenols Powder: Creating the Value of Guava Puree Industrial Waste

Food

30

Keywords: Pineapple juice concentrate, wheat bread, texture, microstructure, staling

The effect of adding different pineapple juice preparations on the microstructure, staling and textural properties of wheat bread were investigated. The loaves quality, crust and crumb color, and staling profile (crumb firmness, enthalpy) during storage were monitored. The micro-structural differences of crumbs were also examined using microtome and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Results revealed that the specific volume of fresh loaves baked with concentrated pineapple juice (PJC) bread was not significantly (P = 0.05) different from that of control wheat bread (WB). Likewise, firmness of crumbs, number of crumb cells, area air cell, bake loss, volume yield, and crust and crumb color of the freshly baked PJC bread were not significantly (P = 0.05) different from the control WB. However, during storage, the retro gradation of starch in pineapple bread crumbs (PJC and pineapple juice [PJ] bread) was significantly (P = 0.05) retarded as compared with the control WB. While there was no significant (P = 0.05) textural differences between the crumbs of freshly produced PJC bread and the crumb of the control WB, staled breads revealed significant textural changes in their crumbs. Microtome and SEM revealed the presence of many starch granules on the surface of pore walls in the control WB, whereas the PJC bread contained starch gels cemented between starch granules. Gluten nets were found to be uniform and more oriented in the control WB than in the PJC bread. However, same gluten nets were dense and non-uniform in the PJ bread.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lasekan OlusegunFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8535; lasekan@food.upm.edu.my

Effect of Different Pineapple Juice (Ananas comosus L.) Preparation on the Microstructure, Staling and Textural Properties of Wheat Bread

Keywords: Biogenic amines, amines degrading bacteria, histamine, fish sauce

This study was carried out to assess biogenic amines degradation activity of several bacteria isolated from fish sauce, and examined their potential to inhibit amines accumulation during fish sauce fermentation. Eight strains of bacteria were evaluated for their ability to degrade histamine, putrescine and cadaverine in a phosphate buffer supplemented medium with 100 ppm of each amine. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FS-05 and Staphylococcus carnosus FS-19 were able to degrade histamine up to 59.9% and 29.1% from its initial concentration within 24 hours, respectively. Staphylococcus intermedius FS-20 and Bacillus subtilis FS-12 degraded putrescine and cadaverine up to 30.4% and 28.9%, respectively. Most of the isolates were tolerant to salt concentration up to 15 %, temperature up to 45 ºC, and a wide range of pH (5-9. It is well known that histamine is the most active amines in fish sauce, thus Staphylococcus carnosus FS-19 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FS-05 were used as starter cultures and applied to fish sauce fermentation. Histamine content was reduced for about 27.7% and 15.4% by Staphylococcus carnosus FS-19 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FS-05, respectively. Both cultures could also reduce other amines during fermentation. After 120 days of fermentation, the overall biogenic amines content was 15.9% and 12.5% less in samples inoculated with Staphylococcus carnosus FS-19 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FS-05, respectively, as compared to control samples. Biogenic amine degradation activity of the bacteria was considered as strain rather than species specific. Moreover, the findings of this study emphasized a potential benefit of bacteria with amines oxidase activity to inhibit biogenic amines accumulation when applied as starter cultures in fish sauce fermentation and perhaps other fermented foods.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatimah Abu BakarMuhammad Zukhrufuz Zaman, Jinap Selamat and Jamilah BakarFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8375; fatim@putra.upm.edu.my

Potential Starter Culture to Inhibit Biogenic Amines Accumulation during Fish Sauce Fermentation

Food

31

Keywords: Halal, bifidobacteria, delivery system

This invention describes encapsulation process for bifidobacteria delivery in a mammal (preferably human

or animal), where the bead includes Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum G4 and encapsulation matrix. The encapsulation matrix includes gelatin, a cross linker and sodium alginate. The encapsulation matrix showed good entrapping properties to the bacterium tested. The comparison of Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum G4 encapsulation yields (%) between bovine gelatin-containing matrix and porcine gelatin-containing matrix showed no significant different. Therefore, the halal encapsulation matrix/process developed in this study offers promising vehicle for the delivery of bifidobacteria and other active micromolecules into the targeted site which is the colon.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shuhaimi MustafaKhalilah Abdul Khalil, Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap, Arbakariya Ariff and Rosfarizan Mohamad

Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8941 6541; shuhaimi@biotech.upm.edu.my

Halal Encapsulation for Bifidobacteria (PI 2010001376)

Keywords: Mushroom, prebiotic, gut health

Mushroom is a kind of fungi with a soft and fleshy body. More than 2000 species out of 12 000 species were claimed to be edible. The ancient Chinese believed that, the consumption of mushroom (like shiitake) could help in maintaining good health. Ganoderma lucidum is one of the famous mushrooms used in traditional Chinese medicine. The therapeutic effects of these mushrooms are due to its polysaccharides content. Many researchers have been conducted in other to prove the significant medicinal effect – antioxidant, antitumor, anticancer – of mushroom scientifically. These include the discoveries of prebiotic properties from the crude polysaccharides of G. lucidum (GLCP). GLCP were obtained using hot water extraction method. Prebiotic activity of GLCP was tested against probiotic bacteria namely: Bifidobacterium longum BB536 in 10 mL basal Trypticase Phytone Yeast (abbreviated as bTPY) medium (without glucose) supplemented with various concentrations of GLCP (abbreviated as bTPYglcp) (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0%). bTPY medium supplemented with glucose (abbreviated as bTPYglu) and inulin (abbreviated bTPYinu) were used as comparison. Viable cell counts of the bacteria and the pH of the medium were determined during anaerobic incubation at 0h, 12hours, 24hours and 48hours at 37°C. In the presence of carbohydrate source, cultures showed various degree of growth increment. With regard to the growth supporting property: B. longum BB536 showed greater growth in medium supplemented with 0.5% GLCP (8.63 log cfu/mL) as compared to basal medium (7.31 log cfu/mL) at 24hours of incubation time. These gave about 30% probiotic growth increment (in bTPYglcp) and only 10% increment in bTPY. The pH was noted to drop from 6.8 to 4.5 in bTPYglcp and pH 6.8 to 5.8 in bTPY after 24hours of incubation. These showed that probiotic bacteria was favoured to survive in medium supplemented with GLCP three time greater as compared to the basal medium.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shuhaimi MustafaAida Firdaus Muhammad Nurul Azmi, Mohd. Hamim Hamdan Mustafa, Mohd. Yazid Abd. Manap

Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8941 6541; shuhaimi@biotech.upm.edu.my

A Miracle of Mushroom: A Booster for Healthy Gut

Food

32

Keywords: Coconut residue, cellulose, reduced-fat (RF), dietary fiber, mixture design

Coconut residue (CR) obtained after the extraction of coconut milk is potentially a good source of dietary fiber (DF), which mainly is cellulose and available in large quantities. In this study, dietary fiber contents of CR were extracted, characterized and incorporated as a valuable ingredient into reduced-fat (RF) mayonnaise. Water-washed CR samples as well as the original samples were analyzed for their chemical composition, soluble dietary fiber (SDF), insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) and total dietary fiber (TDF), and measurements were based on dry matter. Fractionated IDF was further treated into four fractions: cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses A and B. IDF, TDF, moisture, crude fat, protein and CHO (carbohydrate) values were significantly (P < 0.05) different between the samples. The TDF of the CR with treatment differed significantly (P < 0.05) between two different analytical methods. The cellulose contents were 72.67% and 72.33% for TDF in original and water-washed CR samples, respectively. The formulation of an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion RF mayonnaise containing water, coconut-based cellulose (acting as a fat replacer and stabilizer in the O/W emulsion) and soybean oil was optimized using mixture design. Contour plots for physical properties were generated using the predictive model, and the optimal region for physical properties in this study was based on a full-fat (FF) products parameter. The results revealed that RF mayonnaise shows similarities with the FF products. Thus, this study shows a good potential of coconut-based cellulose to be used as a fat replacer in RF mayonnaise.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin PingSiou Pei, Oi Ming Lai, Kamariah Long and Hamed MirhosseiniFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8418; tancp@putra.upm.edu.my

Extraction and Development of Reduced-fat (RF) Mayonnaise from Coconut Residue

Keywords: Headspace solid-phase microextraction, two-dimensional gas chromatography, time-of-flight mass spectrometry, equilibrium headspace analysis, soursop

Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) was applied for equilibrium headspace analysis of Malaysian soursop (Annona muricata) volatile flavor compounds. The influence of HS-SPME variables, namely sample concentration, salt concentration and sample amount, on the equilibrium headspace analysis of ten target volatile flavor compounds was investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). A total of 135 compounds extracted using a CAR/PDMS fiber were successfully identified using GC×GC-TOFMS, of which 37 compounds, comprising 20 esters, 6 alcohols, 3 terpenes, 2 acids, 2 aromatics, 2 ketones and 2 aldehydes, were identified as the main volatile aroma compounds of soursop flavour. The RSM results indicated that all response-surface models were significantly (p < 0.05) fitted for ten target volatile flavor compounds, with high R2 values ranging from 0.658 to 0.944. Multiple optimization results showed that extraction using a 76.6% (w/w) sample concentration, 20.2% (w/w) salt and 8.2 g of blended soursop pulp was predicted to provide the highest overall equilibrium headspace concentration for the target soursop volatile flavor compounds.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin PingKok Whye Cheong, Hamed Mirhosseini, Mahiran Basri, Azizah Osman, Nazimah Sheikh Abdul Hamid, Sung Tong Chin and Yaakob Che Man Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8418; tancp@putra.upm.edu.my

Equilibrium Headspace Analysis of Volatile Flavour Compounds Extracted from Soursop (Annona muricata) using Comprehensive Two-dimensional Gas Chromatography Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) with Headspace Solid Phase Microextraction (HS-SPME)

Food

33Keywords: Astaxanthin nanodispersions, emulsification-evaporation, emulsifier mixture, mixture design

A top-down approach based on an emulsification-evaporation technique was used to prepare nanodispersions of astaxanthin. Astaxanthin can be used as supplement or colorant ingredient in food formulations and as a “nutraceutical”. However, it cannot be readily absorbed by the human body because of its poor bioavailability. The increase in bioavailability is due to the special characteristics of nanodispersions; it has been shown that nanosized-dispersion increases the surface areas and dissolution velocities of poorly soluble compounds, thus increasing their saturation solubility. Usually a blend of emulsifiers and stabilisers shows higher stabilisation functionality in a lower total concentration in comparison of using them individually. In this study, simplex centroid mixture design was used to study the interactions among pectin, sodium caseinate and sucrose oleate as a multiple emulsifier system on the formation of astaxanthin nanodispersions through emulsification-evaporation technique under optimised processing conditions. The multiple emulsifier system was considered as a mixture of these three ingredients, in which the interactions between two ingredients were not isolated from the third ingredient. The initial particle size and astaxanthin concentration, and changes of particle size and astaxanthin concentration after one month of storage were characterized via laser diffraction particle size analyzer and HPLC, respectively. For all studied responses, special cubic regression models with acceptable determination coefficient (>77%) have been obtained. The multiple-response optimization predicted that an emulsifier mixture of 44% sucrose oleate, 10% pectin and 46% sodium caseinate can be used to produce astaxanthin nanodispersions with minimum particle size and maximum astaxanthin concentration and also maximum physicochemical stability. Under these obtained proportions, no significant (p > 0.05) differences between the experimental and predicted values were observed, confirming the suitability of the regression models relating the independent and response variables studied.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin PingNavideh Anarjan, Hamed Mirhosseini and Badlishah Sham Baharin

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8418; tancp@putra.upm.edu.my

Preparation of Astaxanthin Nanodispersions using Multiple Emulsifier System via Emulsification-evaporation Technique

Keywords: Hylocereus polyrhizus, pitaya seed oil, tocophero, phytosterol, encapsulation

Hylocereus polyrhizus (red-skinned pitaya with red flesh) seed oil can serve as a potential new source of natural antioxidants. The tiny black pitaya seeds (size < 1.0 mm) present in significant amounts as a waste of pitaya juice processing, containing 18% of oil with a high degree of unsaturated fatty acid content. Linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids were the major fatty acids in the pitaya seed oil (PSO). Both ?-tocopherol and ?-tocopherol were detected and total tocopherol content in PSO was 43.50 mg/100 g. Abundance of ?-sitosterol was also found in PSO. Most commonly found phenolic compounds such as p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic and protocatechuic acids were identified by liquid chromatographic analysis. In addition, spray-drying technique was used to encapsulate PSO. Sodium caseinate/ maltodextrin DE10 as wall material was homogenized with PSO to form an O/W emulsion and subsequently spray-dried into an encapsulated lipid powder. Shelf-life stability test: Oil Stability Index by Rancimat and Schaal oven test were conducted. The result reveals that sodium caseinate/maltodextrin DE10 can be used to protect PSO from oxidation and increase the shelf-life of PSO.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin PingHong Kwong Lim and Jamilah Bakar

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8418; tancp@putra.upm.edu.my

Characterisation and Stabilisation of Pytochemical-rich Hylocereus polyrhizus Seed Oil by Microencapsulation

Food

34

Keywords: Antioxidant properties, total phenolic content, nannochloropsis sp, chaetoceros sp

Nowadays, marine microorganisms, particularly microalgae have gained much interest in nutraceutical research. This is mainly due to the existence of their novel bioactive secondary metabolites, particularly antioxidants which have the potential to be used for cancer prevention. Nannochloropsis sp. a unicellular green algae of eustigmatophyceae family and Chaetoceros sp. a diatomic brown algae of Bacillariophyceae family are widely used for live feeds locally due to their nutrient-rich content. Nonetheless, information on antioxidants from these marine microalgae is scarce. Thus, this study focuses on determining the antioxidant properties of the different solvent extracts, namely hexane, dichloromethane, chloroform and methanol, from both microalgae. The evaluation of antioxidant capacities was done by Folin-ciocalteu, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging, metal chelating, nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Results showed that the non-polar solvent extracts from the diatom were highest in antioxidant power, whereas this was the case for both polar and non-polar solvent extracts for green microalgae. In general, Chaetoceros sp. had higher antioxidant capacities than Nannochloropsis sp. This study suggests that different solvent extracts contain different potential antioxidant compounds which are able to scavenge different types of free radicals.

Dr. Loh Su PengGoh Su Hua and Fatimah Md. YusoffInstitute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2432; sploh@medic.upm.edu.my

A Comparison of the Antioxidant Properties and Total Phenolic Content in a Diatom, Chaetoceros sp. and a Green Microalga, Nannochloropsis sp.

Keywords: Phytosterol, nanodispersions, mean particle diameter, sucrose laureate, high-pressure homogenization, optimization, stability

This work aimed to develop a stable phytosterols water-soluble nanodispersions system. The objectives of this work were to characterize the sucrose laureate stabilized water-soluble phytosterol nanodispersions and investigate the effect of different temperature treatment on the optimized phytosterol nanodispersions. The sucrose laureate stabilized phytosterol nanodispersions were optimized using the response surface methodology. The optimized phytosterol nanodispersions were prepared by emulsification-evaporation technique using hexane as organic phase and ethanol as co-solvent. The stability of the phytosterol nanodispersions was also carried out at a storage temperature of 4°C for 12 weeks. The optimized phytosterol nanodispersions had a mean particle size of 3 nm and highly loaded with phytosterol at concentration of 6.63g/l. The optimized phytosterol nanodispersions had a polydispersity index of 0.550 at monomodal distribution. The optimized nanodispersions were stable to heat treatment up to 121°C, chilling temperatures at 4 and 10°C but not at freezing temperature. However, the particle size of the phytosterol nanodispersions undergone freezing treatment can be secured by additional of small amount of cryoprotectant. There were no significant changes (p > 0.05) in mean particle size and total phytosterol content over 12 weeks of storage duration for non heat-treated phytosterol nanodispersions. Increase in mean particle size and reduction in the total phytosterol concentration over the storage duration were observed on autoclave treated phytosterol nanodispersion.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Chin PingWai Fun Leong, Yaakob Che Man, Oi Ming Lai, Kamariah Long and Mitsutoshi NakajimaFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8418; tancp@putra.upm.edu.my

Sucrose Laureate Stabilised Water-soluble Phytosterol Nanodispersions: Characterisation and Stability Evaluation

Food

35

Keywords: Turbidity, average droplet size, polydispersity index, apparent viscosity, beverage emulsion

The constituents in a food emulsion interact with each other, either physically or chemically, determining the overall physico-chemical and organoleptic properties of the final product. Thus, the main objective of present study was to investigate the effect of emulsion components on beverage emulsion properties. In most cases, the second-order polynomial regression models with no significant (P > 0.05) lack of fit and high adjusted coefficient of determination (adjusted R2, 0.851-0.996) were significantly fitted to explain the beverage emulsion properties as function of main emulsion components. The main effect of gum arabic was found to be significant (P < 0.05) in all response regression models. Orange beverage emulsion containing 222.0g kg?1 gum Arabic, 2.4 g kg?1 xanthangumand 152.7 g kg?1 orange oil was predicted to provide the desirable emulsion properties. The present study suggests that the concentration of gum Arabic should be considered as a primary critical factor for the formulation of orange beverage emulsion. This study also indicated that the interaction effect between xanthan gum and orange oil showed the most significant (P < 0.05) effect among all interaction effects influencing all the physicochemical properties except for density.

Dr. Seyed Hamed MirhosseiniChin Ping Tan

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8390; hamedmi@food.upm.edu.my

Development of Beverage Emulsion Formulation with Desirable Physicochemical Properties as Function of Emulsion Composition

Keywords: Halal alternative, lard, madhuca lingifolia

Madhuca longifolia is a large-grown, woody tree distributed in many countries in Asia. Belonging to the family Sapotaceae, the tree is reported to have several uses in the traditional medicine. The crude oil extracted from the seeds is known as Mee fat, which is pale yellow in color and remains as a semi-solid under the tropical temperature conditions. Thermal analysis by differential scanning calorimetry showed that Mee fat had two-widely separated high and low melting thermal transitions in its cooling profile. This feature would be beneficial for the effective separation of Mee fat into solid and liquid fractions. Analytical data obtained from the preliminary investigations indicated that these components would be useful for formulation of halal alternative fats.

Dr. Mohammed Nazrim MarikkarH.M. Ghazali and N.A.M. Yanty

Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8941 7344; nazrinmarikkar@yahoo.com

Mee Fat from Madhuca longifolia Seeds as Raw Material for Halal Alternative Fats

Food

36

Keywords: Thermal transition, porcine, bovine, gelatin, differential scanning calorimetry, rheological properties

The thermal transition behaviour of porcine and bovine gelatins was compared using Differential 24 Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Rheometry. Porcine gelatin was observed to have a higher melting 25 temperature during heating and higher enthalpy change during curing compared to bovine gelatin. The enthalpy change for porcine gelatin during thermal transition showed no further significant increase after 4 hours of curing while the value of the enthalpy change for bovine gelatin continued to increase in the 8 hours of curing period and thus elucidating to the fact that curing process of bovine gelatin may not have been completed during the observation period. The higher melting temperature and enthalpy can be attributed to the formation of a greater number of junction zones during curing and therefore can be postulated that the energy required to melt the networks formed during curing would consequently be higher. Results obtained from rheometry were similar to the observations on the DSC. DSC and rheometer results were consequently subjected to kinetics analysis and the calculated rate constants during curing of porcine and bovine gelatins were 1.8 and 1.1 hr-1 respectively. It was observed through this study that porcine gelatin exhibited better functional properties compared to bovine gelatin. In cases where there are restrictions in utilisation of porcine derivatives, it will be necessary to innovate various gelatins, either from bovine, ovine, aquatic or poultry sources so that a gelatin product that can match the functional qualities of porcine gelatins can be found.

Mr. Dzulkifly Mat HashimM. Z. Nor Nadiha, D.B. Mat Hashim*, B. Siti Aisyah, A. R. Siti Munira and M. ShuhaimiInstitute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8941 7344; nadiha@putra.upm.edu.my

Comparative Thermal Transition Behaviour of Porcine and Bovine Gelatins

Keywords: Arabic gum, xanthan gum, orange oil, equilibrium volatile headspace, flavor compounds, beverage emulsion, solid phase microextraction

A three-factor central composite design (CCD) was used to study the effect of two hydrocolloids namely Arabic gum (7-13% w/w), xanthan gum (0.1-0.3% w/w) as well as orange oil (6-10% w/w) on the equilibrium headspace concentration of target flavor compounds released from the diluted beverage emulsion. Headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography (GC) equipped with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TOFMS) was employed for the equilibrium headspace analysis of orange beverage emulsion. In qualitative analysis of cold pressed orange oil, 24 volatile flavor compounds were detected by using HS-SPME-GC-TOFMS. Among these volatile flavor compounds, 13 volatile compounds from different chemical classes namely monoterpene hydrocarbons (i.e. ?-pinene, ?-pinene, 3-carene, myrcene, limonene and ?- terpinene), esters (i.e. ethyl acetate and ethyl butyrate), alcohol (i.e. linalool) and aldehyde compounds (i.e. octanal, decanal, neral and geranial) were composed of > 98% of total volatile flavor compounds. For equilibrium headspace analysis, the peak area of target volatile compounds was investigated as response variables. The significant (p < 0.05) second-order regression models with relatively high R2 (? 0.785) were fitted for explaining the equilibrium headspace concentration. Orange beverage emulsion containing 7% (w/w) Arabic gum, 0.24% (w/w) xanthan gum and 10% (w/w) orange oil was estimated to provide the highest concentration of equilibrium volatile headspace. Closeness between experimental and predicted equilibrium headspace concentrations indicated the adequacy of the response surface models fitted to the experimental data. Principle component analysis discriminated the beverage emulsions containing the same orange oil content but different contents of emulsifier fraction in different groups, thus indicating significant (p < 0.05) effect of emulsifier fraction on equilibrium headspace concentration of diluted beverage emulsion.

Dr. Seyed Hamed MirhosseiniChin Ping Tan Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8390; hamedmi@food.upm.edu.my

Modelling the Release of Volatile Flavour Compounds into the Headspace of Beverage Emulsion as Function of Emulsion Composition

Food

37

Keywords: Berangan banana, edible coating, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium caseinate, glycerol response surface methodology

Edible coatings are thin layers of natural and environmental friendly material applied to the fruits surface in addition to or as a replacement for natural protective waxy coatings to create a modified atmosphere within the fruits and delay their ripening process. Type and concentration of edible coating components have important effects on the quality characteristics of coated fruits. While protein and polysaccharide coatings have excellent barrier properties against O2 and CO2., coatings based on lipid components are effective towards water vapour transition. Green mature Berangan banana was coated with four edible coating formulations based on pectin-sorbitol-bees wax, hydroxypropylmrthyl cellulose-glycerol-stearic acid, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose-glycerol-sodium caseinate and banana flour-glycerol-pectin. The effect of coatings on weight loss, firmness, total colour difference (TCD), total soluble solids content (TSS) and pH of coated bananas 10 days after coating at 26?2?C and 40-50% RH, indicated that among these coating systems, edible coating based on sodium carboxymethyl cellulose-glycerol-sodium caseinate significantly delayed the ripening of coated banana as compared to control sample. Response surface methodology was used to predict the effects and to optimize the concentration of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (0.1-1.5% w/w), sodium caseinate (0-1% w/w) and glycerol (0-2% w/w) on storage quality of coated banana. Weight loss, firmness, TCD, TSS and titratable acidity were selected as responses. The optimum concentration of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium caseinate and glycerol for coating banana were predicted to be 1.32%, 0.40% and 0.86%, respectively. No significant difference between experimental and predicted values verified the accuracy of the response surface models employed.

Prof. Dr. Azizah OsmanHoda Jafarizadeh Malmiri, Tan Chin Ping and Russly Abdul RahmanFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8373/8375; azosman@putra.upm.edu.my

Screening and Optimisation of Edible Coating Components for Coating of Berangan Banana (Musa sapientum Cv. Berangan)

Keywords: RP-HPLC, gelatin, PLS, PCA, glycine, proline, hydroxyproline

Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) with pre-column derivatisation was used to obtain amino acid profiles of standard gelatin samples from Sigma and Merck. Partial least-squares (PLS) regression was used to establish a calibration model and the R2 obtained was 0.991 and 0.983 for Sigma and Merck samples, respectively. Classification and characterization of the amino acids were based on principal components analysis (PCA). The results showed that the method developed is capable of distinguishing gelatin sources by utilising the main amino acids present in gelatin which are glycine, proline and hydroxyproline. This simple method may be useful to determine the origin of gelatins.

Mr. Dzulkifly Mat HashimNorakasha Rusli, Yaakob Che Man and Shuhaimi Mustafa

Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8941 7344/7434; dzulkifly@gmail.com

Amino Acids Analysis for Distinguishing Bovine and Porcine Gelatins

Food

38

Barramundi is a brackish water fish and also a high value fish. It is popular in Malaysia, Australia and other parts of the world. Biogenic amines have been identified as one of the important indicators for the assessment of allergens in seafood and quality parameters. Data for biogenic amines formation and other related quality parameters for barramundi have not been documented. Hence, standards or product specifications cannot be prepared by relevant authorities. Fresh barramundi was sliced and stored at 0 °C and 4 °C for fifteen days and sampled at identified intervals for analysis. Significant differences in the concentrations of the nine biogenic amines after three days of storage were obtained between the two storage temperatures. All amines were increased throughout the storage period except for tryptamine, 2-phenylethylamine, tyramine and agmatine. Histamine concentrations were 82 mg/kg and 275 mg/kg for samples kept at 0 °C and 4 °C, respectively, after the 15th day of storage. At the end of the storage period, the total plate count was approximately 8.6 logs CFU/g for samples kept at 0 °C and 9.7 logs CFU/g for samples kept at 4 °C. These values were higher than the allowable limit which is 6.3 logs CFU/g. pH and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) were strongly correlated to HFB counts. It could be concluded that these parameters commonly used for marine fish are also applicable to brackish water fish.

Prof. Dr. Jamilah BakarYassoralipour, A.,Russly, A. R. and FatimahFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8368; jamilah@putra.upm.edu.my

The Influence of Storage Temperatures (0 °C And 4 °C) on the Biogenic Amine Formation and Quality of Barramundi (Lates calcarifer)

Keywords: Honeydew melon, musk lime, seed oil, physico-chemical, lipase, transesterification

The seeds of economically important plants are often discarded as wastes following processing. However, it has been reported that seeds could become a valuable commodity as they may contain metabolites such as edible oils. In this study, seeds from honeydew melon and musk lime were found to contain 25.0% and 33.8% fat, respectively. The iodine and saponification values of honeydew melon (153.4 and 210.2, respectively) and musk lime (118.0 and 192.6, respectively) seed oils were high. The major fatty acid content of honeydew melon seed oil contained 69.0% of linoleic acid as a predominant fatty acid followed by oleic acid (16.8%) and palmitic acid (8.4%). Musk lime seed oil had a large proportion of linoleic (31.8%), oleic (29.6%) and palmitic (21.4%) acids. The major triacylglycerols of seed oils from honeydew melon were LLL (24.9%), OLL (21.5%), PLL (15.9%) and POL (12.4%) while musk lime were POL (18.9%), PLL (13.7%) and OLL (11.9%). The melting and cooling temperatures of seed oils from honeydew melon were -5.12 and -59.01°C, respectively while musk lime were 10.7 and -45.2ºC, respectively.

Prof. Dr. Hasanah Mohd. GhazaliYanty Noorzianna Abdul Manaf, Azizah Osman, Kamariah Long and Lai Oi MingFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4201; hasanah@putra.upm.edu.my

Physico-chemical Properties of Honeydew Melon and Musk Lime Seed Oils

Keywords: Biogenic amines, histamine formers, barramundi, storage temperature

Food

39

Keywords: Alfatoxin, peanuts, roasting, reduction

This study was conducted in order to validate the method for aflatoxin determination and to determine the effects of roasting on aflatoxin reduction. Method validation for aflatoxins determination in peanut samples indicated a detection limit of 0.01 ng/mL to 0.09 ng/mL and a quantification limit of 0.04 ng/mL to 0.3 ng/mL. The recovery for AFB1 ranged from 95.5% to 102.4%, AFB2 88.7% to 103.9%, AFG1 91.7% to 97.2%, and AFG2 74.9% to 78.0%. To study the effect of oven roasting on aflatoxin reduction, naturally and artificially contaminated fresh shelled peanut samples were used. The effect of different levels of concentration (0 ng/g to 400 ng/g), temperature (90°C to 150°C) and time (30 to 120 min) were studied using CCD. The results indicated that oven roasting plays a significant role in aflatoxin reduction in peanut. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in AFB1 reduction between artificially and naturally contaminated samples; however, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in AFB2 reduction between artificially and naturally contaminated samples, with more reduction in naturally contaminated samples. The maximum AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2 reduction in artificially contaminated peanut samples were 78.4%, 57.3%, 73.9% and 75.2%, respectively. Similarly the maximum AFB1 and AFB2 reduction in naturally contaminated peanut samples were obtained to be 80.2% and 69.7%, respectively. No AFG1 and AFG2 were detected in naturally contaminated samples.

Prof. Dr. Jinap SelamatSahar Arzandeh

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+03-8946 8393; jinap@food.upm.edu.my

Effect of Roasting on Aflatoxins Reduction in Peanut

Keywords: Breaded fish fillets, semi-convenient foods, cooking methods

Fish is a source of unsaturated fatty acids which are known for their therapeutic properties. However, during food preparation, these important components are usually degraded during cooking, which is reflected in the change in the lipid profile. Hence, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of three final cooking methods which are. deep-fat frying (palm oil and sunflower oil), microwave cooking and oven baking, on the lipid profile and the textural properties of the pre-frozen breaded fish fillets. The breaded fish fillets represented similar semi-convenient foods. All final cooking methods resulted in the change in the fat and fatty acid composition of the fillets; however, oven and microwave cooking methods had marginal change in the fatty acids content. The least change was observed in the oven cooked samples. The eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in oven cooked samples were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those cooked by deep-frying or microwave. The oven cooked samples also had lower ratio of n-6/n-3 and thermal oxidation. The hardness, which was an indication of crispiness, was found highest in the final fried and lowest in the microwaved samples. Oven cooking resulted in a moderately acceptable product. Therefore, final oven cooking for similar convenience foods is highly recommended instead of the more commonly practiced final cooking method.

Prof. Dr. Jamilah BakarYazdan Moradi, Sharifah Kharidah and Yaakob Che Man

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8368; jamilah@putra.upm.edu.my

The Influence of Final Cooking Method on the Lipid Profile and Texture Characteristics of Breaded Fillets

Food

40

Keywords: White pepper, black pepper, chemical treatment, aflatoxin, reduction

Spices contamination poses health problems because they are often added to foods without further processing or are consumed raw. This research has been conducted to study the reduction of aflatoxins (AFs) and ochratoxin (OTA) in black and white pepper by applying chemicals during processing of pepper. The effect of eighteen different chemicals, which included acidic compound (sulfuric acid, chloridric acid, phosphoric acid, benzoic acid, citric acid and acetic acid), alkaline compound (ammonia, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide), salts (acetate ammonium, sodium bisulfite, sodium hydrosulfite, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate) and oxidizing agent (hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite) on AFs and OTA reduction was investigated. Almost all of the applied chemicals showed a significant degree of reduction on AFs and OTA (p < 0.05). The highest reduction (41.9 - 57.3 %) was obtained by using sodium hydroxide; however, there was no significant difference between ammonia, sodium hypochlorite, calcium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. The acids showed the lowest effectiveness.

Prof. Dr. Jinap SelamatMaryam Jalili, Son Radu and Noranizan Mohd. Adzahan Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8393; jinap@food.upm.edu.my

Effect of Chemicals on Mycotoxin Reduction in Black and White Pepper

Keywords: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), reduction, charcoal grilled meat, preheating, wrapping

The contamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs by thermally treated high-protein foods, such as charcoal-grilled meat products, is due to the generation by direct pyrolysis of food nutrients and the direct deposition of PAHs from smoke produced through incomplete combustion of the thermal agents. This study investigated the effects on the PAH (BaP, BbFln and Fln) contents by using two different types of treatments, preheating (steam and microwave) and wrapping (aluminum and banana leaf) of the meat samples prior to charcoal grilling. PAHs were extracted through tandem solid-phase extraction. The results showed that the applied preheating and wrapping treatments on the samples strongly affect the PAHs levels in the charcoal-grilled meat. No carcinogenic PAHs (BaP and BbFln) were detected in the samples after steam and microwave preheating or aluminum wrapping treatments. Significant reductions of Fln content, of up to 46% and 81% in beef and chicken samples, respectively, were observed in the study.

Prof. Dr. Jinap SelamatAfsaneh Farhadian, Zaidul Islam Sarkar and Hanifah Nur Yani LioeFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8393; jinap@food.upm.edu.my

Effects of Meat Preheating and Wrapping on the Levels of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Charcoal-grilled Meat

Food

41Keywords: Heterocyclic amines (HCAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dietary intake, meat and fish, exposure assessment

The aim of the present study was to determine the level of HCAs and PAHs in the most consumed foods in Selangor, Malaysia in order to estimate their exposure to these toxic compounds. The dietary intake of two carcinogens, HCAs and PAHs in foods ware estimated in Selangor, Malaysia. Levels of six HCAs namely, 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ), 2-amino-3-4-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (MeIQ),2-amino-3-8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f}quinoxaline (MeIQx, 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f] quinoxaline (4,8-DiMeIQx),2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) and 2-amino-3,7,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5f]quinoxaline (7,8-DiMeIQx) and three PAHs, fluoranthene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and bezo[a]pyrene were measured. Forty-two meat and fish products were included in the study. High-performance liquid chromatography with PDA and fluorescence detector was used to analyze HCAs and PAHs, respectively. Dietary food consumption data (g/day), including meat type and cooking method were obtained using food frequency questionnaires, which were completed by 600 randomly subjects aged above 18 years. The level of total HCAs in food samples studies ranged from not detected to 38.7 ng/g whereas the level of total PAHs was not detected to 66.28 ng/g. Among the analyzed HCAs and PAHs, PhIP (30.6 ng/g) and fluoranthene (50.96 ng/g) showed the highest level, respectively. The highest level of total HCAs was found in grilled chicken satay (38.7 ng/g) and for PAHs it was in grilled beef satay (66.28 ng/g). The most abundant HCAs such as PhIP and MeIQx, and PAHs such as fluoranthene were detected in the studied food products. The 4,8-DiMeIQx and 7,8-DiMeIQx (HCAs) and benzo[a]pyrene (PAHs) were found in a few of the meat and fish dishes. The average daily intake level of HCAs was 553.7 ng/capita/day and for PAHs of 297.58 ng/capita/day. Intake of PhIP was the highest, followed by MeIQx and MeIQ. Our study revealed that the grilled and fried meat and fish products are the major contributors to the exposure of HCAs and PAHs.

Prof. Dr. Jinap SelamatMd. Jaharul Haque Akanda

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8393; jinap@food.upm.edu.my

Risk Assessment of Contaminants in Malaysian High Temperature Cooked Foods

Keywords: Mercury, reduction, fish

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of washing pre-treatment on mercury concentration in fish fillet. Response surface methodology was used to investigate the influence of three variables, pH (1-6.5), NaCl (0-1% w/v) and exposure time (5-30 min) by using a three-factor central composite design. The aim was to obtain the best possible combination of these variables in order to reduce mercury in fish fillet. The experimental data were adequately fitted into a second-order polynomial model with multiple regression coefficients (R2) of 0.961. The results indicated that the reduction of mercury in fish flesh significantly depends on the pH of the solution used. The overall optimal condition resulting in the maximum mercury reduction in fish fillet was obtained at a combined level pH of 2.79, NaCl of 0.5% and exposure time of 13.5 min. The optimized protocol produced a solution that can reduce mercury from raw fish fillet up to 81%.

Prof. Dr. Jinap SelamatParvaneh Hajeb

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8393; jinap@food.upm.edu.my

A Home-used Protocol to Reduce Mercury Concentration in Fish Tissue

Food

42

Keywords: Banana-based snacks, acrylamide, reducing sugars, asparagine

Fried and baked banana-based snacks are popular snacks in Malayisa and they have potential amount of acrylamide. This study was carried out to determine the effect of maturity stages of banana on the formation of acrylamide in banana fritters. The modified method was based on extraction with water followed by cleanup through Oasis HLB and MCX solid-phase extraction cartridges, and bromination of acrylamide into 2, 3-dibromopropionamide prior conversion to 2-bromopropenamide by dehydrobromination with triethylamine. The results indicated that volume of 2.5 mL bromine water was sufficient to derivatize the acrylamide. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the modified method were 5 and 15 ?g/kg, respectively, whereas the recovery for 2.5 mL of saturated bromine water ranged from 86.6 to 105.3%. Two varieties of local banana Musa paradisiaca variety Awak and Abu were used in the study. The more mature banana had significantly (p < 0.05) higher concentrations of reducing sugars; however, the concentrations of amino acids at different maturity stages were relatively similar (p > 0.05). The study indicated that reducing sugar had significant (p < 0.05) and strong correlation (R2= 0.92 for Abu) and (R2= 0.82 for Awak) with the acrylamide formation. On the other hands, asparagine did not show significant correlation (p > 0.05) with acrylamide formation, although it needs to be present. Concentration of acrylamide in both banana varieties increased with the increase of both reducing sugars. The study showed that the formation of acrylamide has a strong dependence on the concentration of reducing sugar; however, this study did not show the correlation between acrylamide formation and asparagine as its precursor.

Prof. Dr. Jinap SelamatGisia Daniali, Hanifah Nuryani Lioeh and Zaidul Islam SaFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8393; jinap@food.upm.edu.my

The Effect of Different Maturity Stages on the Formation of Acrylamide in Banana Fritters

Keywords: Acrylamide, variation, french fries, reducing, frying temperature and time, reducing sugars

A significant variation in acrylamide concentrations leads to inaccurate estimation of dietary exposure and risks. The objective of this study was to obtain a first indication on the variation in acrylamide concentration in French fries prepared in various categories of food service establishments in Malaysia. Besides the reducing sugars, acrylamide, frying temperature and time were measured and thawing practice was observed in each frying. The chain fast-food service has significantly lower mean acrylamide concentration with least variation as compared to institutional caterers and restaurants. The mean acrylamide concentration of French fries prepared in the chain fast-food service (in comparison to restaurant) was reduced by 53% (from a mean of 354 to 231 µg/kg). This is due to usage of a commercial fryer that allows an adequate control of acrylamide formation such as setting a lower and uniform frying temperature of 177°C and realising a shorter and narrow range of frying time (150-165 seconds). The short frying time minimises the effect of strong heating power of fryer as frying process ended before the acrylamide concentration started to increase linearly with time. Acrylamide concentration of as high as 1023 µg/kg was obtained in the restaurant due to the usage of frying pan, which makes the setting of frying temperature and time are impossible. In a standard multiple linear regression analysis, the acrylamide concentration correlated statistically significant with the influencing factors of frying temperature, frying time, reducing sugars and thawing practice. Thawing practice correlated negatively with the acrylamide formation. We concluded that due to variable frying practices in various categories of FSE, they prepare French fries with different distributions profiles of acrylamide concentrations. The insights obtained can be used for the development of dedicated quality control at FSE which contribute to a sustainable reduction in acrylamide intake.

Prof. Dr. Jinap SelamatMaimunah Sanny, Luning, P.A., Marcelis and W.J. Van BoekelFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8393; jinap@food.upm.edu.my

Factors Influencing the Variation in Acrylamide Concentration in French Fries

Food

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Keywords: Hibiscus cannabinus, defatted, protein concentrates, oil absorption, water absorption, foaming properties

Kenaf (Hibiscus Cannabinus L.), family malvaceae has been receiving an increasing attention from manufacturers due to its broad applications in fiber board, biocomposite materials and animal feed. There are however many by-products of Kenaf that are not used such as its seeds, leaf and roots. Worldwide, many research have concentrated on finding various sources of plant proteins that may help in increasing the nutritional value of food products at low cost. Kenaf seed, after oil extraction using systemic fluid extraction (SFE), leaves defatted sample as a waste by-product. The relatively ample protein concentrates obtained from defatted Kenaf seed suggested that defatted Kenaf seed could be used as a new source of protein. In this study, two varieties of defatted Kenaf seed, QP3 and V36 were used. Results show that protein concentrates of QP3 had a great potential to serve as an excellent source of edible protein owing to its high water absorption capacity (4.99 g/g) and oil absorption capacity (8.71 g/g). High water absorption of proteins helps to reduce moisture loss in food products while high oil absorption is essential in the formulation of food systems like sausages, cake batters, mayonnaise and salad dressings. Protein concentrates of QP3 also have higher foaming capacity and stability compared to V36 thus can form an excellent base for high sugar food systems like cake batters, beverages, whipped toppings, frozen desserts and confections. On the other hand, V36, due to its high content in its protein concentrates (81.4%), has the potential to replace other protein source. Hence, protein concentrates obtained from defatted Kenaf seed QP3, and V36 exhibit satisfactory functional properties as required in food processes, and therefore has a bright prospect of applications in the food industry.

Prof. Dr. Maznah IsmailSiti Farhana Fathy and Abdalbasit Adam Mariod

Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2115; maznahis@medic.upm.edu.my

Defatted Kenaf Seed as a Potential Source of Protein in Food Industry

Keywords: Mycotoxin determination; high performance, liquid, chromatography fluorescence detection (RP-HPLC-FL), cereal

This research has been conducted to develop a reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detection (RP-HPLC-FL) method for simultaneous determination of six mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2, ochratoxin A and zearalenone) in cereals. The developed method was then optimized using fractional factorial design (FFD) followed by response surface methodology (RSM). The optimal conditions were 41% and 60% organic solvent at the start and end of gradient mobile phase, 1.92 and 0.2 methanol/acetonitrile ratio at the start and end of gradient, respectively, 0.1% acid concentration in aqueous phase, at 1 ml/min flow rate and column temperature of 40oC. In addition, the efficiency of three extraction solvents and three clean-up procedures (OASIS HLB, MycoSep and multi-functional immunoaffinity column) were compared in spiked rice sample. The highest recovery of mycotoxins was obtained by using methanol water (80:20 v/v) as extraction solvent mixture and multi-functional immunoaffinity column as clean-up method. Application of best solvent extraction in combination with optimization of IAC produced recovery rates of 87, 104, 93, 97, 94 and 97% for aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2, OTA and ZEA, respectively. Application of optimized simultaneous determination method on spiked cereal samples showed 74-104 % recovery for all six mycotoxins and acceptable precision in all cereals include of rice, barley, oat, maize and wheat. Validation of the optimized HPLC- FL method was carried out through determination of selectivity, sensitivity, linearity and precision. Finally, in order to confirm the performance and validity of HPLC method for simultaneous determination of mycotoxins on real cereal samples, a total of 61 samples of cereals were randomly collected from supermarket and analyzed by HPLC and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS). The results clearly demonstrated high correlation between HPLC and LC-MS/MS determinations. The results also showed low occurrence of these mycotoxins in commercial cereals marketed in Malaysia.

Prof. Dr. Jinap SelamatAnosheh Rahmani

Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8393; jinap@food.upm.edu.my

Development, Optimisation and Validation of RP-HPLC-FL Method for Simultaneous Determination of Aflatoxins, Ochratoxin A and Zearalenone in Cereals

Food

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Keywords: Vanillin, HT-29, cytolytic, cytostatic, toxic

Vanillin is a widely used flavoring agent responsible for the smell and flavor of vanilla. Besides its primary usage as a flavoring agent, vanillin is also famous for its medically favorable properties such as anti-bacteria, anti-sickle cell anemia and anti-mutagenic properties. Due to its good anti-mutagenic effect, it is logical to propose that vanillin also could prevent or treat cancer because cancer is a disease closely related to mutation. Hence, this study investigated the anti-cancer properties of vanillin against HT-29, a human colorectal cancer cell line. Results showed that vanillin could kill and prevent the growth of HT-29 cells and thus making it a useful colorectal cancer preventive agent. However, literature also reported that vanillin must be administered in high concentration in un-oxidized form to be functional in-vivo. Hence, we assessed the toxic effect of vanillin when administered un-oxidized at high concentration (150mg/kg and 300mg/kg) via oral and intra-peritoneal injection. After 14 weeks of vanillin (dissolved in 5% ethanol) treatment, the blood and brain of rats were tested for sign of toxic effect. Results show that vanillin was not toxic to kidney, liver, blood cells and brain. Surprisingly, apart from being non-toxic, the results also showed that vanillin could provide protective properties to brain. This suggests that vanillin might be useful in preventing brain related disease for example Alzheimer disease. In conclusion, vanillin could be useful in cancer prevention, cancer treatment and neuro-protection while being non-toxic when administered in high concentration via both oral and intra-peritoneal injection.

Prof. Dr. Maznah IsmailHo Ket LiInstitute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2115; maznahis@medic.upm.edu.my

Vanillin: A Novel Non-toxic Anti-colorectal Cancer Agent used in Food Flavoring Industry

Keywords: Gamma-oryzanol, antioxidant, oxidative stress, strenuous exercise, gene expression

Physical exercise is known to have many health benefits. However there is strong evidence suggesting that strenuous exercise may cause oxidative stress due to generation of reactive oxygen species. Supplementation of natural antioxidant compounds has been recommended to attenuate oxidative stress-induced pathogenesis of diseases and strenuous exercise. Gamma-oryzanol (OR), a phytosterol ferulate mixture extracted from rice bran oil, has a wide spectrum of biological activities in particular, it has antioxidant properties which may help in reducing oxidative stress. Therefore, in this study, the regulatory effect of gamma-oryzanol rich fraction (ORF) extracted and fractionated from rice bran using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) in comparison with commercially available OR on 14 antioxidant and oxidative stress related genes was determined in strenuous exercise. Rats were subjected to a swimming exercise program for 10 weeks to induce stress and were further treated with either ORF at 125, 250, 500 mg/kg or OR at 100 mg/kg in emulsion forms for the last five weeks of the swimming program being carried out. The GenomeLab Genetic Analysis System (GeXPS) was used to study the multiplex gene expression of the selected genes. Gamma-oryzanol rich fraction does show potential antioxidant activity greater than OR in the regulation of antioxidants and oxidative stress gene markers.

Prof. Dr. Maznah IsmailWan Abd. Aziz Mamat and Zalinah AhmadInstitute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2115; maznahis@medic.upm.edu.my

Gamma-oryzanol Rich Fraction Regulates the Expression of Antioxidant and Oxidative Stress Related Genes in Strenuous Exercise

Food

45

Effect of Pre-germination Time of Brown Rice on Serum Cholesterol Levels of Hypercholesterolaemic Rats

Brown rice is unpolished rice with immeasurable benefits for human health. Brown rice (BR) and pre-germinated brown rice (PGBR) are known to contain various functional compounds such as ? -oryzanol, dietary fibre and ?-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In the present study, the experimental diets containing BR and PGBR (24, 48 hours of pre-germination) were used to investigate the influence of pre-germination time of brown rice on blood cholesterol in Sprague-Dawleymale rats. Hypercholesterolaemia and elevation of LDL-cholesterol were successfully ameliorated by the experimental diets containing BR and PGBR (24 and 48 hours of pre-germination). As compared to the control sample, the pre-germination time had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on blood cholesterol of Sprague-Dawley male rats. It was also found that the significantly (P < 0.05) better effect on lipid profile of hypercholesterolaemic rats was observed by prolonging the pre-germination time. As compared to non-germinated brown rice, the germinated brown rice showed higher cardio-protective effect on hypercholesterolaemic Sprague-Dawley male rats. The present study suggests that the changes of blood cholesterol can be mainly modulated by using the PGBR rather than BR. The prolonging of pre-germination time led to an increase in the bioactive components, thereby providing a more efficient functional diet affecting the high blood cholesterol. This study suggests that PGBR can be used instead of BR and polished rice in the human diet.

Keywords: Brown rice, pre-germination, ? -oryzanol; dietary fibre, ? -amino butyric acid (GABA), hypercholesterolaemia

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. ManapShahin Roohinejad, Leila Nateghi, Alireza Omidizadeh, Hamed Mirhosseini, Nazamid Saari, Shuhaimi Mustafa,

Rokiah Mohd Yusof, Anis Shobirin Meor Hussin and Azizah HamidFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8367; myazid@putra.upm.edu.my

Keywords: Brown rice, ?-oryzanol, dietary fiber, ?-amino butyric acid (GABA), hypercholesterolemia, functional food, protein, fat, Sprague-Dawley, male rat

Brown rice (BR) or unmilled rice is the whole grain of rice, from which the germ and outer layers containing the bran have not been removed. Brown rice seeds are rich in more nutritional components, such as dietary fibers, vitamins B and E, gamma (?)-oryzanol and ?-amino butyric acid (GABA) than the ordinary milled rice grains. GABA or 4-aminobutyrate is a well known non-protein-based amino acid that is one of the major inhibitory neurotransmitters in the sympathetic nervous system. In the present study, the influence of brown rice varieties containing different GABA levels on blood cholesterol in Sprague-Dawley male rats was investigated. Quantitative analysis of GABA, Gamma oryzanol, dietary fiber, protein and fat was carried out using appropriate method. Hypercholesterolemia and elevation of LDL-cholesterol were successfully ameliorated by most of the brown rice diets (p < 0.05). A significant negative correlation (p < 0.05) between serum TC level and ?-oryzanol content of diets was observed. Moreover, a significant negative correlation (p < 0.05) between serum LDL-C level and dietary fiber content of diets was observed. In contrast, there was no correlation between GABA content and TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and glucose levels. Although no correlation was found between GABA content and lipid profile suppression, this study suggests that the changes of blood cholesterol can be modulated by using brown rice varieties instead of polished rice in human diet. Even though GABA does not play a role for prediction of lipid profile changes, this study is capable of showing the hypercholesterolemic effect of brown rice varietiess.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. ManapShahin Roohinejad, Leila Nateghi, Alireza Omidizadeh, Hamed Mirhosseini, Babak Rasti, Nazamid Saari,

Shuhaimi Mustafa, Rokiah Mohd. Yusof, Anis Shobirin Meor Hussin and Azizah HamidFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8367; myazid@putra.upm.edu.my

Effect of Hypocholesterolemic Properties of Brown Rice Varieties Containing Different Gamma Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) Levels on Sprague-Dawley Male Rats

Food

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Keywords: Brown rice, aminobutyric acid, glutamic acid, protein

The main objective of present study was to investigate the -aminobutyric acid (GABA), crude protein and total glutamic acid composition of Malaysian’s brown rice varieties. Significant (p < 0.05) difference was observed among the content of GABA, crude protein and total glutamic acid of thirty five Malaysian’s brown rice varieties. As shown in results, GABA contents in Malaysian brown rice seeds ranged between 0.01 and 0.1 (mg/g). The quantity of glutamic acid and protein contents varied between 10.1-15.2 (mg/g) and 6.99-10.17% respectively. A significant (p < 0.05) positive correlation (r² = 0.820) exists between the concentration levels of protein and glutamic acid. On the other hand, a significant (p < 0.05) positive correlation (r² = 0.507) was also observed between the glutamic acid and GABA contents.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. ManapShahin Roohinejad, Leila Nateghi, Hamed Mirhosseini, Nazamid Saari, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Ismail Alias, Anis Shobirin Meor Hussin and Azizah HamidFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8367; myazid@food.upm.edu.my

Evaluation of GABA, Crude Protein and Amino Acid Composition from Different Varieties of Malaysian’s Brown Rice

Keywords: Microbial group, short chain fatty acid, chicken cecum

Amongst the bacterial fermentation end products in the chicken cecum, butyrate is of particular importance because of its nutritional properties for the epithelial cell and pathogen inhibitory effects in the gut. An in vitro experiment, operated with batch bioreactor, was conducted to quantify butyric producing bacteria in a simulated broiler cecum supplemented with Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salicinius JCM 1230 and L. agilis JCM 1048 during 24 hours of incubation. Selected bacterial species were determined by real time PCR and short chain fatty acids and lactate concentrations were monitored. The results showed that after 24hours of incubation, Lactobacillus supplementation significantly increased the number of lactobacilli, bifidobacteria and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in treatment (Cc+L) compared with the control (Cc). Addition of lactobacilli did not alter E. coli and Clostridium butyricum while significantly (P < 0.05) reduced salmonella in treatment (Cc+L) compared to (Cc). Propionate and butyrate formation were significantly (P < 0.05) increased in (Cc+L) treatment as compared to the control group (Cc). Lactate was only detected in (L) treatment containing two Lactobacillus strains. After 24h incubation acetate concentration significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in all treatments. It was suggested that lactate produced by Lactobacillus in the cecal content improved the growth of butyric producers such as F. prausnitzii, which significantly increased butyrate accumulation. Additionally, the results showed that butyrate and propionate inhibited salmonella without influencing the E. coli profile.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. ManapAmir Meimandipour, Leila Nateghi, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Abdoreza Soleimani Farjam, Azhar Kasim, Mohd. Hair-Bejo, Barka Mohammed Kabeir, Arash Javanmard and Muhammad Anas OsmanFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8353; myazid@food.upm.edu.my

Selected Microbial Groups and Short Chain Fatty Acids Profile in a Simulated Chicken Cecum Supplemented with Two Strains of Lactobacillus

Food

47

Keywords: Lactobacilli, pH, broiler cecal microbial fermentation

To assess the probiotic effects of Lactobacillus agilis JCM 1048 and L. salivarius subsp. salicinius JCM 1230 and the pH on the cecal microflora of chicken and metabolic end products. An in vitro system, operated with batch bioreactor, was used for this assessment. Selected bacterial species were monitored at two pH values, over 24 hours of batch culture incubation. The concentration of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and lactate in the fermented material were also determined. The addition of L. agilis JCM 1048 and L. salivarius subsp. salicinius JCM 1230 into vessel two (Cc+P) increased the total anaerobes, lactobacilli and bifidobacteria after 24 hours incubation. Moreover, lactobacilli supplementation decreased the total aerobes and streptococci, but it did not have any effects on coliforms. The supplementation of lactobacilli in vessel two (Cc+P) was found to significantly increase the production of lactate, propionate and butyrate. Furthermore, pH did not alter the formation of butyrate, whereas the production of acetate and propionate were significantly decreased at pH=5.8. L. agilis JCM 1048 and L. salivarius subsp. salicinius JCM 1230, as probiotic bacteria, have the ability to re-establish proper microbial balance by the formation of lactate as well as propionate, and stimulate butyrate-producing bacteria to produce butyrate in the chicken cecum. This study was the first report under in vitro conditions, highlighting the probiotic roles of the two Lactobacillus strains in broiler cecal fermentation at different initial pH values. These useful data can be helpful in improving the fermentation process in chicken cecum.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. ManapAmir Meimandipour, Leila Nateghi, Shuhaimi Mustafa , Mohd. Hair-Bejo, Azhar Kasim, Barka Mohammad

Kabeir and Babak Rasti Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8353; myazid@food.upm.edu.my

In Vitro Fermentation of Broiler Cecal Content: The Role of Lactobacilli and pH Value on the Composition of Microbiota and End Products Fermentation

Keywords: Unpleasant physical treatment, gastrointestinal tract, lactobacilli

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supposedly unpleasant physical treatment on broiler performance, small intestinal development and ameliorating role of probiotics. The following treatments were applied from day one: (1) chicks exposed to normal human contact fed basal diet (control); (2) chicks were exposed to unpleasant physical treatment and fed basal diet (UPT-BD); and (3) chicks were exposed to unpleasant physical treatment and fed basal diet supplemented with Lactobacillus (UPT-BDL). Chicks were exposed to UPT from day 1 to 21. Different segments of gastrointestinal tract were sampled at 14, 28, 35 and 42 daus of age. Broilers of UPT-BD had lower feed consumption compared with control group at 7 daus of age. Overall, UPT-BDL birds showed higher body weight gain (BWG) and better feed conversion ratio (FCR) over the course of the experiment. Birds of UPT-BD had lower concentrations of lactic, propionic and butyric acids in the caecum as compared with other groups at 14 daus of age. Acetic acid concentration was profoundly decreased in both UPT groups compared to the control. Duodenal villus height of UPT-BD broilers showed a slight reduction compared to the control and UPT-BDL birds at 14 daus of age. Afterwards until day 42, UPT-BDL birds showed the highest villus height among treatments in different parts of the small intestine. The results suggested that, even though UPT did not have significant inhibitory effects on the development of the small intestine and broiler performance, it negatively affected bacterial metabolic end products in the caecum, which could be ameliorated by the addition of Lactobacillus.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Yazid Abd. ManapAmir Meimandipour, Leila Nateghi, Mohd. Hair-Bejo, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Azhar Kasim, Abdoreza Soleimani

Farjam and Babak RastiFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8353; myazid@food.upm.edu.my

Gastrointestinal Tract Morphological Alteration by Unpleasant Physical Contact and Modulating Role of Lactobacillus in Broiler

Food

48

Keywords: Porcine-specific PCR assay, mitochondrial D-loop gene, specificity, detection limit, sensitivity

The porcine-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed to detect the presence of pork in raw meat either in pure or in a mixture with different meat species. A porcine-specific DNA fragment could be observed by using porcine-specific primer designed based on a porcine specific sequence of mitochondrial D-loop gene. Amplification of porcine DNA produced 174 bp porcine-specific DNA fragment and no PCR products detected when assay applied to DNA of other meat species confirming the specificity of the primers. The assay was able to detect as low as 0.1% porcine DNA spiked on DNA of cattle, sheep, goat, chicken, and deer. Furthermore, detection limit of 0.001ng/µL porcine DNA showed the high sensitivity conferred by the developed porcine-specific PCR assay.

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che ManNur Fadhilah Khairil Mokhtar, Shuhaimi Mustafa, Awis Qurni Sazili and Rumaisa Nordin Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8941 0405; ycm@putra.upm.edu.my

Porcine-specific PCR Detection in Raw Meat

Keywords: Lard, electronic nose, halal authentication, principal component analysis (PCA)

Rapid detection of lard from other types of animal body fats and samples containing lard for halal authentication was successfully employed in this study using an electronic nose. Results were presented in the form of VaporPrintTM, the image of the polar plot of the odor amplitudes from the surface acoustic wave (SAW) detector frequency. Qualitative differences between the VaporPrintTM are proposed as a basis for differentiating between pure lard and its blend. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to interpret the data and provide a good clustering of samples with 61% of the variation accounted for by PC 1 and 29% were accounted for by PC 2. All the lard containing samples formed a separate cluster from the samples that were free of lard. This method can be developed into a rapid method for detecting the presence of lard in food samples for halal authentication.

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che ManDzulkifly Mat Hashim, Abdulkarim Sabo Mohamed and Nurjuliana MokhtarInstitute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8943 0405; yaakobcm@gmail.com

Potential of Electronic Nose for Halal Authentication: Analysis of Lard’s Aroma

Food

49

Keywords: Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), spectroscopy, extra virgin olive oil palm oil, multivariate calibration, discriminant, analysis

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been developed for the analysis of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) adulterated with palm oil (PO). Measurements were made on pure EVOO and that adulterated with varying concentrations of PO (1.0-50.0% wt./wt. in EVOO). Two multivariate calibrations, namely partial least square (PLS) and principle component regression (PCR) were optimised for constructing the calibration models, either for normal spectra or its first and second derivatives. The discriminant analysis (DA) was used for classification analysis between EVOO and that adulterated with PO and the other vegetable oils (palm oil, corn oil, canola oil, and sunflower oil). Frequencies at fingerprint region, especially at 1500- 1000 cm-1, were exploited for both quantification and classification. Either PLS or PCR at first derivative spectra revealed the best calibration models for predicting the concentration of adulterated EVOO samples, with coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.999 and root mean standard error of cross validation (RMSECV) of 0.285 and 0.373, respectively. DA was able to classify pure and adulterated samples on the basis of their FTIR spectra with no misclassified group obtained. In addition, DA was also effective enough to classify EVOO samples as the distinct group from the evaluated other vegetable oils.

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che ManAbdul Rohman and Yaakob Che Man

Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8943 0405; yaakobcm@gmail.com

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy for Analysis of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Adulterated with Palm Oil

Keywords: FTIR virgin coconut oil binary mixture partial least square principal component regression

Rapid Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) was applied for quantitative analysis of virgin coconut oil (VCO) in binary mixtures with olive oil (OO) and palm oil (PO). The spectral bands correlated with VCO, OO, PO; blends of VCO and OO; VCO and PO were scanned, interpreted, and identified. Two multivariate calibration methods, partial least square (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR), were used to construct the calibration models that correlate between actual and FTIR-predicted values of VCO contents in the mixtures at the FTIR spectral frequencies of 1,120-1,105 and 965-960 cm-1. The calibration models obtained were cross validated using the ‘leave one out’ method. PLS at these frequencies showed the best calibration model, in terms of the highest coefficient of determination (R2) and the lowest of root mean standard error of calibration (RMSEC) with R2 = 0.9992 and RMSEC = 0.756, respectively, for VCO in mixture with OO. Meanwhile, the R2 and RMSEC values obtained for VCO in mixture with PO were 0.9996 and 0.494, respectively. In general, FTIR spectroscopy serves as a suitable technique for determination of VCO in mixture with the other oils.

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che ManAbdul Rohman, Amin Ismail and Puziah Hashim

Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8943 0405; yaakobcm@gmail.com

Application of FTIR Spectroscopy for the Determination of Virgin Coconut Oil in Binary Mixtures with Olive Oil and Palm Oil

Food

50

Keywords: Monoglycerides, diglycerides, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, GC×GC, time-of-flight, mass spectrometry, PCA

Monoglycerides (MG) and diglycerides (DG) are widely used as emulsifying agents for product stabilisation in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical. Source of TG and enzyme will influence the Halal status of MG, DG, and final products. Comprehensive bidimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOF-MS) was used for the characterisation of regiospecific mono- and diglycerides (MG-DG) content in the glycerolysis products derived from five different fats and oils which included lard (LA), sun flower seed oil (SF), corn oil (CO), butter (BU), and palm oil (PA). The combination of short-length microbore and high temperature non-orthogonal column set was applied in this work. 3-monopalmitoyl-sn-glycerol (MG 3-C16) was the highest concentration in LA, BU and PA while monostearoyl-sn-glycerol (MG C18) in CO and 1,3-dilinoleol-rac-glycerol (C18:2c) in SF. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) accounted 82% of variance using combination of PC1 and PC2. The presence of several compounds which were monostearoyl-sn-glycerol (MG C18), 3-monopalmitoyl-sn-glycerol (MG 3-C16), 1,3-dilinoleol-rac-glycerol (DG C18:2c), 1,3-dipalmitoyl-glycerol (DG 1,3-C16), and 1,3-dielaidin (DG C18:1t) caused differentiation of the samples tested.

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che ManDias Indrasti, Shuhaimi Mustafa and Dzulkifly Mat HashimInstitute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8943 0405; yaakobcm@gmail.com

Application of Electronic Nose and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for Analysis of Lard Adulteration in Virgin Coconut Oil

Keywords: Adulteration cod-liver oil, lard, PLS discriminant analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, lipid chemistry, lipid analysis

Analysis of the adulteration of cod-liver oil with much cheaper oil-like animal fats has become attractive in recent years. This study highlights an application of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy as a nondestructive and fast technique for the determination of adulterants in cod-liver oil. Attenuated total reflectance measurements were made on pure cod-liver oil and cod liver oil adulterated with different concentrations of lard (0.5-50% v/v in cod-liver oil). A chemometrics partial least squares (PLS) calibration model was developed for quantitative measurement of the adulterant. Discriminant analysis method was used to classify cod-liver oil samples from common animal fats (beef, chicken, mutton and lard) based on their infrared spectra. Discriminant analysis carried out using seven principal components was able to classify the samples as pure or adulterated cod-liver oil based on their FTIR spectra at the selected fingerprint regions (1,500-1,030 cm-1).

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che ManAbdul Rohman Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8943 0405; yaakobcm@gmail.com

Analysis of Cod-liver Oil Adulteration using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy

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Keywords: Lard, virgin coconut oil, electronic nose, FTIR spectroscopy, partial least square, discriminant analysis

Lard and Virgin coconut oil (VCO) share some similarities such as having transparent to yellowish color and are solid at room temperature, hence, enabling lard to be a potential oil adulterant in VCO. This study highlights the application of electronic nose and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometrics to analyse the presence of lard in VCO. Binary admixtures of lard in VCO in various percentage concentrations ranging from 1%-50% were assayed using electronic nose and FTIR spectroscopy. Using electronic nose, 10 different chromatogram peaks were identified as adulterant peaks. Two-dimensional view of the aroma profile offers an ideal rapid for qualitative identification of lard. Peak J in zNoseTM chromatogram was found to have the best relationship, R2 0.93437. Furthermore, FTIR spectroscopy coupled with partial least square (PLS) and discriminant analysis (DA) can be successfully developed for quantification and classification of lard in VCO. The results showed that PLS is able to predict the lard contents in VCO with equation y = 0.999x + 0.006, for the relation between actual value of lard (x) and FTIR predicted value (y) with coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.999 at frequency regions of 1120 - 950 cm-1. DA can classify VCO that adulterated with lard using the data from FTIR at frequencies of 3020-3000 cm-1 and 1120 - 1000 cm-1.

Prof. Dr. Yaakob Che ManTengku Salwani Tengku Mansor and Abdul Rohman

Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8941 7344; halal@putra.upm.edu.my

Application of GC�GC-TOF-MS for Analysis of Regiospecific Isomer of Mono- and Diglyceride in Gycerolysis Products

Hea

lth

Health

55

Integrated fusion imaging modality Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography (PET/CT) using 18Fluorine-Fluoro Deoxy Glucose (18F-FDG) is commonly utilised in imaging oncology. We expand the role of this imaging modality in our study to demonstrate the appearance of active extra pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) lesions. This study involved prospective evaluation of eight patients using 18F-FDG PET/CT with confirmed diagnosis of extra pulmonary TB infection. Visually high intensity lesions in abnormal areas were studied where the mean and maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmean and SUVmax) were tabulated. The diagnosis of TB infection was confirmed by isolation of TB bacillus from these lesions or evidence of responding to anti TB treatment during post treatment evaluation using FDG PET/CT at follow up. The genders are equally affected. Majority of the group falls within young age below 50 years. Number of PET/CT studies demonstrating lesions either singly or multiple were equal in distribution. Nodal involvement is the most common in our study including mediastinum, paraaortic and inguinal groups. Other sites of infection include spine and bowel. The average SUVmax and SUVmean for all lesions were 7.7 and 5.2 respectively. Active TB lesions are FDG avid. Thus, FDG avid lesions should be interpreted with extra careful when FDG PET/CT are utilised in managing malignancy.

Keywords: Extra pulmonary tuberculosis, 18F-FDG PET/ CT, SUVmax, false positive, malignancy

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Jalil NordinHairil Rashmizal, Noraini Abdul Rahim and Claudio Rossetti

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2607; drimaging@yahoo.com

Potential False Positive Active Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis Lesions on FDG PET/CT Imaging in Malignancy

Keywords: Positron emission tomography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, na- sopharyngeal carcinoma, follow-up

The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of 18F fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the management of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in comparison to conventional imaging modalities. This retrospective study was done at Ospedale Niguarda, Milan, Italy. Data were acquired from 24 NPC patients between May 2003 and December 2006. They had FDG PET/CT and CT or MRI during the initial diagnosis and at follow-up. Each finding was tabulated and compared with tissue biopsy at diagnosis and clinical status during the follow up after the therapy. A statistical calculation was done to derive the value of each modality. The sensitivity and accuracy of PET/CT and CT/MRI were equally high at diagnosis. At the follow up, a negative PET/CT finding suggested a complete remission with sensitivity and negative predictive value of 100%. 18F FDG PET/CT is a potential modality to be utilised in following up NPC patients for evaluating a response to therapy.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Jalil Nordin Simona Secondino, Noraini Abdul Rahim, Paolo Pedrazzoli, Salvatore Siena, Claudio Rossetti and Tahir Aris

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2607; drimaging@yahoo.com

Imaging in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: The Value of 18-Florine Fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in comparison to Conventional Imaging Modalities CT and MRI

Health

56

Keywords: Computed tomography, positron-emission tomography, post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, solid organ transplant, transplant complications

To establish the role of positron-emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) in post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) patients, compared to conventional imaging (ultrasonography/CT/magnetic resonance imaging) in relation to its accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. 30 patients (26 males and 4 females), with a median age of 49.5 (range 18-74) years, were retrospectively evaluated. In 29 cases, the diagnosis was confirmed by histopathology. Malignant lymphoma was detected in 20 cases, polymorphic lymphoproliferative disorder in six cases, multiple myeloma in two cases and Hodgkin’s disease in one case. A total of 49 PET-CT (13 studies for staging at diagnosis and 36 studies at follow-up as assessment post-therapy) were compared to conventional imaging. Imaging results in accordance with disease status were assessed at a median follow-up of 17.8 (range1.5-42.2) monthspost-PET-CT. In 41 of 49 examinations performed for staging and on follow-up, PET-CT and conventional imaging findings were concordant. Compared to conventional imaging, PET-CT showed comparable sensitivity (75 percent vs. 83 percent), similar specificity (100 percent in both modalities) and comparable accuracy (77 percent vs. 85 percent) during staging at diagnosis. PET-CT was found to be superior to conventional imaging modalities at follow-up, with greater sensitivity (100 percent vs. 81 percent), specificity (80 percent vs. 100 percent) and accuracy (97 percent vs. 83 percent). PET-CT is an accurate diagnostic tool for staging and for the follow-up of PTLD patients. It represents a good alternative imaging method to avoid contrast-related nephrotoxicity in patients who often develop impaired renal function secondary to chronic immunosuppressive therapy. However, further studies are recommended before considering PET-CT as a routine diagnostic tool in PTLD.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Jalil Nordin Noraini Abdul Rahim, Gay E, Ferrara C, Ravelli E, Mancini V, Morra E, Muti P, Tahir A and Claudio RossettiFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2607; drimaging@yahoo.com

PET-CT as an Effective Imaging Modality in the Staging and Follow-up of Post-transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder following Solid Organ Transplantation

Keywords: Oxidative stress, bioactive peptides, antioxidants

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) and its related products are important in the economy of different countries. Malaysia being the fifth largest producer of cocoa beans is one of the main producers of cocoa products in the world. Recently there are several studies concerning health effects of cocoa polyphenols. Nevertheless, to our knowledge no study has been conducted on health effects of cocoa peptides and amino acids. Several hydrolysates or peptides from animal and plant sources have been found to possess health benefits. This study investigated antioxidant, antidiabetic and antihypertensive properties of cocoa autolysate. Autolysate generated at pH 3.5 exerted a significant high reducing power and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor activity, and stimulated insulin secretion. Autolysate produced under pH 5.2 had high (P<0.05) inhibitors of lipid peroxidation. UIT at pH3.5 exerted highest ability to inhibit ?-amylase. There was a significant (P<0.01) and high correlation between protein content and reducing power (r2=0.827), ?-amylase inhibition (r2=0.766), insulinotropic effect, at pH5.2, (r2=0.940) as well as ability to suppress ?-carotene bleaching (r2=0.762). A significant (P<0.01) and moderate correlation was observed between protein content and ACE inhibition (r2=0.649). The study suggested that beside other compounds present in cocoa beans, peptides and amino acids could contribute to health effects as well.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amin IsmailBahareh Sarmadi, Muhajir Hamid and Jinap SelamatFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2435; amin@medic.upm.edu.my

Cocoa Autolysate: A New Perspective for Its Health Effects

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Keywords: MRSA, biofilm, planktonic

Infections due to multiple drug resistant strains including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are on rise and becoming more critical, due to the capability of producing biofilm. The microbial cells growing in a biofilm embedded within a self-produced matrix of Extracellular polymeric Substance (EPS) are difficult to be treated as it renders antimicrobial therapy and the host immune response ineffective in clearing infections compared to logarithmic-phase planktonic cells which occurs in single. Differentiation of biofilm cells from planktonic ones can reduce the usage of reserved drugs and its dosage which may not only control the emergence of resistance strains but also reduce the side effects caused by the high dosage drugs. The currently available Kirby-Bauer method does not differentiate the biofilm and planktonic cells. Therefore the aim of the current study is to establish a simple and fast method that can be easily applied in hospitals for the differentiation of biofilm and planktonic MRSA strains. To achieve the aim, two reference strains which include one MRSA and one methicillin susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) grown at stationary phase (biofilm producing phase) and planktonic phase were exposed to serial dilution of antibiotic vancomycin concentrations. Upon incubation overnight at 370C with vancomycin concentrations of 0.125 to 64 µg/ml showed the inhibition of growth for planktonic phase at 1µg/ml (MIC) while cidal at 2 µg/ml (MBC). In contrast inhibitory and bactericidal activity on biofilm production was found to be at 16 MBIC and at 32 MBEC, respectively. The results obtained from the current study shows that biofilm cells and planktonic cells could be differentiated through the simple MIC method which thereby facilitates the wise usage of antibiotics and controls the financial burden in addition to the resistant strain emergence.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Nor ShamsudinSalman Saheb, Vasanthakumari Neela and Zamberi Sekawi

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2138; mariana@medic.upm.edu.my

A Simple and Fast Method for Combating Therapeutically Challenging Planktonic and Biofilm S.aureus

Keywords: Bone health, quantitative ultrasound, Malaysian elderly

Osteoporosis is becoming a public health problem worldwide, leading to bone fractures, disability and a burden to the health care system. The quantitative ultrasound (QUS) can be a useful, safe and inexpensive diagnostic technique for early detection of osteoporosis among free-living elderly population. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between bone health status with socio-demographic and selected anthropometric variables among a sample of elderly from selected areas in Peninsular Malaysia. Bone Health Status was assessed using Quantitative Ultrasound Sonometry (QUS-2), which measures Broadband Ultrasound Attenuation (BUA, dB/MHz) at the calcaneus. Weight, height and percent body fat were measured using appropriate equipment and standard procedures. The sample consisted of 40.7% males and 50.3% females with a mean age of 68.8±6.3 years old. Majority of the respondents were Malays (61.4%) and 59.3% were from the rural areas. The mean weight, height and body mass index (BMI) were 59.4±12.8kg, 1.55±0.09m and 24.5±4.6kg/m2, respectively. About 46% of the respondents were overweight and obese and 7.6% were underweight. The mean BUA was 71.4±20.6dB/MHz and the mean T-score was -1.42±1.66. The BUA values were significantly higher in males, those from the urban areas, younger age categories and with BMI>25.0kg/m2. According to WHO criteria, about 27% of them were classified as osteoporotic and 34.7% were osteopenic. BUA was negatively correlated with age (r=-0.167; p<0.001) and positively with body weight (r=0.263, p<0.001), BMI (r=0.183; p<0.001), and skeletal muscle mass (r=0.290; p<0.001). In summary, osteoporosis or low bone mass exists among Malaysian elderly, especially the females, those in the rural areas and the older age groups. Being underweight and advancing age may contribute to increased risk of osteoporosis. Therefore, it is important to create awareness, formulate preventive as well as therapeutic strategies to delay and treat the loss of bone mass among the aging population.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Latiffah A. Latiff Zaitun Yassin, Ridzoni Sulaiman, Asmidawati Ashaari and Siti Aisyah Nor Akhbar

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2537; latiffah@medic.upm.edu.my

Quantitative Ultrasound of the Calcaneus in Malaysian Elderly and Its Association with Socio-demographic Factors and Anthropometric Indicators

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Keywords: Email, website, cancer prevention, nutrition, lifestyle

The Internet has emerged as an important channel for health communication and promotion. This paper describes the design, development and efficacy of an email-linked-website for promoting cancer prevention through nutrition and lifestyle change among employees (n=260) of a Malaysian public university. A website addressed http://www.nutrihealth-upm.com was developed using a basic user interface with these characteristics: attractive appearance, user friendliness, content credibility, delivery mode, and participation level. The website contents comprised introduction, evidence based educational modules on guidelines for cancer prevention, related publications, a video-clip, discussion forum, links to cancer agencies, research committee, and contact us column. Emails containing hypertext links to a web page for downloading the PDF format of the module were sent weekly to participants for 10 consecutive weeks. The number of modules downloaded was monitored through requisition of a read-receipt email. Study groups (Intervention,I=134;Control,C=126) completed knowledge assessment at baseline, two weeks post-intervention(T1), and at three months post-intervention(T2). Participants read an average of 9.3±0.9 modules. Approximately 58% read all the weekly delivered modules. At baseline the groups were similar in mean knowledge scores. At T1 and T2 groups were significantly different. After controlling for group and time interactions, the mean change in scores was significantly higher in I group from baseline to T2 compared to the C group. The feasibility study showed 68% were pleased with the features of the website, 97% understood the educational contents, 57% found the module length to be adequate, 59% logged in 1-3 days/month and 88% expressed they would continue to seek more information from this site. Efficacy of this website in improving cancer-related knowledge may empower participants to change health behaviour although additional factors such as perception, environment, and social support are needed to put knowledge into action. The internet should be maximized to educate the general public for disease prevention.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mirnalini KandiahAng Yee Kwang, Zalilah Mohd. Shariff and Chan Yoke Mun, Hazizi Abu SaadFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2469; mirna@medic.upm.edu.my

Design, Development and Efficacy of an Email-linked-website for Promoting Cancer Prevention through Nutrition and Lifestyle Behaviour Change

Keywords: Nanoliposomes, calcium, DN, gene transfer, mozafari method

A scalable and safe method was developed to prepare liposomal carriers for entrapment and delivery of genetic material. The carrier systems were composed of endogenously occurring dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), negatively charged dicetylphosphate (DCP), cholesterol (CHOL) and glycerol (3%, v/v). Liposomes were prepared by a modified and improved version of the heating method in which no harmful chemical or procedure is involved. Anionic lipoplexes were formed by incorporating plasmid DNA (pCMV-GFP) to the liposomes by the mediation of calcium ions. Transfection efficiency and toxicity of the lipoplexes were evaluated in CHO-K1 cells using flow cytometry and MTT assay, respectively. Controls included DNA-Ca2+ complexes (without lipids), anionic liposome-DNA complexes (with no Ca2+), and a commercially available cationic liposomal formulation. Results indicated fast and reproducible formation of non-toxic lipoplexes that possess long-term stability, high DNA entrapment capacity (81%) and high transfection efficiency. The lipoplex preparation method has the potential of large-scale manufacture of safe and efficient carriers of nucleic acid drugs.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Reza MozafariFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8519; m.reza.mozafari@gmail.com

Novel Nanoliposomal Gene Delivery Formulation

Health

59

Keywords: Itraconazole, apoptotic, hepatotoxicity, azole, nephrotoxicity

Itraconazole is an orally active, broad-spectrum, triazole antifungal agent has a broad spectrum of activity and it is used for treatment of diseases such as vaginal candidiasis, dermatomycosis, onychomycosis, and several deep mycoses. Itraconazole acts by inhibiting biosynthesis of ergosterol, which is an essential component of fungal cell membranes. The drug blocks the formation of ergosterol from lanosterol causing membrane leakage and gradual cell death. This study is conducted to investigate the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of itraconazole in rats’ hepatocytes. 40 rats are divided into two groups: single dose and repeated dose groups. The single dose group is further divided into four, according to the concentration of drug given: 0, 10, 100 and 200 mg/kg. The repeated dose is also divided into four: 0, 10, 50 and 100 mg/kg/day for 14 days. The rats are then sacrificed 24 hrs after the last dose and their livers and kidneys removed for histology examination, electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry examination, which is the expression of apoptotic protein Bax and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. Dose-dependent hepatocellular necrosis, focal necrosis, periportal degeneration, glomerular nephritis and severe inflammation in the hepatocytes and in the capsules were observed from the liver and kidney in histology examination from repeated dose group. From electron microscopy examination, incomplete or total loss of mitochondria cristae and distorted membrane nucleus was found, indicating cell apoptosis. In immunohistochemistry examination, Bax protein was found to be up-regulated and Bcl-2 protein down-regulated, which also indicates cell apoptosis. In the single dose group, mild degenerative changes and mild inflammation in the hepatocytes and kidney were observed in the rats with higher dose. These results demonstrated that antifungal drug itraconazole will cause organ toxicity and the level of hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity severity increases with the increase of dose concentration injected and longer exposure time to the drug.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nazrul Hakim AbdullahSoo Li Chin, Azhar Yaacob, Zuraini Ahmad, Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman and Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria

Sports Academy, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4277; nazrul.hakim@gmail.com

Apoptotic Cell Death in the Mechanism of Hepatotoxicity induced by Azole Antifungal Drug Itraconazole

Keywords: Bauhinia purpurea, leaves, various extracts, ethanol-induced gastric ulcer, antiulcer

Previous study has demonstrated the potential of Bauhinia purpurea leaf extracts to produce gastroprotective effect against ethanol, a necrotizing agent. In order to establish B. purpurea gastroprotective profile, the present study was carried out to determine the gastroprotective effect of various extracts of B. purpurea leaves against indomethacin-induced gastroduodenal ulcer. The animals were given (orally) distilled water, 8% Tween 80 or normal saline as negative controls; or, aqueous, chloroform and methanol leaf extracts of B. purpurea (100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg) followed 30 min later with oral administration of indomethacin (100 mg/kg) to induce gastric ulcer. Four hours after indomethacin administration, the animals were sacrificed and the stomachs were collected for examination. Based on the dose administered, pre-treatment with aqueous extract exerted 63.5%, 54.8% and 39.1% of ulcer inhibition, respectively. The chloroform extracts showed 31.3%, 22.9% and 29.2% while methanol extracts exhibited 31.6%, 50.5% and 47.4% reduction in lesions as compared to their respective negative controls. Omeprazole (30 mg/kg) served as the positive control for this study. All extracts exhibited gastroprotective activity with the aqueous extract being the most effective one and, thus, requires further extensive study.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainul Amiruddin ZakariaElly Ezlinda Abdul Hisam, Mohd. Salleh Rofiee, Muhammad Nazrul Somchit, Zuraini Ahmad, Mohd. Roslan

Sulaiman, Teh Lay Kek and Mohd. Zaki SallehFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.603-8947 2654; zaz@medic.upm.edu.my

Protective Effect of Bauhinia purpurea Leaf Extracts against Indomethacin-induced Gastric Ulcers in Rats

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Keywords: Bixa orellana, inflammation, bradykinin

The present study was conducted to assess the anti-inflammatory effect of crude aqueous extract of Bixa orellana leaves (AEBO) and to examine the possible involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in its anti-inflammatory mechanism. The air-dried, powdered leaves soaked in distilled water (1:20; w/v) at 50oC for 24 h and the supernatant obtained was freeze-dried (yield 8.5%, w/w). The dosage was recorded as the mass of extract/kg (body weight of rats) in all inflammatory assays (bradykinin-induced paw edema, peritoneal vascular permeability and nitric oxide assay). Pretreatment with AEBO for four consecutive days exhibited significant inhibitory activity against inflammatory models, bradykinin-induced hind paw edema model and bradykinin-induced increased peritoneal vascular permeability at both doses in dose-dependent manner. In addition, AEBO was also found to significantly suppress the production of NO at doses of 50 and 150 mg/kg. This study provides a scientific data to support the traditional use of B. orellana leaves in treating inflammation. Result from this study suggests that AEBO exerts anti-inflammatory effects. Part of this anti-inflammatory effect may be associated with its antibradykinin activity and may be related to a reduction of the NO production.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zuraini AhmadYong Yoke Keong, Arifah Abdul Kadir, Sabrina Sukardi, Roslida Abdul Hamid @ Abdul Razak and Muhammad Nazrul Hakim AbdullahFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2313; zuraini@medic.upm.edu.my

Bixa orellana (Kesumba) Suppresses Acute Inflammation Induced by Bradykinin

Keywords: Elderly Malays, skeletal muscle mass, anthropometric measurements, functional status

Loss of muscle mass is increasingly being recognized as an important factor affecting functional status among the elderly. There is still no documented evidence on factors associated with loss in muscle mass among older population in Malaysia. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of skeletal muscle mass with anthropometric measurements and functional status of elderly Malays in rural areas in Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 820 non-institutionalized elderly 60 years and above participated in this study. Data were collected at selected health centers or through household visits using face-to-face interviews. Functional status was assessed using the Elderly Mobility Scale (EMS), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), hand-grip strength using the dynamometer and Hodkinson Abbreviated Mental Test. Anthropometric indicators were measured using appropriate equipments and standard procedures. Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) was computed using a prediction equation. About 68% of the subjects had low skeletal muscle index (Men: SMI< 31%; Women: SMI< 28%). The mean SMM values were significantly lower in women, those with lower BMI (<25 kg/m2), older age categories (? 80years) and those residing in the east coast. Bivariate analyses indicated significant correlations between SMM with age (r= -0.259; p=0.000), BMI (r=0.489; p=0.000), calf circumference (r=0.654; p=0.000), % body fat (r=-0.259; p=0.000), IADL score (r= -0.389; p=0.000), handgrip strength (r= -0.538; p=0.000), and cognitive score (r= -0.589; p=0.000). In conclusion, low relative skeletal muscle mass exists among elderly Malays and the proportion was significantly higher in women compared to men. Being underweight and at advanced age may contribute to increased risk of loss in muscle mass which may be associated with functional and cognitive decline, leading to disability and morbidity. Therefore, appropriate intervention programs need to be formulated for elderly people who are at increased risk.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zaitun YassinSuzana Shahar, Suriah Abdul Rahman, Fatimah Arshad, Noor Aini Mohd. Yusof, Siti Nur Asyura Adznam and Zuriati IbrahimInstitute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2463; zaitun@medic.upm.edu.my

Skeletal Muscle Mass and Its Association with Anthropometric Measurements and Functional Status among Elderly Malays

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Keywords: Cancer, histone demethylase, microarrays, therapeutic target

Although an increasing number of histone demethylases have been identified and biochemically characterised, their biological functions largely remain uncharacterised, particularly in the context of human diseases such as cancer. We investigated the role of KDM5B, a JmjC histone demethylase, in human carcinogenesis. Quantitative RT-PCR and microarray analyses were used to examine the expression profiles of histone demethylases in clinical tissue samples. We also examined the functional effects of KDM5B on the growth of cancer cell lines treated with small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Downstream genes and signal cascades induced by KDM5B expression were identified from Affymetrix Gene Chip experiments, and validated by real-time PCR and reporter assays. Cell cycle-dependent characteristics of KDM5B were identified by immunofluorescence and FACS. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis confirmed that expression levels of KDM5B are significantly higher in human bladder cancer tissues than in their corresponding non-neoplastic bladder tissues (P < 0.0001). The expression profile analysis of clinical tissues also revealed up-regulation of KDM5B in various kinds of malignancies. Transfection of KDM5B-specific siRNA into various bladder and lung cancer cell lines significantly suppressed the proliferation of cancer cells and increased the number of cells in sub-G1 phase. Microarray expression analysis indicated that E2F1 and E2F2 are downstream genes in the KDM5B pathway. Inhibition of KDM5B may affect apoptosis and reduce growth of cancer cells. Further studies will explore the pan-cancer therapeutic potential of KDM5B inhibition.

Dr. Abhimanyu VeerakumarasivamRozita Rosli, Syahrilnizam Abdullah, Tan Keai Sinn and Chan Soon Choy

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2646; abhi@medic.upm.edu.my

Histone Demethylase KDM5B Regulates Cellular Proliferation and Invasion via the E2F/RB Pathway

Keywords: Andographis paniculata, hyperlipidemia

The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential roles of aqueous extracts of Andographis paniculata in lowering the plasma lipid parameter which is responsible for hyperlipidemia and its damaging consequences and also to determine the kidney and liver functions of rats. Plasma Total Cholesterol (TC), Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol and Triglycerides (TG) had progressively increased in cholesterol-fed rats up to four weeks of cholesterol-feeding. Both 100 and 200 mg/kg concentrations of A.paniculata extracts had kept TC, LDL and TG values within the normal range even after four weeks of feeding. No significant enhancement was found in the amount of High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol and the kidney and liver enzymes of the rats, i.e. Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), total creatinine and Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) and Aspartate Amino Transferase (AST) and Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), respectively indicating normal kidney and liver functions. From the current study, it can be concluded that 100 and 200 mgkg-1 aqueous extract of A. paniculata appeared to possess great potentials as anti-hyperlipidemic agent in rats.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zuraini AhmadArifah Abdul Kadir and Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2313; zuraini@medic.upm.edu.my

The Role of Andographis panniculata (Hempedu Bumi) as a Cholesterol-lowering Agent

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Keywords: Injuries, road crash, violation, traffic lights

Road crashes in Malaysia in 2007 stood at 363,319. This resulted in 6,282 deaths among road users giving an index of 23.5 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants. One of the possible reasons for the high number of crashes and injuries is due to beating traffic lights. Thus there is a need to investigate this alarming problem since they are important and to date researchers have been unable to find any published studies undertaken in this field in Malaysia. This study main aim is to determine traffic light violations among all motorists. There are three types of traffic lights in Malaysia. The most common is the pre-timed traffic light, traffic light with a sensor and a traffic light with a countdown timer. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Selangor, Malaysia to identify road traffic-light violations. Traffic light violations are believed to be rising and resulted in 136 motorist fatalities and 155 injuries in 2002. Near-miss incidents could be higher as they go unreported. This study was conducted through observations from 14 December 2005 until 22 January 2006. Four locations were chosen to represent Selangor: Kajang, Kelang, Utara Subang Jaya (USJ) and Bangi. During this 5-week period, a total of 3,471 vehicles were observed. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0. A bivariate analysis (logistic regression) was applied to determine any relationship between traffic light violation and five identified variables. The results showed traffic light violation has a relationship with all five factors: day (weekday or weekend), camera enforcement, type of vehicle (two-wheel vehicles or four-wheel vehicles), traffic light cycle time (long or short) and type of traffic lights (timer or normal). It is recommended that traffic lights with timer are installed to reduce the likelihood of violation. In addition, cameras should be installed at traffic light intersections to detect violations.

Dr. Kulanthayan KC ManiPhang Wai Kit, Hayati Kadir S. and Anita Abdul RahmanFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2398; kulan@medic.upm.edu.my

Traffic Light Violations among Motorists in Malaysia: Why and When?

Keywords: Road traffic injury, occupant safety, child health

The rapidly motorizing environment in Malaysia has made child occupant safety a current public health concern. The usage of child safety seats (CSS) is a widely regarded intervention to enhance child occupant safety, yet no study has been conducted on CSS in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the CSS usage rates in Malaysia and to assess driver characteristics that are associated with CSS usage. Nine variables - urban versus rural study location, age, gender, marital status, educational status, monthly family income, number of children present in the vehicle, distance traveled to the study location, and attitude - were examined through a cross-sectional study of interviewing drivers of 230 vehicles transporting at least one child <10 years of age at the time of the study. The vehicles were also observed for whether or not there was a CSS present. The interviews were conducted at six sampling locations - three urban and three rural - in the state of Melaka. Children are unsafe in a passenger car without a child safety seat. 27.4% of the drivers were found to be using at least one CSS at the time of the survey. Among the nine variables studied, three of the driver characteristics showed statistical significance (p < 0.05) with CSS usage: age (p = 0.047), educational status (p = 0.009), and attitude (p = 0.009). This study begins to create knowledge on child occupant safety in Malaysia. The results indicate that interventional efforts should focus on educational programs geared toward drivers that are less educated or extended family members who inconsistently transport young children. Furthermore, any educational efforts could be strongly enhanced by legislation mandating the use of CSS. Every effort should be made to thoroughly assess the effectiveness of any educational or legislative activities that are implemented.

Dr. Kulanthayan KC ManiAhmad Razak, Ellen Schenk and Hussain HamidFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2398; kulan@medic.upm.edu.my

Is a Child Occupant in a Passenger Car Safe?

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63

Keywords: Nordamnacanthal, cytotoxic, apoptosis, solid tumour, non-solid tumour

Nordamnacanthal, an anthraquinone from the roots of Morinda elliptica has cytotoxic properties towards various cancer cell lines and antitumour-promoting activities. Effects of nordamnacanthal at the concentration that inhibits 50% of the cell growth as compared to the untreated sample (IC50) and that causes 50% of the total cell population to undergo apoptosis (50% Apoptosis) on the cell cycle and the expression of Bcl-2 and p53 in the breast cancer (MCF-7) (solid tumour) and acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia (MOLT-4) (non-solid tumour) cell lines were investigated. The IC50 value for MCF-7 and MOLT-4 cells was 54 µg/ml and 3.8 µg/ml, respectively, as detected by using the trypan blue dye exclusion test. The 50% Apoptosis value of MCF-7 and MOLT-4 was 70 µg/ml and 15 µg/ml, respectively, as analyzed by a fluorescence microscope following staining with acridine orange and propidium iodide. The nordamnacanthal-treated cells showed characteristics of apoptosis such as membrane blebbing, chromatin condensation and formation of apoptotic bodies. The cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry indicated that nordamnacanthal at both values arrested MCF-7 cells at the G2/M phase but no cell cycle arrest was noted in MOLT-4. Significant downregulation (p>0.05) of Bcl-2 was only observed in nordamnacanthal-treated MCF-7 cells as compared to the control. The expression of p53 reduced and increased significantly (p<0.05) in MCF-7 and MOLT-4, respectively. In conclusion, nordamnacanthal was found to be more cytotoxic towards MOLT-4 than MCF-7, and induced apoptosis in both cell lines. Treatment with nordamnacanthal induced G2/M arrest and downregulation of Bcl-2 and p53 in MCF-7 cells. On the other hand, apoptosis in MOLT-4 cells only involved up-regulation of the p53 protein.

Dr. Latifah Saiful YazanNorsyafini Ishak and Nordin Haji Lajis

Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2308; latifah@medic.upm.edu.my

Nordamnacanthal Induced Apoptosis but with Different Mechanisms in the Solid and Non-solid Tumour Cells

Keywords: Road crash, occupant injuries, seat belt

The car is the second (40%) most common mode of transportation in Malaysia. In terms of fatal road crashes, car drivers constitute about 9.0% and passengers 13.6% of fatalities. The major cause of car occupants fatality in such crashes is head injuries, which consist of more than half (56.4%) of the fatalities. Thus restraining the head and body, the initial position is the most important injury control strategy for car users. The use of seat belts was deemed one of the most effective ways to reduce road accident fatalities in Malaysia and consequently the mandatory seat belt law was enforced in the early seventies. Therefore, a study on factors influencing the compliance behaviour of seat belt use among cars occupants is needed as not many local studies are available. A questionnaire study was carried out in Selangor, Malaysia on the compliance behaviour of car occupants in relation to seat belt use. A total of 237 respondents were interviewed and the data analysed using logistic regression method. Six variables were found to be significant at 5 percent level (p<0.05): seating position, location of travel, education level, speeding, night-time driving and enforcement. Compliance with the seat belt law was higher among drivers, educated car users, in the presence of enforcement activities, traveling in city-center areas and car users with a positive attitude towards the risks of speeding and night driving. Therefore, road safety programs should be focused on front and rear passengers, less educated drivers and front passengers and those travelling in outside city-center areas and those respondents with a negative attitude towards the use of seat belt during speeding and night-time driving. With road safety programs targeting on the negative characteristics of car drivers and passengers, it is greatly hoped that the usage of seat belt could be further increased.

Dr. Kulanthayan KC ManiRaha A.R., Law Teik Hwa and Radin Umar R.S.

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2398; kulan@medic.upm.edu.my

Challenges to the use of Seat Belt among Car Occupants in Malaysia

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64

Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia, prognosis, apoptosis, PI3K

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the ten most common cancers of the blood in Malaysia. Relapse and drug resistance are the major drawbacks in clinical management of AML patients. Variable signal transduction pathways are frequently detected in leukemia cells leading to aberrant survival of the cells and subsequently causing drug resistant. We have examined the expression pattern proinflammatory cytokines, signaling molecules of the PI3K and MAPK pathways and death receptor, DR5 on paired samples at diagnosis and during chemotherapy in AML patients treated with cytosine arabinoside and daunorubicin. As a result, higher expressions of TNF-? and IL-6; DR5 and phosphorylated p38 and JNK were detected in chemo-sensitive cases; whereas, significant higher expressions IL-1? and IL-18 as well as the phosphor-Bad were found in chemo-resistant cases. Variable expression pattern of these molecules may be beneficial in predicting treatment outcome of AML patients. Here, by utilising the above findings, a flow cytometry diagnostic kit has been proposed. A panel of fluorescence-conjugated antibodies targeted on these AML-related molecules will be used to categorize the chemo-sensitive and chemo-resistant cases. Hence, a more specific clinical approach can be implemented in time to enhance the survival rate of AML patients.

Dr. Maha AbdullahSeow Heng Fong, Cheong Soon Keng and Leong Chooi FunFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2375; maha@medic.upm.edu.my

A Molecular Diagnostic Kit to Monitor Response of Standard Chemotherapy in AML Patients

Keywords: Germinated brown rice, cytotoxic, chemopreventive, colon cancer

Chemoprevention has become an important area in cancer research due to the failure of current therapeutic modalities. Epidemiological and preclinical studies have demonstrated that nutrition plays a vital role in the etiology of cancer. Germinated brown rice (GBR) has been claimed to be richer in nutrients compared to the common white rice. In the preliminary study, GBR extract showed cytotoxic effects towards the colon cancer cell line (HT29). Determination of the chemopreventive effects of GBR in rats induced with colon cancer was further investigated. The male Sprague Dawley rats (six weeks of age) were randomly divided into five groups: (G1) positive control (with colon cancer, unfed with GBR), (G2) fed with 2.5 g/kg of GBR (GBR (g)/weight of rat (kg)), (G3) fed with 5 g/kg of GBR, (G4) fed with 10 g/kg of GBR and (G5) negative control (without colon cancer, unfed with GBR). GBR was administered orally once daily via gavage after injection of 15 mg/kg of body weight of azoxymethane (AOM) once a week for two weeks, intraperitonially. After eight weeks of treatment, animals were sacrificed and colons were removed. Colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF) were evaluated histopathologically. Total number of ACF and AC, and multicrypt of ACF, and the expression of beta-catenin and COX-2 reduced significantly (p<0.05) in all the groups treated with GBR (G2, G3 and G4) compared to the control group (G1). Spearman rank correlation test showed significant positive linear relationship between total beta-catenin and COX-2 score Spearman’s rho=0.616, p=0.0001). GBR was not toxic to the animals. In conclusion, GBR inhibits the development of total number of ACF and AC, and multicrypt of ACF, reduces the expression of beta-catenin and COX-2, and thus can be a promising dietary supplement in prevention of colon cancer.

Dr. Latifah Saiful YazanMaznah Ismail, Armania Nurdin, Hern Tze Tan, Azhar Yaacob, Nordiana Abdul Hadi, Norazalina Saad, Hairuszah Ithnin and Saidi MoinInstitute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2308; latifah@medic.upm.edu.my

Germinated Brown Rice for Prevention of Colon Cancer

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65

Keywords: Mitragynine, working memory, mitragyna speciosa, object location task, psychostimulant plants

Mitragyna speciosa Korth from Rubiaceae family is a tropical plant indigenous to Southeast Asia particularly in Thailand, Peninsular of Malaysia and Indonesia. The leaves have been used by natives for their opium-like effect and cocaine-like stimulant ability to combat fatigue and enhance tolerance to hard work. However there is no scientific information about the effect of mitragynine on the cognitive performances. This study is designed to examine the working memory effects of mitragynine which is extracted from Mitragyna speciosa mature leaves. The cognitive effect was studied using object location task and the motor activity in open-field test. Mitragynine 5, 10 and 15 mg/kg and were administered by intraperitoneal (IP) for 28 consecutive days and evaluated on day 28 after the last dose treatment. Scopolamine was used as the control positive drug. In this study, there are prominent effects on horizontal locomotor activity which was observed. Mitragynine significantly reduced locomotor activity in open-field test compared with vehicle. In object location task mitragynine (5, 10 and 15 mg/kg) did not showed any significances discrimination between the object that had changed position than the object that had remained in a constant position. Our results suggest that chronic administration of mitragynine can alter the cognitive behavioural function in mice.

Dr. Mohamad Taufik Hidayat BaharuldinMohamad Aris Mohd. Moklas, Sharida Fakurazi, Evhy Apryani and Farah Idayu Nasir

Sports Academy, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 1139; taufik@medic.upm.edu.my

The Effects of Mitragynine from Mitragyna speciosa Korth Leaves on Working Memory in Mice

Keywords: Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, molecular characterisation, virulence profile

Molecular elucidation is of highly importance in MRSA epidemiology since phenotypic approach cannot reveal accurate strain identity and can mislead MRSA infection management. In the current study, it was revealed through molecular typing that a virulent and highly transmissible MRSA clone is replacing most other clones. Molecular approach enabled the detection of a novel clone, penetrating the Malaysian scenario, specifically and accurately, revealing the epidemic and pathogenic traits. Clinical isolates (n = 389) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) recovered from patients between October 2007 to September 2008 at the major public hospital of the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was studied. The clonal relatedness of MRSA isolates was determined on the basis of spa sequencing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, and virulence gene profiling. The majority (92.5%) of the isolates belonged to ST-239, spa type t037, and possessed the type III or IIIA SCCmec. We report the first identification of ACME arcA gene-positive ST-239. Apart from this predominant clone, six (1.5%) isolates of ST-22, with two related spa types (t032 and t4184) and a singleton (t3213), carrying type IVh SCCmec, were detected for the first time in Asia. A limited number of community-acquired (CA) MRSA strains were also detected. These included ST-188/t189 (2.1%), ST-1/t127 (2.3%), and ST-7/t091 (1%). Panton-Valentin leukocidin (PVL) was detected in all ST-1 and ST-188 strains and in 0.7% of the ST-239 isolates. Virulence genes seg and sei were seen only among ST-22 isolates. In conclusion, the genetic basis of analysis performed in this study accurately identifies all the clones that cannot be specified through the conventional phenotypic analysis. Current results revealed the predominance of ST-239-SCCmec III/IIIA and the penetration of ST-22 with different virulence gene profiles. The emergence in Malaysia of novel clones of known epidemic and pathogenic potential should be taken seriously.

Dr. Mariana Nor ShamsudinEhsanollah Ghaznavi-Rad, Vasanthakumari Neela, Zamberi Sekawi, Mohammad Nazri Aziz, Rukman Awang

Hamat, Chong Pei Pei, Norlijah Othman and Hamed Ghasemzadeh-MoghaddamFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2138; mariana@medic.upm.edu.my

An Effective Approach to Prevent Spread of Novel MRSA Clones with Known Epidemic and Pathogenic Potential

Health

66

Keywords: Neutrophil, respiratory burst, reactive oxygen species

Dr. Rajesh RamasamyMaryam Maqbool, Abdul Latiff Mohamed and Rahim Md. NoahFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2377; r.rajesh@medic.upm.edu.my

Neutrophils play a significant role in maintaining the integrity of innate immunity via their potent respiratory burst activity. However, the uncontrolled activation of respiratory burst in neutrophils also attributes to chronic diseases such as primary hypertension and atherosclerosis. In our study, we have investigated the activation of respiratory burst function of neutrophils harvested from essential hypertensive patients. In the presence of stimuli PMA and opsonized zymosan (OZ), hypertensive patients’ neutrophils secrete significantly higher amount of superoxide anions compared to normotensive control. Although the magnitude of activation varies between both groups, yet the kinetics of activation is similar. When normotensive control’s neutrophils were pre-treated with hypertensive serum, the cells failed to migrate toward fMLP which indicates the impairment of the migration property. In conclusion, the respiratory burst activity of neutrophils is affected by hypertension and their elevated superoxide anions production could be an aggravating factor in hypertension-related complication.

Elevated Neutrophil Respiratory Burst Activity in Essential Hypertensive Patients

Keywords: Antioxidant, phenolics, pluchea indica, herbal medicines

One of the compounds present in Pluchea indica extracts is antioxidants, which play an important role in inhibiting free radicals, thus protecting humans against infections and degenerative diseases such as cancer, arthritis and ageing process. The main objective of this study was to investigate and determine total phenolic compounds of Pluchea indica in different concentrations of ethanolic extracts. This species was chosen because of its high phytonutrient compounds with potential medicinal properties. There was a significant difference (P?0.05) in total phenolic among the different parts of the test plant. The 50% ethanolic extract produced the highest total phenolic compounds (1775.00±86.00 to 658.95±5.00 µmol/g), followed by the water extract (759.79±1.53 µmol/g) and 100% ethanol extract (352.72±22.30 to 249.29±5.37 µmol/g), respectively. In terms of plant parts, the leaves contained the highest phenolic compounds (1775.00±86.00 µmol/g in 50% ethanol extract, 759.79±1.53 µmol/g in 100% aqueous extract and 352.72±22.30 µmol/g in 100% ethanol extract) followed by stems (990.22±24.00 µmol/g in 50% ethanol extract, 990.22±24.59 µmol/g in 100% aqueous extract and 293.48±0.00 µmol/g in 100% ethanol extract). Lower total phenolic compounds were detected in the flowers (727.71±11.00 µmol/g in 50% ethanol extract, 603.81±8.46 µmol/g in 100% aqueous extract and 249.29±5.37 µmol/g in 100% ethanol extract) and roots (658.95±5.00 µmol/g in 50% ethanol extract, 450.00±10.76 µmol/g in 100% aqueous extract and 272.28±0.53 µmol/g in 100% ethanol extract). Based on these findings, Pluchea indica has potential medicinal properties that can be further developed to produce neutraceutical products, diet supplements or cosmetic products. However, further research should first be conducted on the effects of these compounds on laboratory animals.

Dr. Normala HalimoonMohamad Suhaimi IsmailFaculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. +603-8946 6743; hmala@env.upm.edu.my

Quantification of Total Phenolics in Different Parts of Pluchea indica (Less) Ethanolic and Water Extracts

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67

Keywords: Neutrophil, respiratory burst, mesenchymal stem cells

Neutrophils or polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN) are major cell type that constitutes innate immunity. They comprise approximately 50-70% of leucocytes and predominate in eliminating pathogens that induce acute inflammation. In bone marrow, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) protect neutrophils from apoptosis, preserving their effector functions and preventing excessive or inappropriate activation of the oxidative burst. PMN use oxygen-dependent mechanisms that involve the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Generation of ROS from stimulated neutrophils is thought to play an important role in host defence and tissue damage. Therefore the current study, we evaluate the effects of MSC on neutrophils respiratory burst activity. Chemiluminescence and Griess assays are widely used as sensitive and accurate measurements to assess the neutrophils’ reactive oxygen and nitrogen species production. The effect of MSC on generation of ROS by neutrophils was evaluated at different time points in the present of absence of MSC. Our study shows that MSC at all ratios in 24 and 48 hours inhibit the ROS production in chemiluminescence assay. Furthermore, in Griess assay, it was observed that at 24 and 48 hours, MSC inhibit the nitric oxide production. Our results indicate that MSC could be potentially serve as therapy to dampen neutrophils respiratory burst during an exaggerated neutrophils responses whereby the over production of ROS and RNS can cause harmful effects to other neighbouring cells and tissue. MSC can be also proposed as a component in treating chronic neutrophils responses such as arthritis and other chronic inflammatory diseases.

Dr. Rajesh RamasamyMaryam Maqbool and Sharmili Vidyadaran

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2377; r.rajesh@medic.upm.edu.my

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Modulate Neutrophils’ Respiratory Burst Activity: An Impact on Chronic Inflammatory Diseases

Keywords: Ardisia crispa, anti-pyretic, cotton pellet-induced granuloma, TPA-induced ear oedema, brewer’s yeast-induced fever

Hexane fraction of Ardisia crispa root (ACHE) was used to investigate its anti-inflammatory and anti-pyretic activities in this study. For anti-inflammatory activity, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) was applied to the ear of mice to induce oedema and treated with 0.5,1 and 2mg/ear of ACHE topically. In cotton-pellet granuloma test, treated groups have received 3, 10, 30 and 100mg/kg of hexane extract administered orally for seven days. For antipyretic activity, brewer’s yeast was injected in mice to induce fever and later, ACHE at dose ranging from 10 to 300 mg/kg was administered to the rats orally. The results exhibited that 1 and 2mg/ear of ACHE produced significant suppression by 19.9% and 20.2% respectively. The lowest dose of ACHE showed no significant effect when compared with control. Results showed that ACHE showed significant anti-pyretic effect at all doses (10, 30, 100 and 300 mg/kg). At 30, 100 and 300mg/kg, ACHE even exhibited higher efficacy when compared with 100 mg/kg acetaminophen. ACHE also elicited a significant (P<0.05) inhibition of granuloma tissue and exudated formation. Thus, it can be concluded that Ardisia crispa possesses anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects.

Dr. Roslida Abd. HamidLau Moi Fong, Sabrina Sukardi and Muhammad Nazrul Hakim Abdullah

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2341; roslida@medic.upm.edu.my

Anti-inflammatory and Anti-pyretic Effects of Hexane Fraction of Ardisia crispa

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68

Keywords: Anti-inflammation, orthosiphon stamineus, eupatorin, sinensetin,3’-hydroxy-5,6,7,4’-tetramethoxyflavone, peritoneal capillary permeability

The aim of the present study was to verify the anti-inflammatory activity of Orthosiphon stamineus leaf extracts and to identify the active compound(s) contributing to its anti-inflammatory activity using a developed HPLC method. Active chloroform extract of O. stamineus was fractionated into three fractions using a dry flash column chromatography method. These three fractions were investigated for their anti-peritoneal capillary permeability, in vitro nitric oxide scavenging activity, anti-inflammation and nitric oxide (NO) inhibition using carrageenan-induced hind paw edema method. The flavonoid rich chloroform extract fraction (CF2) [containing sinensetin (2.86% w/w), eupatorin (5.05% w/w) and 3’-hydroxy-5,6,7,4’-tetramethoxyflavone (1.101% w/w)], significantly reduced the rat hind paw edema, NO and decreased dye leakage to peritoneal cavity at p < 0.05. IC50 of in vitro NO scavenging of CF2 was 0.3 mg/ml. These results suggest that the anti-inflammatory properties of the CF2 may possibly be due to the presence of flavonoid compounds capable of modulating the NO pathway.

Dr. Rusliza BasirMun Fei Yam, Vuanghao Lim, Ibrahim Muhammad Salman, Omar Ziad Ameer, Lee Fung Ang, Rosidah, Muthanna Fawzy Abdulkarim, Ghassan Zuhair Abdullah, Rusliza Basir, Amirin Sadikun and Mohd. Zaini AsmawiFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor.603-8947 2448; rusliza@medic.upm.edu.my

HPLC and Anti-inflammatory Studies of the Flavonoid Rich Chloroform Extract Fraction of Orthosiphon stamineus Leaves

Keywords: Gastroprotection, high-performance liquid chromatography profile, lipid peroxidation, orthosiphon stamineus

Orthosiphon stamineus Benth, which is used as a gastroprotective herbal remedy in Malaysia, was assessed for its anti-ulcerogenic activity against ethanol-induced ulcers in rats. Fifty percent methanol was used to extract the oven-dried O. stamineus leaves. The extract was then lyophilized with a rotary evaporator and freeze-dried. Oral administration of O. stamineus methanolic extract (OSME) (125, 250, 500, and 1,000 mg=kg) was found to significantly decrease the ulcer index (P<.01, P<.001, P<.001, and P<.001, respectively). Histological study of a section of the rat stomach also showed a marked improvement in the gastric mucosal damage in groups receiving OSME. In order to further investigate the gastroprotective mechanism of OSME, mucus secretion and lipid peroxidation level were estimated in vitro and ex vivo. OSME exhibited dose-dependent stimulation of mucus secretion (r¼0.718, P<.001) and inhibition of lipid peroxidation in rat gastric mucosal homogenates (both in vitro [r2=0.819, P<.05] and ex vivo [r2=0.981, P<.05]). It was concluded that the gastroprotective mechanism of OSME was partly due to its ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation and stimulate gastric mucus secretion.

Dr. Rusliza BasirMun Fei Yam, Lee Fung Ang, Ibrahim Muhammad Salman, Omar Ziad Ameer, Vuanghao Lim, Lai Man Ong, Mariam Ahmad and Mohd. Zaini AsmawiFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2448; rusliza@medic.upm.edu.my

Orthosiphon stamineus Leaf Extract Protects against Ethanol-induced Gastropathy in Rats

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69

Keywords: School children, user-centered design, cognitive ergonomics, medical sciences research, industrial design process, engineering modelling

In Malaysia, every school is unique by virtue of its design, location and pupils, with each having its own history and culture. However, there is no record on Malaysian school infrastructures such as buildings, school layouts, classrooms and furniture which had been designed or promoted using ergonomics concept. The main focused of this study is to improve primary school furniture based on user-centered design and cognitive ergonomics with combination of medical science research, industrial design process and industrial engineering modelling. The study involved three main stages: 1) idenfication of problem and ergonomics risk, 2) furniture design development and fabrication of prototype and 3) prototype evaluation. With the integration of various type of field, the research group had proposed four main parameters for the new concept of ergonomics design furniture in Malaysian schools which is: 1) table and chair – to fit 95% of schoolchildren anthropometry features, 2) posture- to promote good working posture, 3) school bag load – to design a solution to reduce bag load and 4) the furniture design were based on children preferences. By implementing these strategies, this study will increase the safety and health of the school children and improve the performance of Malaysian schools.

Dr. Shamsul Bahri Hj. Mohd. TamrinNurul Asyiqin Mohd. Ali, Mohd. Shahrizal Dollah and Velu A/P Perumal

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2358; shamsul@medic.upm.edu.my

Ergonomics Furniture for Primary School in Malaysia

Keywords: School children, musculoskeletal disorder (MSD), rapid upper limb assessment (RULA), ergonomic intervention programmes, bag weight, ergonomic quiz

Intervention studies were carried out from February 2009 until August 2009 with the objective of determining the effectiveness of two ergonomic intervention programmes in reducing ergonomic risk factors among school children. A total of 229 school children in 2nd Grade (age 8 years) and 5th Grade (age 11 years) in three schools participated in the study. Group 1 (G1) was assigned to a school in which ergonomically designed furniture was used in the intervention programmes (2nd and 5th Graders), while Group 2 (G2) from another school were given an ergonomic programmes with intensive health promotion module which consisted of physical exercises and educational information on MSD to create awareness, while Group 3 from another school was the Control Group (Cx). Musculoskeletal symptoms were recorded using modified Nordiq Body Map Questionnaires (BMQ) and modified Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was used to assess the awkward posture of the school children. Ergonomic quiz (EQ) was used to evaluate awareness before and after the ergonomic intervention programmes. Tanita weight measurement was used to measure school bag weight and student’s weight. School bag weights, RULA score, and EQ were used in the evaluation of the programmes effectiveness. A significant decrease in the RULA scores and the reduction in the mean school bag weight observed among G1 indicated the effectiveness of the program given to G1, even though the EQ scores were not significantly different. In conclusion, the implementation of the ergonomically designed furniture in classrooms was able to improve their posture temporarily, reduced risk and reported MSD symptoms.

Dr. Shamsul Bahri Hj. Mohd. TamrinSyazwan Aizat Ismail, Rafee Baharudin, Mohamad Azhar Mohd. Noor, Muhamad Hanafiah Juni, Juliana

Jalaludin and Zailina HashimFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2358; syazwanaizat@yahoo.com

Evaluation of Two Ergonomics Intervention Programmes in Reducing Ergonomic Risk Factors of Musculoskeletal Disorder among School Children

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Keywords: Microglia, aging, immunosenescence

Microglia are the resident macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS). In the normal CNS, they are in a resting condition, characterised by low expression of MHC class II (MHC II) and costimulatory molecules such as CD40. Following activation by various stressors, microglia acquires an inflammatory phenotype and the continuous activation of microglia is thought to exacerbate neuronal damage. It is also believed that with increasing age, the inflammatory response of microglia becomes uncontrolled. In this study, the effects of age on microglia responses were determined by culturing microglia from Sprague Dawley rats of six days, 2-4 months and three years old. Microglia were then activated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or beta amyloid (A?) and assessed for nitric oxide (NO) production, proliferative capacity and expression of activation markers, at different time points. Griess assay and the tritiated thymidine proliferation assay were performed to assess NO production and microglia proliferation respectively. It was observed that at 48 hours, NO production and proliferation rate ware higher in neonatal microglia compared to adult. Expression of activation markers MHC II and CD40 was determined by immunophenotyping. Even under resting condition, it was observed that neonatal and adult microglia have CD40 expression; however this expression was higher in adult microglia compared to neonatal. Similarly, after activation with LPS and A?, CD40 expression was still higher in adult cells compared to neonatal. In addition, MHC II expression was also observed to be higher in adult cells in resting and after activation with LPS and A?. This shows that adult microglia have stronger costimulatory signals which indicate its potential for subsequent activation of T cells that can exacerbate inflammation. Thus, as a result of our work, we demonstrate different responses between primary cells of neonatal and adult microglia to LPS and A? stimulation.

Dr. Sharmili VidyadaranHemavathy Subramaiam and Rajesh RamasamyFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2376; sharmili@medic.upm.edu.my

Does Age affect Microglia Responses following Activation by Lipopolysaccharide or Beta Amyloid?

Keywords: Microglia, tocotrienol

Microglia are the tissue-specific macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS). In response to various stimuli, they transform into functioning phagocytic cells, proliferate and produce a wide array of mediators to promote inflammation. However, chronic inflammatory responses of microglia can lead to neuronal death and is implicated in various neurodegenerative diseases. Studies have demonstrated that vitamin E is able to attenuate the production of inflammatory mediators in various cell types. In neurones, tocopherol fractions of vitamin E are protective by reducing lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced peroxide radical and nitric oxide (NO) radicals by activated microglia. Tocotrienol fractions are also potently anti-inflammatory and are less studied on microglia cells. The aim of this project is to determine the potential anti-inflammatory properties of tocotrienols on the BV2 microglia cell line. Cells were treated with?-tocotrienol,?-tocotrienol, ?-tocotrienol or Tocomin?50% to determine their effects on nitric oxide (NO) production, proliferation rate and phagocytic rate of microglia following activation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Tocotrienol fractions and Tocomin?50% were first screened for potential anti-inflammatory activities via a NO assay. Five different concentrations of tocotrienols - 100nM, 250nM, 2.5?M, 10?M and 50?M were tested. We found ?-tocotrienol to be most effective at reducing NO levels, up to 76% (p<0.05) following induction with LPS after 24 hours compared to control. All doses of tocotrienols tested did not affect cell viability as determined by MTT assays. Although NO production by microglia was reduced, addition of ?-tocotrienol both before and after an LPS-stimulation increased cell proliferation at 48 hours, by 31-92% (p<0.05) compared to control as determined by the tritated thymidine proliferation assay. Preliminary data on phagocytosis shows 50?M of Tocomin?50% to reduce microglial cell phagocytic activity by 27% (p<0.05) after 24 hours stimulation with LPS. However, ?-tocotrienol was not capable of reducing BV2 phagocytosis.

Dr. Sharmili VidyadaranShi Wei Tan and Maha AbdullahFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2376; sharmili@medic.upm.edu.my

Potential Anti-inflammatory Properties of Tocotrienols on Microglia

Health

71

Keywords: Exoprotein, staphylococcus aureus, immunodominant staphylococcal antigen A

In our earlier study, we found that MRSA-ST9-t4358-SCCmec V colonizes pigs (1.38%) and pig handlers (5.5%) in Malaysia. In facing the new emerging clonal type MRSA colonization among humans from pigs, we were driven to perform the fundamental investigation on MRSA-ST9 exoproteome to answer the most basic scientific question, whether the expression of exoprotein by same clonal type isolates origin from different host are highly variable. Hence, the total of six isolates belonging to MRSA-ST9 in this study was selected (divided in two groups equally: pig isolates and pig handler isolates). Mid-exponential phase of exoprotein from each isolates was extracted, precipitated and partial purified by ultracentrifuge and TCA-ethanol method. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DGE) was applied to the purified protein and the selected protein spot was identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis. PDquest software was concomitantly carried out with total density in gel image normalization method associated with parts per million (PPM) as a scaling factor. Minor variability was observed in the exoprotein patterns between pig isolates and pig handler isolates. In addition, high degree of similarity in exoprotein patterns among the intra-individual in each group was also revealed using the 2DGE comparison data. Nevertheless, the immunodominant staphylococcal antigen A (IsaA) was only found to be produced in all of the pig isolates during mid-exponential growth phase. Hence, questions were raised whether IsaA is expressed in low quantity by pig handler isolates or IsaA gene is controlled by different novel transcriptional regulatory system? Overall, 2-DGE analysis of MRSA-ST9 exoprotein suggests that there are no major variations in terms of exoprotein production and regulation, between same clonal lineages isolates. However, whether the efficiency of virulence factor of MRSA-ST9 will be steadily maintained even though transmission of different host system occurred over a time period is not clear.

Dr. Vasanthakumari NeelaLiew Yun Khoon, Mariana Nor Shamsudin, Rukman Awang Hama and Chong Pei Pei

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2507; neela2000@hotmail.com

Adaptability of MRSA to Different Host: A Proteomic Approach

Keywords: Coronary sinus, artificial, CFD, simulation, heart diseases

A classical treatment to heart attack is usually done by undergoing a bypass surgery where the bypass grafts are frequently harvested from internal thoracic arteries, radial arteries or saphenous veins known as coronary sinus bypass surgery. The vein is usually harvested from the leg or stomach of human. In order to prevent the risk of patency and infections, an artificial coronary sinus conduit was produced throughout numerical studies of blood flow system of aorta coronary sinus conduit. The model was carried out using ANSYS CFD (CFX 12.2 codes) simulation. Pressure drop was investigated to achieve from 80mmHg to 15mmHg with a 3D model blood conduit. It is found that a narrow tube needs to be incorporated into the conduit model. This is to induce a venturi effect in order to reduce the pressure of blood within a specific throat length. A model of 3mm inlet and throat diameter of 1.13mm throat diameter shows the best result for pressure reduction from 80mmHg to 15mmHg. This model also has a lower peak velocity (laminar flow), which is more preferable in blood flow in vein.

Dr. Siti Aslina HussainTan Hong Tat, Mohd. Ismail Abdul Halim, Norhafizah Abdullah and Azni Idris

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6292; aslina@eng.upm.edu.my

Artificial Conduit for Coronary Heart Diseases

Health

72

Keywords: Retroviral vector, cancer, targeted, tissue specific promoter

The present invention provides a retroviral nucleic acid capable of tissue-specific expression of a heterologous nucleic acid in a cell and uses thereof. The present invention also provides a recombinant replication incompetent retrovirus and uses thereof.

Dr. Zeenathul Nazariah AllaudinNik Mohd. Afizan Nik Abd. Rahman and Mohd. Azmi Mohd. LilaFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8055; zeenathul@putra.upm.edu.my

Retroviral Nucleic Acid and Method of Use

Keywords: MRSA, ST9, ST 398, Malaysia, pig

It has recently become apparent that livestock can constitute methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) reservoir and be a source of MRSA infections. In 2003 in the Netherlands, a new MRSA strain designated as ST 398 was recovered from pig associated human population. Subsequent screening of pig farmers and pigs revealed that >20% of pig farmers and 39% of slaughterhouse pigs were MRSA-positive. ST 398 initially identified as colonizer, in a couple of years, several cases of infections of variable clinical relevance, including endocarditis and pneumonia, have been described worldwide. Worldwide emergence of ST 398 MRSA among pigs, handlers and thence as a nosocomial pathogen prompted us to investigate its presence in Malaysian pig farms. Screening 450 nasal swabs from 30 pig farms demonstrated that 1.38% (5/360) and 5.5% (5/90) pigs and pig handlers are colonized with MRSA. Molecular typing showed that MRSA isolates belonged to ST 9. All isolates carried SCCmec V and contained most virulence genes including enterotoxin and MSCRAMMs. The study has not only elucidated the presence of ST 9 MRSA among pigs, but also has shown its potential to transmit to human. However, no ST 9 MRSA was detected among clinical MRSA strains in Malaysia to date. But it is not too far that we may detect livestock with associated ST 9 in clinical scenario as what has happened with ST398. To date, more than 20% of MRSA infections in some European countries are by ST 398. ST 9 has been recently reported among pigs in China and among broilers in the Netherlands. To avoid the spread of ST 9 to hospitals and thereby causing infection, a concerted effort from the clinicians, infection control practitioners and veterinarians will be required in addition to continuous monitoring of this strain in other livestock’s especially chicken and pet animals like cats and dogs.

Dr. Vasanthakumari NeelaMariana Nor Shamsudin, Ehsanollah Ghaznavi Rad, Arif Mohd. Zafrul and Liew Yun KhoonFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2507; neela2000@hotmail.com

Potential Hazards from Transmission of Livestock associated with ST 9 MRSA to Humans

Health

73Keywords: Diabetes, neonatal rats, streptozotocin, pancreas, liver, kidney momordica charantia

The study was conducted to determine the effects of Momordica charantia (MC) on pancreas, liver and renal histopathological changes in STZ-induced diabetes in neonatal rats. Diabetes mellitus was induced in 28 day-old Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats using single intrapretoneal injection of STZ (85 mg/kg body weight). The animals were divided into four groups: nSTZ/16 (diabetic control), nSTZ/M group (fruit aqueous extract), nSTZ/G group (glibenclamide), and NC16 (non-diabetic). Biochemical and histological evaluations were carried out before treatment and four weeks post-treatment. The results showed significant decrease (P<0.05) in blood glucose and increase in insulin level in the nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G groups. The MC fruit extract improved glucose tolerance and increased insulin sensitivity in nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G groups. There was significantly (P<0.05) higher level of serum ALT and AST in nSTZ/12 and nSTZ/16, while, serum ALT and AST levels significantly (P<0.05) decreased in nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G groups. The levels of serum creatinine and urea were significantly (P<0.05) lower in nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G rats. MC fruit extract significantly (P<0.05) improved GFR and urine total protein in nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G rats. MDA levels in pancreas, liver, renal tissues and plasma were markedly (P<0.05) lower in nSTZ/M. Histopathological examination of pancreatic islets proved that MC fruit extract significantly (P<0.05) alleviated cytoplasmic degeneration and necrotic changes of nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G rats. The number of insulin secretory granules and non-degenerated mitochondria, and number of insulin positive B-cells significantly (P<0.05) increased in nSTZ/M rats. Liver of control group showed the degenerated and necrotic cells. The severity of abnormal histological signs of hepatocytes in nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G groups of rats were significantly (P<0.05) less than others. The kidneys showed necrosis and degeneration of epithelium of distal tubules and degenerated glomerular endothelium cells in nSTZ/12 and nSTZ/16 groups, while in nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G groups severity of these changes was significantly (P<0.05) improved.

Mr. Md. Zuki Abu Bakar@ZakariaNoordin Mohamed Mustapha and Goh Yong Meng

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8301; zuki@vet.upm.edu.my

Effect of Momordica charantia on Histopathological Changes associated with STZ-Induced Diabetes in Neonatal Rats

Keywords: Recombinant adenovirus, apoptosis, cancer cells, tumour mass, anti-cancerous

Non replicate viral based vector expressed of a novel poultry gene is able to induced apoptosis in cancer cells. Besides, non replicate viral based vector expressed of murine endostatin gene is able to induced anti-angiogenesis effect in tumour mass. The objective of this study is to investigate the apoptosis and anti-angiogenesis effect of the poultry and endostatin gene respectively in cancer cells. DNA fragmentation test, TUNEL assay and FITC Annexin V/ PI double staining test were carried out as apoptosis tests. In addition, casapses test were also used to investigate the apoptosis pathway induced by recombinant adenovirus. Tumour mass growth rates in mice were studied as a model for the effectiveness of both constructs in cancer treatment. All results showed positive in the use of recombinant adenovirus as anti-cancer vaccine. This research warrants greater insight to the anti-cancerous potential of the recombinant adenovirus constructs.

Dr. Zeenathul Nazariah AllaudinTan Seok Shin and Mohd. Azmi Mohd. Lila

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8055; zeenathul@putra.upm.edu.my

Recombinant Vectors for Cancer Gene Therapy

Health

74

Keywords: Perceived stress, Malaysian elderly, chronic diseases

Previous studies have shown that a high proportion of patients reported uncommon emotional stress before disease onset. Long term stress may cause serious health problems. The purpose of the presentation is to determine the association between perceived stress and prevalence of selected chronic diseases among elderly in Malaysia. Data from the study on Health Related Quality of Life were used in this analysis. The sample consisted of 1013 older persons aged 60 years and above living in the community. Self-perception of stress in the past three months and self-reported chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, stroke and high blood pressure) were recorded from enumerator administered questionnaire. Association was determined from chi-square cross-tabulation analysis. The results showed that 15.9% of the older persons perceived themselves to be stressful representing 16.3% and 15.5% of the males and females, respectively. According to ethnic groups, majority of those who perceived themselves as stressful were Indians (51.0%). Self-reported chronic diseases were 11.2% for heart disease, 19.2% for diabetes, 4.2% for stroke and 35.5% for high blood pressure. Chi-square analysis showed a significant association between perceived stress and heart disease (X2 =9.08, p=0.003), diabetes (X2 =6.85, p=0.009) and stroke (X2 =9.33, p=0.002). Those who perceived stress have 2.01 times greater risk of heart disease (OR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.27-3.18), 1.68 times greater risk of diabetes (OR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.14-2.48) and 2.70 times greater risk of stroke (OR: 2.70, 95% CI: 1.40-5.24) compared to those who did not perceived themselves as stressful. However, there was no significant association between stress and high blood pressure in this study. This finding revealed that perceived stress is associated with prevalence of selected chronic diseases among elderly in Malaysia. Further investigation is required to determine whether stress is a factor or an effect of chronic disease among elderly in Malaysia.

Mrs. Raja Nurzatul Efah Raja AdnanZaitun Yassin, Asmidawati Ashari, Siti Aisyah Nor Akahbar and Latiffah LatiffInstitute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2752; zatulefa@gmail.com

Association between Self-perception of Stress and Prevalence of Selected Chronic Diseases among Malaysian Elderly

Keywords: Rice bran, phytic acid, colonic cancer, tumour, chemopreventive

A striking anticancer action of phytic acid has been demonstrated both in vivo an in vitro in a variety of tumour types, possibly via inhibition of tumour cell growth and differentiation. Towards the present research finding, phytic acid extracted from rice bran showed inhibitory effects in in vitro and in vivo analysis. Regarding to the microculture 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that phytic acid has the highest sensitivity towards colon cancer cell (HT29) with IC50 values of 12.0 ± 1.21 ?g/ml followed by CaOV-3 (human ovary cancer cells), MCF-7 (human breast cancer cells), HepG2 (human liver cancer cells) with IC50 values 22.0 ± 2.23 ?g/ml, 32.0 ± 2.56 ?g/ml, 33.0 ± 3.21 ?g/ml respectively. Analysis of Annexin V-FITC/Propidium Iodide revealed that phytic acid induced apoptosis in HT29. In animal study, rats received two intraperitoneal injections of azoxymethane (AOM) in saline at (15mg/kg bodyweight) over a two-week period to induce colonic cancer. The finding showed treatment with phytic acid gave the reduction in the formation of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) after eight weeks and significantly suppressed the number of ACF in the distal, middle and proximal colon as compared to AOM alone (p<0.05). Besides, administration of phytic acid after 20 weeks reduced the incidence and multiplicity of total tumours and adenocarcinomas. In immunohistochemical analyses, there was a statistically significance difference in lowering the proliferating index of Ki-67 of treatment groups compared to AOM alone (p<0.05). For ß-catenin and COX-2 expression, there was a significant difference between groups as (p=0.000) and (p=0.030). In conclusion, this study demonstrates the potential of rice bran phytic acid as promising putative chemopreventive properties against colonic cancer.

Mrs. Norazalina SaadNorhaizan Mohd. Esa, Sabariah Abdul Rahman, Hairuszah Ithnin and Nurul Husna ShafeiInstitute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2212; norazalina@putra.upm.edu.my

Invention/Innovation Title: The Suppression Mechanism of Rice Bran Phytic Acid in In Vivo and In Vitro Studies as Anticancer Agent

Health

75Keywords: Cancer protection, pandanus amaryllifolius, MDA-MB-231, flow-cytometry, apoptosis

Chemoprevention is a strategy of cancer control. Chemoprevention is aimed at reducing the morbidity and mortality of cancer by intervenes or halts the progress of carcinogenesis by administration of synthetic or natural compounds into the biological systems. Pandanus amaryllifolius is widely use as condiment in Asian cooking to add fragrance, flavour and colour in traditional dishes. This study was carried out to determine possible anti-proliferative and apoptosis induction by ethanol extracts from Pandanus amaryllifolius. Seventy two hour exposure of Pandanus amaryllifolius extract resulted in anti-proliferative activities against MDA-MB-231 (non-hormone dependent breast cancer cell) line with fifty percent inhibition of cell growth (IC50) value obtained as 90?g/ml. Accumulation of treated MDA-MB-231 cells in G1 phase during cell cycle division at 24hr post treatment suggested cell cycle arrest by Pandanus amaryllifolius. G1 arrest exerts by Pandanus amaryllifolius extract was found to target tumour suppressor p53 protein and its stream player Cyclin kinase inhibitors (CKI) p21 protein. The inhibition of Cyclin dependent kinases 2 and 4 activities further substantiates the cell cycle arrest effects in MDA-MB-231 cells exposed to Pandanus amaryllifolius. Further experimental procedures indicated exposure of PA (90 ?g/mL) induced cell death in MDA-MB-231 cells. Early and late apoptotic populations were detected by Annexin V-FITC/ PI staining. Flow-cytometry cell cycle RNAse/PI assay revealed subG1 population indicative of apoptotic MDA-MB-231 cells. Apoptosis events were confirmed via TUNEL assay with identification of TUNEL positive cells with single and double DNA strand breaks. Apoptosis induction in MDA-MB-231 cells was found to involve activation of caspase cascades and the release of Cytochrome C. The molecular mechanisms in the induction of apoptosis by PA in MDA-MB-231 cells were found to involve upregulation of tumour suppressor protein p53 and pro-apoptotic bax protein while a reduction in the expression of inhibitor of apoptosis XIAP protein.

Prof. Dr. Asmah RahmatChong, H. Z., Asmah, R. , Abdah, Md. A., Norjahan Banu, M. A., Fauziah O., Gwendoline Ee C. L. and Yeap

S. K.Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2470; asmah@medic.upm.edu.my

Cancer Protection Properties from Pandanus amaryllifolius

Keywords: Self-rated health, older person, socio-demography, lifestyle

Self-rated health (SRH) is widely used in epidemiological research to measure general health status. The aim of the analysis is to determine the relationship between self-rated health with socio-demographic background and lifestyle factors among older persons in four selected states (Johor, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan) in Peninsular Malaysia. A multistage proportionate random sampling was used to select the subjects. Data were collected from 1013 non-institutionalized older persons aged 60 years and above (mean = 68.76 years) using face-to-face interviews. Self-rated health was assessed based on perception of health as excellent, good, poor to very poor. Socio-demographic background and lifestyle factors were assessed using a set of pre-tested questionnaire. Majority of the respondents were women (50.2%), of Malay ethnicity (61.7%), currently married (58.3%) and living in rural areas (58.2%). There were a higher proportion of men who reported their health as excellent (83.3%) and good (52.4%) compared to women who perceived their health as very poor (76.9%). A total of 41.3% of the respondents were currently unemployed and also reported their health as poor and very poor. Marital status (x²=30.36; p=0.034), ethnicity (x²=20.22; p=0.003), perception of stress (x²=37.32; p=0.000) and having sleeping problem (x²=43.56; p=0.000) were significantly associated with self-rated health. In conclusion, SRH was not associated with lifestyle factors but differences according to gender were observed from these data. Self-rated health among older persons can be a useful tool to identify those who may be at risk for poor health and to provide appropriate intervention.

Mrs. Siti Aisyah Nor AkahbarZaitun Yassin, Raja Nurzatul Efa Raja Adnan, Latiffah Abdul Latif and Asmidawati Ashari

Institute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2739; boocomei@yahoo.com

Factors associated with Self Rated Health among Older Persons in Peninsular Malaysia

Health

76

Keywords: Flavonoid, synergy, TNF-alpha, NO, PGE2, sepsis

Several flavonoid subclasses are potent anti-inflammatory agents but are costly in terms of synthesis while several other subclasses of flavonoids are not so potent but can be synthesized at a relatively lower cost. We have attempted to determine whether combinatorial treatments with relatively lower cost subclasses would enhance potency through drug synergy. Flavonoid treatment of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 monocytic macrophages was used to assess dose-response inhibitory effects of both chrysin and kaempferol upon cellular secretion of nitric oxide (NO), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Dose-response curves were generated and the IC50 values were used to determine fixed-ratio combination treatments. Isobolographic analysis showed significant synergistic effects upon inhibition of mediator secretion when chrysin was combined with kaempferol. The ceacal ligature puncture (CLP) murine sepsis model was used to assess whether synergy would occur in a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) animal model. Observations over 72 hrs following CLP showed a 57% survival rate when chrysin and kaempferol were combined as opposed to 0 and 33% single dosing respectively. We conclude that chrysin and kaempferol synergize in their anti-inflammatory effects and warrant further pharmacological evaluation.

Prof. Dr. Daud Ahmad Israf AliOmar Harastani, Tham Chau Ling, Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman and Daud Ahmad Israf AliFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2337; daud.israf@gmail.com

Flavonoids Synergise to Inhibit Major Proinflammatory Mediator Secretion and Protect Mice against Lethal Sepsis

Keywords: BHMC, curcuminoid, cytokine, NO, ICAM, VCAM, p38, molecular docking

2,6-bis-4-(hydroxyl-3-methoxy-benzylidine)-cyclohexanone (BHMC) is a synthetic diarylpentanoid derivative of curcumin. Curcumin is a potent anti-inflammatory drug lead with relatively poor bioavailability in animals and man. BHMC was synthesized to enhance curcumins bioavailability while retaining potent anti-inflammatory activity. Following treatment of LPS-induced U937 cells, BHMC showed a dose-response inhibition of MCP-1 and NO synthesis. BHMC showed a 10-fold increase in potency towards inhibition of NO synthesis but the inhibition of MCP-1 by BHMC was similar to that of curcumin. Treatment of LPS-induced HUVEC cells showed a 2-fold increase in potency towards the expression of the adhesion molecule ICAM whereas inhibition of VCAM expression was similar to that of curcumin. This was further demonstrated by reduced adhesion of U937 monocytes to treated HUVEC cells. Several signaling pathways were dissected in order to determine the specificity of action of BHMC in comparison with curcumin and we show that BHMC is highly selective towards inhibition of p38 kinase activity. This finding was further strengthened by the observation that BHMC fits well in the ATP pocket of p38 through molecular docking studies. We conclude that structural modification of curcumin into BHMC enhanced selectivity towards several proinflammatory mediators and adhesion molecules through specific disruption of p38 kinase activity.

Prof. Dr. Daud Ahmad Israf AliTham Chau Ling, K. P. Ang, Lam K. W., Kim Min Kyu, Cheah Yoke Kqueen, Nordin Hj. Lajis and Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2337; daud.israf@gmail.com

BHMC, A Curcuminoid Derivative, Attenuates Proinflammatory Mediator and Adhesion Molecule Expression via Selective Disruption of P38 MAP Kinase Activity

Health

77

Keywords: Dipstick, immunoassay, recombinant SAG1

A dipstick immunoassay (DIA) has been successfully developed to detect specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) or IgM antibodies to human toxoplasmosis. These assays employ nitrocellulose membrane (NCP) as a test matrix, peroxidase conjugated to sheep anti-human IgG and rabbit anti-human IgM as detecting antibodies and a Toxoplasma gondii recombinant SAG1 as the detective antigen. The assays are rapid (the whole test can be completed within 15 min), simple, and cheap, and they do not require any equipment. They are sensitive and specific for the detection of anti-Toxoplasma IgG or IgM antibodies and generally agree closely with the results from the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The assays are especially suitable for field applications.

Prof. Dr. Hj. Wan Omar AbdullahNgah Zasmy Unyah, Hairul Bazli Hairuddin, Malina Osman, Rukman Awang Hamat and Khairul Anuar

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2365; wanomar@medic.upm.edu.my

A Rapid Dipstick Immunoassay based on Recombinant SAG1 for Detection of Immunoglobulin G (Igg) and M (Igm) Antibodies in Human Toxoplasmosis

Keywords: Hydroxyapatite, staphylococcus aureus biofilm, MTT assays, gentamicin

Biomaterials have been widely used in the tissue engineering of bone as medical devices. It plays important role in treating diseases and improving healthcare, which are commonly used in dental, surgery and drug delivery applications. Hydroxyapatite (HA) is the major inorganic component of hard tissue in human body and is also known to have superior biocompatibility and can be reabsorbed and replaced by bone to repair the bone damage zone. Therefore, HA loaded with suitable antibiotics can be used as a carrier to limit biofilm formation. Biofilms are multi-layered colonies of bacteria that are typically more resistant to the host immune response and routine antibiotic therapy. Biofilm has negatively impacted in health and medicine. Thus, this study was aimed to assess the biocompatibility of locally produced HA coated with gentamicin on osteoblasts and to determine the efficacy of gentamicin-coated HA on Staphylococcus aureus biofilm. For in vitro, S. aureus strain and normal human osteoblast cell line were used. MTT assays were performed to determine the effects of various doses of gentamicin-coated HA (from 0.02 mg/ml to 10 mg/ml) on biofilm viability and also used to determine IC50 value of gentamicin-coated HA on osteoblasts to assess the cytotoxicity level of this coated HA. For in vivo, the tissue immediately surrounding the implanted catheter was determined by using H&E staining post-implantation. Gentamicin-coated HA is biocompatible with bone tissue (osteoblasts) in vitro. It showed no detectable IC50 and the percentage of osteoblasts viability was high (75%) via MTT assay. It was also able to reduce the viability of S. aureus biofilm. After seven days of post-implantation, results also showed no post-implantation inflammatory reaction in rats. In conclusion, gentamicin-coated HA proved to be biocompatible with human osteoblasts and effective in reducing the number of bacteria both in vitro and in vivo.

Prof. Dr. Fauziah OthmanAu Lee Fong, Sharmili Vidyadaran, Asmah Rahmat, Rusnah Mustaffa, Idris Besar, Azfar Rizal Ahmad, Fuzina

Nor Hussein, Mohd. Azam Khan Goriman Khan, Abdah Md. Akim, Saidi Moin and Che Nor Zarida Che SemanFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2315; fauziah@putra.upm.edu.my

Bonigen: A Potential Anti-biofilm Bone Substitute

Health

78Keywords: Zingiber zerumbet, zingiberaceae, essential oil, antinociceptive activity, opioid system

In the present study, the rhizome essential oil from Zingiber zerumbet (Zingiberaceae) was evaluated for antinociceptive activity using chemical and thermal models of nociception, namely, the acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing test, the hot plate test and the formalin-induced paw licking test. It was demonstrated that, intraperitoneal administration of the essential oil of Z. zerumbet (EOZZ) at the doses of 30, 100 and 300 mg/kg produced significant dose dependent inhibition of acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing, comparable to that of obtained with acetylsalicylic acid (100 mg/kg). At the same doses, the EOZZ produced significant dose dependent increased in the latency time in the hot plate test with respect to controls, and in the formalin-induced paw licking test, the EOZZ also significantly reduced the painful stimulus in both neurogenic and inflammatory phase of the test. In addition, the antinociceptive effect of the EOZZ in the formalin-induced paw licking test as well as hot plate test was reversed by the non-selective opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone suggesting that the opioid system was involved in its analgesic mechanism of action. On the basis of these data, we concluded that the EOZZ possessed both central and peripheral antinociceptive activities which justifying its popular folkloric use to relieve some painful conditions.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Roslan SulaimanWan Mastura Shaik Mossadeq, Chiong Hoe Siong, Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria, Mohd. Lip Jabit, Mohamad Taufik Hidayat Baharuldin, Daud Israf Ali and Tengku Azam Shah Tengku MohamadFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2603; mrs@medic.upm.edu.my

Antinociceptive Activity of the Essential Oil of Zingiber zerumbet

Keywords: Mitragyna speciosa, anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive, opioid system

The antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of the methanolic extract of Mitragyna speciosa Korth (MSME) were evaluated in mice and rats. The antinociceptive activity was measured using the writhing, hot plate and formalin tests, while the anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using the carageenan-induced paw edema and the cotton pellet-induced granuloma tests. Results showed that the extract at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg, i.p. produced significant (P<0.05) dose dependent activity in all the nociceptive models evaluated. In the formalin test, the antinociceptive activity was inhibited only at the highest dose of the extract (200 mg/kg, i.p.). The study also showed that intraperitoneal administration of MSME (100 and 200 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly and dose dependently suppressed the development of carageenan-induced paw edema (P<0.05). In the chronic test however, significant (P<0.05) reduction in the granulomatous tissue formation in rats was observed only at the highest dose of MSME (200 mg/kg i.p.). The present study suggests the presence of potent antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory principles in the extract, supporting its folkloric use for the treatment of these conditions.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Roslan SulaimanWan Mastura Shaik Mossadeq, Chiong Hoe Siong, Zainul Amiruddin Zakaria, Mohd. Lip Jabit, Mohamad Taufik Hidayat Baharuldin, Daud Israf Ali and Tengku Azam Shah Tengku MohamadFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2603; mrs@medic.upm.edu.my

The Antinociceptive and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Mitragyna speciosa Korth Extract

Fore

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Forestry & Environment

81

Keywords: Environmental stress, forest canopy, growth response, fern

Asplenium nidus is an epiphyte plant found in forest canopy. Recently, the epiphyte has been very popular as an ornamental plant. Pot experiment was conducted in the nursery of Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia during the periods from May to August, 2006 to investigate the effect of water stress on Asplenium nidus growth performance, transpiration rate and chlorophyll content in fronds. The plants were subjected to five water stress levels; Control - watered every day, T1 - watered every three days, T2 - watered every seven days, T3 - watered every fourteen days and T4 - suspended without watering. Growth parameters were measured every week for a period of sixteen weeks. At the end of experiment, transpiration rate and chlorophyll content were measured as well as dry matter of plants. The results showed that levels of watering did not significantly affect all growth and physiological parameters of Asplenium nidus except T4 which decreased all growth parameter and some physiological responses. T1 had the highest dry matter production. The plants allocated more growth to the shoot under optimum conditions but more growth to the root under stress conditions. This plant was able to adapt and survive without watering for sixteen weeks and demonstrate that it can survive in water limited condition.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Ainuddin NuruddinNur Najwa Dina Anak Abong

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2179; ainuddin@introp.upm.edu.my

Asplenium nidus - A Drought Tolerant Epiphytic Fern Suitable for Extreme Environment

Keywords: Forest fire, forest disturbance, fire effects, tree diversity, peat swamp forest

Forest fires occurrences in tropical peat swamp forest have been causing disturbances to the forest by damage to the trees and forest structure. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of forest fire on forest structure in the peat swamp forest. The study was conducted in Raja Musa Forest Reserve which has been experiencing occurrence fire since 1996. Ten plots, each measuring 50m x 20m were systematically set up both in the burnt and unburnt areas and plant inventory were conducted between September 2001 to June 2002. Results showed that there were 10 families and 22 families in burnt and unburnt areas, respectively. In terms of family, Euphorbiaceae (61.9 %) was ranked first in the burnt area. Imperata cylindrica from family of Poaceae had the most coverage on burnt plot. For tree diameter distribution, trees with diameter class of 10.1 cm - 15.0 cm and 15.1 - 20.0 cm had the highest numbers in the unburnt area while trees with diameter class of 5.1 - 10.0 cm was the highest in burnt area. Shannon species diversity index in burnt area was 1.62, lower compared to unburnt area which was 2.40. Evenness Index for burnt area was 0.68, lower than unburnt area which was 0.71. This study shows that fire affects the species composition and stand structure of the forest and herbaceous vegetation, such as Poaceae was found to be abundant in burnt area compared to unburnt area.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Ainuddin NuruddinKelvin Goh

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2179; ainuddin@forr.upm.edu.my

Assessment of Forest Fire E Structure Characteristics

Forestry & Environment

82

Keywords: Dipterocarpaceae, forestry forensic, random match probability, neobalanocarpus heimii, short tandem repeats (STRs)

Illegal logging poses a significant threat to the sustainability of tropical forest ecosystems. By using Neobalanocarpus heimii (Dipterocarpaceae) as an example, the study assessed the feasibility of using short tandem repeats (STRs) as a tool to identify the source of illegally logged timber. Thirty natural populations of N. heimii were profiled using 12 STRs to develop the DNA profiling databases. As the cluster analysis divided the 30 populations into three genetic clusters, corresponding to three subregions within Peninsular Malaysia. The DNA databases were characterised at the levels of population, subregion and Peninsular Malaysia. Independence tests within and among loci were violated in all the databases due to significant levels of population differentiation and inbreeding. Thus, the effects of population substructure and inbreeding should be incorporated into the calculation of random match probability. The random match probabilities estimated using subpopulation and subpopulation-cum-inbreeding models were biased in favour of the defendant, whereas the random match probabilities estimated using product rule were biased in favour of the prosecutor. The conservativeness tests showed that the subregion and Peninsular Malaysia databases were conservative, and these databases should be able to provide legal evidence for court proceedings against illegal loggers in Peninsular Malaysia.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Faridah Qamaruz ZamanTnah Lee Hong, Lee Soon Leong, Kevin Ng Kit Siong, Faridah Qamaruz Zaman and Faridah Hanum IbrahimFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6635; faridahqz@gmail.com

DNA Profiling Database of Chengal: Implication for Forensic Forestry Investigations

Keywords: Organic fertiliser, bamboo shoots, culm height, culm diameter at breast height

Thyrsostachys siamensis is an important economic bamboo species in several Asean countries such as Thailand. It is worth to be exploited for shoot production in Malaysia too. This paper discusses the effects of organic fertilizer application on the growth of Thyrsostachys siamensis. The parameters observed were number of shoots, culm height and culm diameter at breast-height (dbh). Application of four kg and six kg rates of chicken dung gave a significant effect on the number of shoots and culm height.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Azmy MohamedParvin Anila Ponnusamy, Zaidon Ashaari, Hamami Sahri and Zolkapli MustafaFaculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7209; azmy5868@upm.edu.my

Effect of Organic Fertiliser on the Growth Performance of Tyrsostachys siamensis (Buluh Siam) in Malaysia

Forestry & Environment

83

Keywords: Oil palm, particleboard, tool wear, micro-fracture, process economics, machining, abrasive material, mechanical abrasion

A series of machining experiments on the Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) particleboard were carried out using a CNC router, to evaluate the tool wearing properties of the composite in comparison to the conventional wood-material particleboard and using high speed lathe, to ascertain the predominant mechanism of tool wear. A single-fluted tungsten carbide router bit was used in this experiment, in which the depth of cut was 1.5 mm and feed speed was 4.5 m/min. The router bit machined the edge of the board, moving along the full length before returning to repeat the cycle. A high speed lathe machined a rotating disc of the OPEFB particleboard. The tool was examined for the extent of wear after complete failure had occurred. The result found that the wear pattern was similar in the oil-palm based particleboard and the wood-based particleboard, but the former was twice more abrasive compared to the latter. Microscopic examination of the cutter edge revealed greater incidence of micro-fracture when cutting the oil-palm based particleboard, indicating the presence of hard impurities in the composite. Mechanical abrasion and micro-fracture was the primary mode of tool failure when machining OPEFB particleboard, as low cutting temperature was recorded during the machining. This evidence can eliminate any significant effect of electromechanical and oxidation mechanisms on the wear of tungsten carbide tools. From an economic perspective, the tooling cost for machining oil-palm based particleboard was determined to be twice of the cost for machining wood-based particleboard. This study shows that the high tooling cost during the machining of oil-palm based particleboard will be a primary concern, if the board is to find widespread application as a potential substitute for wood-based particleboard.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jegatheswaran RatnasingamGeetha Ramasamy and Saied Reza Farrokhpayam

Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7175; jegaratnasingam@yahoo.com

Tool Wear Characteristics of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Particleboard

Keywords: Safety climate, safety precautions, safety practices, safe work environment, wooden furniture industry

Despite its socioeconomic importance and the labour intensive nature of the sector, the status of the health and safety of the workers in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry has not been studied and reports on the subject are sparse. This is further attested by the fact that the wooden furniture industry in Malaysia is regarded as a risky work environment by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of Malaysia. In order to close the information gap, a study of the safety climate, which defines the safety level of the work environment, in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry was carried out in thirty wood-furniture manufacturing factories, using a structured questionnaire. The study found that although there were four determinants of safety climate in the work environment, it was the management responsibility and the existing safety precautions that had the strongest influence on the prevailing safety climate. Further, the primary health and safety concerns in the wooden furniture manufacturing industry were the air-borne dust, noise, chemical exposure, materials handling and occupational accidents. The fact that foreign contract workers are also widely employed within the sector also contributes to the lacklustre approach taken by manufacturers t owards safety and health issues. In this context, it is imperative that the management of wooden furniture manufacturing enterprises is made to realize the importance of workers safety and health and its implications on labour productivity. This will possibly encourage the management to show commitment towards health and safety and incorporate safety precautions into the operational system, to ensure a safe working environment in the wooden furniture manufacturing industry.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jegatheswaran RatnasingamSaied Reza Farrokhpayam and Ganesh Thanasegaran

Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7175; jegaratnasingam@yahoo.com

Determinants of Worker’s Health and Safety in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry

Forestry & Environment

84

Keywords: Pollution sources, biomarker, hopane, South China Sea, surface sediment

Oil pollution has been introduced into the South China Sea aquatic environment through anthropogenic activities such as discharging of oil during extraction, transportation and consumption. In order to determine the source of oil pollution in South China Sea, 30 surface sediment samples were collected in 2008 and were analyzed for pentacyclic triterpanes (hopane) by gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GCMS) with m/z 191. The total concentrations of hopane compounds ranged from 2.25 to 1328.39 µg/g which indicate South China Sea is facing various sources of oil pollution. This study investigates the use of hopanes compound source identifier of oil pollution for surface sediment samples collected from South China Sea and the applicability of the biomarker approach to determine the origin of oil-contaminated sediment. Previous report had shown that 17?(H),21?(H)- norhopane and C31-C 35 homohopane were found to be abundant in Middle East crude oil (MECO). The MECO signature was found in a number of the surface sediment samples in this study. The diagnostic ratio of 17?(H),21?(H)- norhopane to 17?(H),21?(H)- hopane (C29/C30) and sum of 17?(H),21?(H)-C31 homohopane to 17?(H),21?(H)-C35 homohopane relative to 17?(H),21?(H)-hopane (?C31-C35/C30) was used as biomarker signatures in this study. Using the ratios, samples number 3, 4 and 2 out of 30 surface sediment samples were found to be originated from the Middle East, USA and Sumatera, respectively.The ratio of 17?(H)-22,29,30-trisnorhopane/ 18?(H)-22,29,30-trisnorhopane (Tm/Ts) however proved the source of oil pollution originated from lubricating oil, street dust and spilled oil suggesting both sea-based and land-based sources significantly contribute to the oil pollution in the area. This study has shown that the South China Sea is very pristine and almost free of hydrocarbons contamination. However, more studies should be carried out in order to understand the sociobiogeochemistry of the sea and future protection and conversation of this important marine ecosystem.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Pauzi ZakariaNorliza Ismail, Abdul Halim Abdullah and Norazida MananFaculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8024; mpauzi@env.upm.edu.my

Application of Hopanes as a Biomarker in Identifying the Source of Oil Pollution: A Case Study in Surface Sediments from South China Sea

Keywords: Kenaf industry, development, perceptions, upstream, downstream, market potentials

Naturally renewable materials are attracting more and more attentions gradually from both developed and developing countries. In Malaysia, Kenaf seems to stand out prominently in the eyes of the Government where some 35 Million Malaysian ringgit (RM) has been allocated under the Ninth Malaysia Plan for Kenaf industry development (Bernama). Government has been heavily promoting Kenaf as an alternative crop for the tobacco farmers to consider in the advent of the AFTA which effecting in 2010, which is believed to result in lower prices and a reduction in import duties for tobacco. However, even as Kenaf development gains momentum, there are still uncertainties on the perceptions towards the development of Kenaf industry in Malaysia. The stakeholders’ perceptions are vital to leap the industry further and drive this new industry to success. This report also aims to identify the current potential and challenges which have to be faced by the industry players. In short, this paper seeks to address the void in the current literature by discussing the perception of stakeholders towards the industry of kenaf-based products in Malaysia. The process of this study consisted of the preparatory stage, personal interviews with relevant stakeholders at two levels both upstream and downstream, and survey on the perception towards Kenaf industry from the participants of International Conference of Kenaf and Allied Fibres in December, 2009 at Kuala Lumpur. Finally, we managed to assess realistically the market potentials and challenges of Kenaf industry, along with the current level of government incentives given for the development of this industry in Malaysia.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. OthmanNorfaryanti Kamaruddin, Siti Nurhidayah Roslen and Nurul Ain Mohd. ReduanInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8424; faryanti@gmail.com

Public Perceptions on the Development of Kenaf Industry in Malaysia

Forestry & Environment

85

Keywords: Heavy metal, Strait of Malacca, aquaculture fish

Strait of Malacca lies in a strategic location and heavily impacted with heavy metals and oil pollution. The strait has also been significantly affected by anthropogenic input from land-based sources mainly from industrialization and urbanization. In this study, twelve aqua-culture fish samples (red fish, grouper and tiger grouper) were collected from selected location along Straits of Malacca for heavy metals pollution assessment by using inductively couple plasma- mass spectrometry (ICP- MS). This study aims to access the concentration of heavy metals in fish samples and compared the results obtained with Malaysian Food Regulation, 1995. The sample undergone microwave digestion using HNO3 under the condition of 1000 mbar, 2500c and 850 watts for 45 minutes before injected into ICP-MS. The mean heavy metals concentration of the samples is 1.86 mg/ kg wet weight, 0.02mg/ kg wet weight, 1.03mg/ kg wet weight, 827.20mg/ kg wet weight, 0.03mg/ kg wet weight, 0.06mg/ kg wet weight, 12.56mg/ kg wet weight, 70.97mg/ kg wet weight, 0.87mg/ kg wet weight, 1.03 mg/ kg wet weight for As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, Se, Zn, Al, Cr and Mn respectively. The result of this study indicates that all the samples conform to the maximum permitted concentration in Fourteen Schedule of Malaysian Food Regulation 1985 except for As. Some concentrations in the samples exceeded the permissible limit by almost five times. Hence it is recommended that further and in depth study of As concentration should be carried out in the near future to verify these findings.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Pauzi ZakariaLau Chun Ghee, Munirah Abdul Zali, Nurul Afiqah Mohamd Tahir, Nur Hazirah Adnan, Ahmad Zaharin Aris

and Normala HalimoonFaculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8024; mpauzi@env.upm.edu.my

Determination of Heavy Metals in Aquaculture Fish from Selected Locations in the Straits of Malacca

Keywords: PAHs, PCA, MLR, South China Sea

South China Sea is a large ecosystem and rich in natural resources. It is located in a strategic location where it is a busy traffic for tanker ships transporting oil from Middle East to Northern Asia country. South China Sea deserved special attention especially to the impact of petroleum pollutant. Ten sediment samples were collected from South China Sea, extracted and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). PAHs are the most important persistent organic pollutant. Due to persistency to the environment and huge affinity for particulate and organic matter, the possibilities to find the concentrations PAHs in sediment sample are very high compared to other matrices. In addition, PAHs are lipophilic and hydrophobic. PAHs tend to partition into sediment rather than water or air. PAHs continue to be released to the environment because of their widespread formation during the burning of organic matter and escaped during petroleum recovery, transport and use. Principal component analysis (PCA), can provide information on source contributions, in associate with multivariate linear regression (MLR), has been performed to determine and apportion PAHs sources in the sediment samples. One of the objectives of this study is to determine the major of anthropogenic sources PAHs by using PCA. PCA is associated with MLR which apportioned the sources PAHs contributing to sediment sample collected in South China Sea. Five factors were identified based on loadings of PAHs and were attributed to the following sources; (1) residual fossil fuels; (2) coal combustion; (3) traffic emission combustion; (4) incinerations; (5) coal production. The reconstructed sources and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were in good agreement (R2= 0.905) with those measured in South China Sea. The major source at South China Sea is pyrogenic PAHs. This finding is consistent with previous studies.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Pauzi ZakariaNorazida Manan, Abdul Halim Abdullah, Hafizan Juahir, Norliza Ismail, Lee Chiow Yee, Che Abdul Rahim

Mohamed and Munirah Abdul ZaliFaculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. +603-8946 8024; mpauzi@env.upm.edu.my

Application of Chemometric Technique in Identifying Sources Apportionment of PAHs in Sediment Sample Collected from South China Sea

Forestry & Environment

86

Keywords: Forest interior, forest edge, understorey birds, vegetation structure

To investigate the edge effects on the community of understorey birds, an isolated tropical rainforest of Malaysia was chosen. Birds and environmental variables were detected within a 25-m radius of each of 93 sampling points distributed throughout the forest. Based on bird-habitat associations along the edge-interior gradient, two groups were distinguished. Abundance of the edge-specialist group was positively correlated with ground cover, light intensity, shrub cover, temperature, and percent of shrub cover between 0.5 and 2 m height. In contrast, the interior-specialist group avoided the forest edge and was positively associated with humidity, canopy cover, number of dead trees, percentage of litter cover, and depth of the litter layer. Migratory species showed no preferences for edge or interior habitats, but brood parasites were more abundant near edges, as were species that invaded the forest from the matrix surrounding the patch. Species endemic to the Sunda sub-region were more abundant in the forest interior. From a conservation perspective, forest remnants in the lowlands of Peninsular Malaysia that have a deep leaf litter layer, a dense canopy cover, high number of dead trees, and high relative humidity are able to support regionally significant understorey bird species that are sensitive to edge effects.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Zakaria HussinHossein Varasteh Moradi and Zamri RosliFaculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7161; mzakaria@putra.upm.edu.my

Understorey Bird Responses to the Edge-interior Gradient in an Isolated Tropical Rainforest of Malaysia

Keywords: Migratory birds, freshwater, wetland, distance sampling, mist-netting

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey each year undertaken by many bird species to their breeding and feeding grounds. Birds are the most conspicuous and significant components of freshwater wetland ecosystem; their presence or absence may indicate the ecological conditions of the wetland area. The objectives of this study were to determine the importance of freshwater wetlands for migratory bird species at Paya Indah Wetland Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. The study was conducted using distance sampling point count and mist-netting methods. A total of 13,872 bird observations belonged to 100 species and 38 families were recorded using point count method in the study area. Out of this, 570 bird observations (18 species; 13 families) fall into migratory bird species. In addition, mist netting method captured a total of 1,478 individuals belonged to 65 species and 32 families. Of this, 117 individuals (13 species and 10 families) belonged to the migratory birds. The migratory species include pipits, shrikes, snipes, minivets, flycatchers, crakes, bitterns, jacanas, sandpipers, warblers, hawks, kingfishers, cuckoos, plovers, sunbirds, prinias and buntings. The results of this study clearly indicated that Paya Indah Wetland Reserve is highly important stopover for migratory bird species and provides diverse food resources, nesting and roosting sites and also shelter from harsh weather and predators. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that this wetland reserve should be protected and declared as another Ramsar Site for the country.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Zakaria HussinMuhammad Nawaz RajparFaculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7161; mzakaria@putra.upm.edu.my

Importance of Freshwater Wetlands for Migratory Birds

Forestry & Environment

87

Keywords: Formaldehyde scavanger, tannin, acacia mangium, plywood, low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde

One of the limitations in using low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde (LmwPF) resin as a binder for wood-based panels is the amount of the free formaldehyde being emitted during soaking, pressing and sometimes during the earlier stage of application. Tannin from bark extracts is rich in phenolic compounds, and thus may be able to absorb this free formaldehyde and at the same time provide strength to the joint. In this study, tannin-phenol-formaldehyde adhesives were prepared by blending Acacia mangium bark extracts (40% solids) with low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde (40% solids at 1:1 ratio). The tannin-LmwPF adhesive produced cured within 4 min at 130oc, reduced the free formaldehyde to level E1 of European norm EN-120. The 3-ply plywood had acceptable shear strength (> 1.0 MPa) exceeding the minimum requirements of European norms EN-314-1 and EN-314-2:1993 for interior and exterior applications. The study has shown that Acacia mangium tannin can be used as formaldehyde scavenger in LmwPF resin without compromising the strength of the joints.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paridah Md. TahirYeoh Beng Hoong, Loh Yueh Feng, Luqman Chuah Abdullah and Koh Mok Poh

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6997; parida@putra.upm.edu.my

Acacia Mangium Tannin as Formaldehyde Scavenger for Low Molecular Weight Phenol-formaldehyde Resin in Bonding Tropical Plywood

Keywords: Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, human disturbances, jacobs preference Index, occupancy modelling, panthera pardus

Very little is known about the leopard (Panthera pardus) in South-East Asia particularly Malaysian tropical rain forests where intensive deforestations have taken place in recent years. Current study has been carried out in a highly fragmented secondary forest namely Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve and its neighboring farm located within Klang Valley, fastest growing agglomeration in Malaysia. Objective of this study was to bring an understanding to the impacts of human disturbances and natural factors on occupancy status of the leopards and their potential prey species in the study area. Detection/non-detection data from leopards, their four priori identified prey species that were wild boar, lesser mouse deer, long tailed macaque and pig tailed macaque, a feral species (i.e. stray dogs) and human factors such as deforestation, plantation, local and indigenous people camping and construction activities have been recorded from February 2008 over a period of 13 months. Occupancy modelling of leopards and their potential prey species had been done using single season subprogram of PRESENCE software and Jacobs Preference Index. Correlations of leopard presence with disturbance factors, preys and feral species were tested using Spearman correlation coefficient test. Results indicated that habitat is constantly fully occupied by leopards and there is no evidence of lack of prey sufficiency. Presence of wild boar was the main factor affecting leopard movements in the area. Leopard distribution was clearly adapted to settlement location, while construction activities and dogs grouping life style inside the forest had the most negative impact on leopard movements. Preys were mostly affected by deforestations and construction activities conducted during field surveys. Since leopards are the top predator species of this isolated forest, findings of this study could be used to promote practices of environmentally friendly forest management.

Assoc.Prof. Dr. Mohamed Zakaria HussinArezoo Sanei

Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7161; mzakaria@putra.upm.edu.my

Occupancy Modelling of the Leopard (Panthera Pardus) as a Function of Human and Natural Factors in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor

Forestry & Environment

88

Keywords: Heavy metals, intensively managed pasture, long-term moderate grasing, short-term heavy grasing

This study investigates the impact of short-term (1.5-year) heavy and long-term (33-year) moderate grazing intensities on the heavy metal concentrations in soils of tropical pastures. The concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Fe, Mn, Cu, Cr, Pb, and Zn) was determined in the Livestock Section of University Putra Malaysia (UPM), Selangor, Malaysia. The heavy metal concentrations in the soil were not affected (P > 0.05) by short-term heavy grazing intensity. The concentrations of Fe, Mn and Zn were significantly affected (P ? 0.05) by long-term moderate grazing or soil depth and by the interaction between them. The Cu concentration in soil was only affected (P < 0.05) by grazing, but not (P > 0.05) by sampling depth or their interaction. The concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn in long-term moderately grazed pasture soil were 127.9, 194.8, 54.8 and 39900 % higher, respectively, than ungrased pasture. Soil Fe, Mn and Zn concentrations were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in surface (0-10 cm) than subsurface (10-20 cm) soils. Results suggest that the excreta of grasing cattle can be an important source of heavy metals in intensively managed pastures in the long-term. However, metal concentrations were maintained within the normal range and were not high enough to be dangerous from the toxicological point of view.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ramdzani AbdullahMajid Ajorlo, Ahmad Husni Mohd. Hanif, Mohd. Kamil Yusoff and Ridzwan Abd. Halim,Faculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6759; Ramdzani@env.upm.edu.my

Cattle Grazing Influences on the Heavy Metals Concentration in Tropical Pastures Soils

Keywords: Liquefaction, polyurethane, kenaf core, wood laminating adhesive

A study was carried out to produce polyurethane (PU) as a wood laminating adhesive from liquefied Kenaf core (LKC) polyols by reacting it with toluene-2, 4-diisocyanate (TDI) and 1, 4-butanediol (BDO). The LKC polyurethane (LKCPU) adhesive has a molecular weight (MW) of 2666, viscosity of 5370 mPa s, and solids content of 86.9%. The average shear strength of the rubberwood (RW) bonded with LKCPU adhesive was 2.9 MPa. Most of the sheared specimens experienced a total adhesive failure. The formation of air bubbles through the liberation of carbon dioxide was observed to reduce the adhesive penetration and bonding strength which was obviously seen on the sheared specimens. The percentage of catalyst used can be varied based on the usage and working time needed. Nonetheless, the physical properties of LKCPU produced in this work had shown good potential as edge-bonding adhesive.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paridah Md. TahirM.F.Juhaida, M.T. Paridah, M.Mohd. Hilmi, U.M.K.Anwar, Z.Sarani, H. Jalaluddin and A.R. Mohamad ZakiInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6997; parida@putra.upm.edu.my

Liquefaction of Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) Core for Wood Laminating Adhesive

Forestry & Environment

89

Keywords: Corybas, endemic, endangered, climate change, Genting Highlands, conservation

All the Corybas species (Orchidaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia have been listed as endangered plant species under CITES since 2003. There are eight indigenous Corybas species in Peninsular Malaysia where mostly inhabit in highlands areas. However, forest fragmentation, human activities, disturbances and nature disaster have brought a severe threat to the survival and availability of many wild orchids species, including this ground helmet orchids. Some selected forest reserves and also a few famous eco-tourist highlands like Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, and Frasers Hill were visited to study and enumerate the native Corybas species in each site. Aims of this study are (i) to record the Corybas diversity in Peninsular Malaysia as well as recognise the endemic species, (ii) to identify the threats to the wild orchids habitat, (iii) to propose conservation strategies in order to sustain the orchids population. Currently, only four indigenous Corybas species were successfully found from west Peninsular Malaysia. The rest of three species might no longer exist in their recorded locality due to uncontrolled development and habitat destruction which caused their disappearance. In-situ observation showed that human activities and temperature raise are the two major threats to the wild orchids population. Our effort and trial study on ex situ conservation for the past one year have not been successful and therefore in situ conservation is the most ideal approach as it is proven to be a very reliable bio indicator for climate change as it is super sensitive towards temperature raise and drop of relative humidity.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rusea GoTan Mui Ching, Farah Alia Nordin, Ng Yong Jin, Khor Hong Eng, Ahmad Ainuddin Nuruddin, Janna Ong

Abdullah and Rosimah NulitInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6634; rusea@science.upm.edu.my

Corybas: The Endangered Endemic Orchids in Our Exhausted Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia

Keywords: Orchids, endemic, threat, conservation, Padawan, National Park

Padawan limestone formation located at the southwest of Kuching town, exhibits a very high diversity of orchid in its limestone hill forest. Limestone hills there are well known for its difficulties in accessing them and also other natural risks such as dangerous wildlife like the pit-viper. The undisturbed environment allows orchids to flourish and diversify. As development and urbanisation progress in that area, many forested land were cleared for agriculture and building of roads and bridges. Quarry is also another major threat to the forest as the limestone scores a high price in the market. Over-collecting of orchids from wild either for commercial purposes or ex-situ conservation, both are giving stress to the orchid population in the forest. A total of 283 orchid species were recorded from all the limestone hill area of approximately 436.6 km2. Of the recorded species, 17 of them are identified as endemic species to Borneo and one of them (Vanda scandens) is listed as an endangered species by IUCN Redlist. Some of the collected rare and endemic orchid species were transplanted into Rena George Ochidarium, Semengoh. These endemic species will be DNA barcode and the barcodes will deposited into the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBoL) DNA bank online and their DNA profiles deposited in the National Centre of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) for future references. With this barcoding method, raw data of the rare and endemic species could be provided for future investigation of the illegal transportation of the orchid species. We would be able to identify the orchids from its vegetative structures and also track down the source of illegal collection.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rusea GoKhor Hong Eng, Ng Yong Jin, Tan Mui Ching, Farah Alia Nordin, Janna Ong Abdullah, Ahmad Ainuddin

Nuruddin and Julaihi AbdullahFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6634; rusea@science.upm.eedu.my

Conservation of the Wild Limestone Orchids in Padawan, Kuching, Sarawak

Forestry & Environment

90

Keywords: Dust, heavy metals, UPM residential colleges

In this study, dust samples were collected from four residential colleges (K2, K5, KOSAS and K10) in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Serdang, Selangor. The samples were collected from ceiling fans and car parks roadside dust. Sand dust on top of the car park were collected by using polyethylene brush, tray and contained in a polyethylene bag. Ceiling fan dust on the first floor was collected and put into a polyethylene bag. The dust samples collected were analysed for the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni and Zn. It was found that K5 [Cu (62.94 ± 0.77 ?g/g dw), Fe (1802.40 ± 9.81 µg/g dw), and Zn (253.34 ± 22.76 ?g/g dw) of car park dust; Zn (997.20 ± 16.10 µg/g dw) of ceiling fan dust] and K10 (Ni (26.88 ± 1.84 µg/g dw) and Zn (199.77 ± 6.64 ?g/g dw) of car park dust; Cu (468.55 ± 3.67 ?g/g dw), [Ni (83.96 ± 0.75 ?g/g dw), and Fe (3131.58 ± 27.01 ?g/g dw) of ceiling fan dust] exhibited elevated concentrations of heavy metals that might be related to vehicular activities when compared to K2 and KOSAS. In general, ceiling fan dust had significantly (P< 0.05) higher concentrations of heavy metals when compared with car park dust. In comparison to other reported studies in the literature, the maximum levels of Ni and Cu were comparable or higher than those reported for major cities in the world. Hence, more monitoring studies should be conducted in the future to check metal contamination in the dust which can serve as an atmospheric indicator of heavy metal pollution.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yap Chee KongChew Weiyun and Tan Soon GuanFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6616; yapckong@hotmail.com

Heavy Metal Concentrations in Ceiling Fan and Roadside Car Park Dust Collected from Residential Colleges in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor

Keywords: Teijsmanniodendron, new species, timber, Malaysia

Taxonomy has been a very interesting and a challenging subject in the last decade with molecular evidence dominating classification approach. Many species perished along the way and many were given new names, combinations and new ranks. In this scientific revolution, classical taxonomy is still a practical and fast method of identification especially during this fast disappearing forest era. The classical taxonomy has contributed to new discoveries especially in the newly explored forest in both Peninsular and East Malaysia. This paper discusses discoveries on genus Teijsmanniodendron (Lamiaceae) in Malaysia. A taxonomic study on this group of plants was conducted from 1996 to 2005 which resulted in seven new species published. These new species were discovered during an extensive revision work on the group which were 80% based on herbarium specimens and 20% freshly collected materials from all parts of Malaysia. The herbarium specimens were collected from 1920 to 2000 which are deposited in the local herbaria (KEP, KLU, UKMB, SAN, SAR, KNP and UPM), and abroad (KEW, L, U, BM, SING, BO and PNH). Unfortunately, many of the collecting sites were currently no longer a forested area. The agony of the findings is to name something which is probably extinct or becoming rare but the trophy is that we at least knew that these plants had flourished in our backyard. Being a sister to commercial Teak or Jati (Tectona grandis), its timber properties of selected species (wood density and grain) are almost 100% similar to Teak. These species are currently traded as medium hard wood together with Nyatoh (Palaquium spp.). Three species, T. coriaceum, T. pteropodum and T. simplicifolium were identified as potential forest plantation crop for timber similar uses to Teak, for furniture.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rusea GoFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6634; rusea@science.upm.edu.my

New Species, Are They a Possible Find in Our Fast Degrading Forest

Forestry & Environment

91

Keywords : Compreg laminates, phenol formaldehyde, impregnation, compression ratio

The depleting supply of commercial timbers from natural and plantation forests faced by wood-based industries has led manufacturer seeking for alternative. There are still plenty of timber species which has not been fully explored due to their poor properties in nature. Macarangga spp. (mahang), Endospermum malaccense (sesenduk) and Dyera costulata (jelutung) are low density species which have a great potential to augment the diminishing supply of the raw materials. If their properties can be improved, there is a tendency for them to be utilised for high value added laminated products such as parquet flooring, paneling and furniture components. One of the potential processes to enhance the properties of these timbers is through compregnation with low molecular weight phenolic resin. The treated product which is also known as Compreg is found to be suitable for parquet flooring, paneling and furniture components. The successful of this treatment are dependent on the thickness of wood, concentration of treating solution, pre-curing and curing time, and compression ratio. In this study, the optimum treatment combination, viz. concentration of treating solution, compression ratio, pre-curing time and curing temperature and time has been established. Three layers of compreg products were fabricated through either aligned the strips perpendicular or parallel to each other. The bonding, physical and mechanical properties of the compreg laminates were evaluated. The results showed that the density of the compreg laminates increased by three to four times of the original wood. The shear stress tested at the joint line is slightly lower or at par and the hardness is markedly higher than untreated solid wood. The dimensional stability quantified as anti-swelling efficiency increased by 30-77%.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zaidon AshaariEdi Suhaimi Bakar, Paridah Md. Tahir and Mohd. Hamami Sahri

Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7174; zaidon@putra.upm.edu.my

Compreg Laminates Made from Low Density Wood

Keywords: Psammotaea elongata, faunus after, snail, clams, sof tissues, shells

Snail (Psammotaea elongata) and clams (Faunus after) collected from Pantai Sri Tujuh, Tumpat (Kelantan) were dissected into operculum, foot, gill, muscle and digestive caecum. The clams were dissected into siphon, foot, gill, muscle, mantle and remainder parts. The different soft tissues and shells were pooled and determined for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. Both species were found to have higher levels of non-essential Cd and Pb in their shells than those in the different soft tissues. On the other hand, the soft tissues especially remainder parts have higher concentrations of essential Zn and Cu than those in the shells in both molluscs. The ecological distribution and metal concentrations for the two molluscs species found at Pantai Sri Tujuh can serve as baseline information.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yap Chee KongAziran Y. and Cheng Wan Hee

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6616; yapckong@hotmail.com

Distribution of Heavy Metal Concentrations in Different Soft Tissues and Shells of the Bivalve psammotaea Elongata and Gastropod faunus after Collected from Pantai Sri Tujuh, Kelantan

Forestry & Environment

92

Keywords: Diameter, general equation, estimator, biomass, tropics

Attempts to estimate the biomass density of tropical forests have been made by the scientific community for use in models that assess the contribution of tropical deforestation and biomass burning to the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other trace gases. However, because so many different equations and techniques are needed to estimate various structures and compositions of tropical forest and it would be a huge and costly, improving biomass estimates by constructing new equations to present all tree species in all locations are necessary. The main goals of this study are to present simple methods that are available for estimating biomass density of tropical forests or tree formations using primarily existing data. Prediction equations for biomass were generated from easily measurable parameters such as diameter at breast height and total height. Data on dry weight of all biomass components of sample trees were used to develop prediction equations. The power equations were used for biomass equation because these equations had proved superior to other equations as evident from its greater values of coefficient of determination as well as from lesser values of standard error for most of the biomass components. Equations were presented from destructive sampling of 250 sample trees of 19 species in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam, from 1.20 cm to 109.18 cm of D and from 1.9 m to 57.7 m of H. The study provided two steps of biomass estimation, i.e., (1) a multi step process that entails calculating volume and then converting volume to dry weight biomass and (2) a one-step process that calculate biomass directly from growth parameter of D or combination D2H. Biomass density can be calculated from volume/ha by first estimating the biomass of the inventoried volume and then “expanding” this value to take into account the total biomass.

Dr. Hazandy Abdul HamidIka Heriansyah, Nor Aini Ab. Shukor, and Syamsudin IbrahimFaculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7585; hazandy@gmail.com

A General Model for Estimating Tropical Forest Biomass

Keywords: Sterols, faecal contamination, solid phase extraction, principal component analysis, cluster analysis

The municipal and anthropogenic activities have been verified as substantial contributors in the Langat River Basin. Faecal sterols fingerprinting method is a promising method for sources classifications of faecal pollutant due to its continuous discharge into the riverine ecosystem. In this study, faecal contamination in water samples from point source (sewage treatment plants, chicken farms, quail farms and horse stables) was extracted using the solid phase extraction (SPE) technique and analyzed using Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Faecal sterols (coprostanol, cholesterol, stigmasterol? -sitosterol and stigmastanol) were selected as parameters to differentiate the source of faecal pollution. The results indicated that coprostanol, cholesterol and?-sitosterol were the most significant parameters that can be used as source tracers for faecal pollution. Chemometric techniques, such as cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA) were applied to the data set on faecal contamination in water from various pollution sources in order to validate the faecal sterols’ profiles. CA generated three clusters: coprostanol was in cluster 1, cholesterol and? -sitosterol formed cluster 2, while cluster 3 contained stigmasterol and stigmastanol. DA suggested that coprostanol, cholesterol and? -sitosterols were the most significant parameters to discriminate between the faecal pollution sources. Applications of chemometric techniques revealed beneficial and potential methods in discovering the source of faecal contamination in marine environment.

Dr. Hafizan JuahirNur Hazirah Adnan, Munirah Abdul Zali, Nurul Afiqah Mohamd Tahir, Norashikin Saim, Rozita Osman, Dayang Ratena Sari Abg. Spian, Mohd. Zuli Jaafar, Md. Pauzi Abdullah and Fuzziawati Ab. GhaniFaculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7460; hafizan@env.upm.edu.my

Chemometric Approach to Validating Faecal Sterols as Source Tracer for Faecal Contamination in Water from Langat River, Malaysia

Forestry & Environment

93

Keywords: Sulfadiazine, goethite, oxalic acid, photodegradation, ecological toxicity

Sulfadiazine, a potent antibacterial agent belonging to the group of antibiotics called sulfonamides, has been reported to be present in surface and groundwater. This study investigated the degradation of sulfadiazine in a goethite (R-FeOOH)-oxalate Fenton-like system under UV irradiation. The results showed that sulfadiasine could be effectively photodegraded by the goethite-oxalate Fenton-like system as a result of the formation of the highly oxidizing hydroxyl radicals, .OH. Among the iron oxides tested (R-FeOOH, ?-Fe2O3, ?-FeOOH, and R-Fe2O3), R-FeOOH was found to be the most effective. Degradation of sulfadiazine depended significantly on the pH and initial concentration of oxalic acid in the system, with optimal values of 3.5 and 4.0 mM, respectively, under UV irradiation. Five intermediate products of sulfadiazine degradation were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and ion chromatography (IC), and a possible sulfadiazine degradation pathway in such a system was proposed. Organic sulfur and organic nitrogen mineralization were also observed, and the results indicated that cleavage of the sulfonylurea bridge was easier than the other potential cleavage bonds under the goethite-oxalate system. In addition, results from Biolog assays suggested that the ecological toxicity of the sulfadiazine solution was effectively reduced after degradation.

Dr. Liang Juan BooWang Yan

Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2132; jbliang@ibs.upm.edu.my

Photodegradation of Sulfadiazine by Goethite-oxalate Suspension under UV Light Irradiation

Keywords: Lignocellulosic biomass, concentrated acid hydrolysis, fermentation, ethanol production

Large quantities of waste materials are generated from manufacturing processes and agricultural industries. As a result, solid waste management has become one of the major environmental concerns in the world. As one of the top producers of palm oil and wooden furniture in the world, Malaysia is well positioned to make used of its enormous output of lignocellulosic biomass, mainly oil palm residues and wood wastes generated by those industries. Beside waste management, another great challenge for society in the 21st century is to meet the growing demand of energy for transportation and industrial processes. Due to the gradual depletion of crude oil and the environmental deterioration resulting from the over consumption, bioethanol practically in liquid forms is one of the most attractive biofuel candidates to replace crude oil. Glucose can be derived from lignocellulosic biomass, is the necessary main chemical that can be subsequently converted to bioethanol. This study was focus on acid hydrolysis using concentrated sulfuric acid to obtain glucose prior for ethanolic fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisae. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to optimize hydrolysis and fermentation process for maximum conversion yield from Malaysia three main lignocellulosic biomass; oil palm trunk and sawdust of rubberwood and mixed hardwood. Optimum cellulose conversion to glucose with the hydrolysis efficiency of 82%, 67% and 66% for oil palm trunk, rubberwood and mixed hardwood, respectively obtained using two-stage concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis at elevated temperature using 60% sulfuric acid treated in a water bath with a temperature of 60°C for 30 min at the first stage hydrolysis and subsequently subjected to 30% sulfuric acid at 80°C for 60 min at the second stage. Optimum fermentation parameters was obtained using 33.2°C and pH 5.3 with the fermentation efficiency of 80%, 85% and 90% for oil palm trunk, rubberwood and mixed hardwood, respectively.

Dr. H’ng Paik SanChin Kit Ling, Wong Lih Jiun, Tey Beng Ti and Paridah Md. Tahir

Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7189, ngpaiksan@putra.upm.edu.my

Bioconversion of Malaysia Major LignocellulosicWaste to Ethanol

Forestry & Environment

94

Keywords: Mount Tahan, plant association, phytosociological, GIS, mapping

The study on lowland tropical forest plants is complicated by the extreme species diversity, very complex plant mosaic and time constraints. These impediments however do not occur in mountain forest, where habitat diversity is clearly distinguished by small homogenous plants types. Plant association and composition study were presented in this work from two locations of Mount Tahan, Malaysia the relatively untrampled and the trampled site. In each site, plant species number, vegetation cover, plant height, and species cover and frequency in untrampled and trampled areas were counted or measured. The analysis included a field survey following the relevance method of Braun-Blanquet and mapping using a GIS. The study focused on altitudinal distribution of specific plants communities located between 1900 m and 2140 m altitude. The data from field survey were mapped and analyzed in GIS. The phytosociological classification revealed that untrampled areas in Botak and Puncak sites were high in species more diversified communities compared to the trampled areas. The results showed that Leptospermum flavescens was the dominant species most in both sites (Botak and Puncak), with 48%, specifically at the untrampled site. The abundance class and sociability value are also high for this species with score 4.5 out of 5, respectively. A total number of trees in the area probably play an important role in quantifying the species richness and diversity parameters. From the study, it can be concluded that GIS technique is useful in developing a tree mapping system and creating a geo-database for spatial analysis. Further studies are recommended to integrate more data into the system for better evaluation.

Dr. Mohd. Hasmadi IsmailMohd. Zaki Hamzah, Ismail Adnan Abd. Malik, Pakhriazad Hassain Zaki and Muhammad Fadlli Abdul YaziFaculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7220; mhasmadi@putra.upm.edu.my

Determining and Mapping of Vegetation using GIS and Phytosociological Approach in Mount Tahan, Malaysia

Keywords: Soil disturbance, bulk density, cone index, pore space, harvesting operation, rimbaka harvester system, crawler tractor

The impacts of mechanised forest harvesting to soil physical properties are the major concern by forest managers. Malaysia is practicing RIL and applying code of forest harvest practice in forest harvesting and operations for sustainable forest resources management. In 2001, a machinery called Rimbaka Timber Harvester R2020-A was introduced for timber extraction for peat swamp forest and later on the machine was introduced to the hill tropical forest as an alternative to other machines. The study aimed to evaluate soil compaction (cone index, bulk density, moisture content and pore space) by Rimbaka and crawler tractor KOMATSU D60-A. A total of five samples were randomly taken using core sampler (50x50mm) diameter at the beneath a lug imprint for passes 1, 4 and 8. Altogether samples were 45. The locations of sample were to the right and left of each rut centre for both machines. Treatment effects were evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Result showed that compaction by Rimbaka machine increased bulk density from 1.14 to 1.43 g/cc, cone index from 1.94 to 3.45 g/cm3 decreased total pore space by 43% and decreased soil moisture content by 19%. Meanwhile compaction by KOMATSU D60-A increased bulk density from 1.2 to 1.43 g/cc, cone index from 1.24 to 1.94 g/cm3 decreased soil moisture content by 11% and total pore space by 6%, respectively. The value increased rapidly as more passes increased on the track surface. The higher soil disturbance by Rimbaka machine was due to physical design and specification of the machine. This study also observed that there was significant difference in the total passes of machinery used in harvesting operation. Although Rimbaka machine shows more effected soil compaction, the machine is a practical alternative to avoid skid trail and reduce road density in forest area.

Dr. Mohd. Hasmadi IsmailNorizah KamarudinFaculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7220; mhasmadi@putra.upm.edu.my

Soil Disturbance from Different Mechanised Harvesting in Hill Tropical Forest, Peninsular Malaysia

Forestry & Environment

95

Keywords: Textile wastewater, zeolite, heavy metals, alum

Heavy metals such as lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) are widely used for production of colour pigments of textile dyes. Textile dyes pollutants are being released to the environment at various stages of operation therefore it is necessary that the pollutants are treated before discharge using zeolite with and without alum. A study was carried out to compare the effectiveness of treatment using zeolite with and without alum for the removal of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cd, Cr) in textile effluent. The concentrations of these heavy metals in the textile wastewater samples were reduced to more than 50 percent after treating with zeolite. The sequence in increasing order of removal efficiency of these heavy metals using zeolite was Cd < Pb < Cr < Cu. When the textile wastewater sample was treated using zeolite and 10 mg/L of alum, 80% of the heavy metals (Cd and Cu) were removed. The most effective treatment prior to removal of heavy metals from textile wastewater sample is by using zeolite with the addition of 10 mg/L of alum as flocculants.

Dr. Normala HalimoonRachel Goh Soo Yin

Faculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6743; hmala@env.upm.edu.my

Removal of Heavy Metals from Textile Wastewater using Zeolite

Keywords: Kenaf fiber, biodegradable, biocomposites, mechanical properties

New green composite has been developed using whole stem kenaf fiber (WSK) and Ecoflex (biodegradable thermoplastic) using melt blending technique. The composites were prepared using different fiber loadings (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%) and the fiber was treated with various concentrations of NaOH solution by soaking for three hours. The compounding of composites was carried out by using Brabender internal mixer at 130oC for 10 min. The composites were then pressed using compression molding to produce biodegradable Ecoflex/WSK sheets. The 60:40 Ecoflex/WSK composites using 4%NaOH treated WSK fiber improved the tensile and flexural strength compared to untreated WSK fiber indicating good adhesion between treated WSK fiber and Ecoflex. The DMA analysis also supports the finding since the storage modulus of the composites increase with the increasing of the fibre loading. The SEM micrographs of the fracture surface of tensile test also reveal good adhesion between WSK and Ecoflex. The FTIR and thermal gravimetric analysis showed that alkali treatment removes and lignin from WSK fiber surface making the surface rough thus improved interaction.

Dr. Nor Azowa IbrahimKhalina Abdan, Kamarul Arifin Hadithon and Khairul Zaman Mohd. Dahlan

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6802; norazowa@science.upm.edu.my

Improvement on Kenaf-ecoflex Interactions in Green Composite

Forestry & Environment

96

Keywords: Peat swamp forest, logging operation, skidding system, humification, soil carbon storage

It is important to investigate the severity of degradation of peat swamp forest caused by logging operation in terms of its function as carbon storage. The peat soil was sampled randomly using a peat auger to a depth of 15 cm. Soil sampling ware conducted before and after logging (one year later). Soil sampling was conducted on two different plots under different skidding systems to compare the soil carbon storage between kuda-kuda and excavator systems. Unpaired t-test was used to compare soil carbon storage under the two systems. The humic acid extraction was done and soil carbon storage values obtained by calculation. The calculation of soil carbon storage was done by the bulk density method. There was more unstable carbon on logged peat swamp forest. Afterwards, that high unstable carbon formed on logged peat swamp forest was converted into humic acid and stable carbon through humification processes. However, the similarity of stable carbon of the logged peat swamp forest with stable carbon of undisturbed peat swamp forest indicated an ineffectiveness humification of logged peat swamp forest. Under kuda-kuda skidding system, unstable carbon seemed to be preserved better and this was because of the better carbon storage. After the peat swamp forest was logged, humification processes were strongly maintained, but it become slow and ineffective, hence unstable carbon decomposed more instead of it being preserved as stable carbon. The skidding systems altered the unstable carbon. The unstable carbon decomposed more under excavator skidding system, but inversely under kuda-kuda skidding system.

Dr. Seca GandasecaAnton Eko Satrio, Osumanu Haruna Ahmed and Nik Muhamad Ab. MajidFaculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8685 5473; secags@yahoo.com

Effect of Logging Operations on Soil Carbon Storage of a Tropical Peat Swamp Forest in Sarawak

Keywords: Agarwood, aquilaria malaccensis, fungi, phylogeny, production, wound

Aquilaria malaccensis is a tropical tree which produces agarwood in its trunk often after being wounded and attacked by pathogens or insects. Fungi are generally viewed as the main microbial component responsible for agarwood formation. In this study, isolation of fungi from agarwood in damaged trees was carried out. Culture morphology and microscopic characteristics plus PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region from the fungal isolates as well as wood samples,were used to identify the fungal community composition of wounded A. malaccensis trees from a natural forest in West Malaysia. Conventional culture methodology revealed Cunninghamella, Curvularia, Fusarium and Trichoderma species as members of the agarwood community. Analysis of genomic DNA confirmed the identifications. When wood samples were used directly in PCR, an additional Lasiodiplodia species was identified. Neighbor-joining trees were constructed to examine the relationships between the isolates sequence data and reference sequences in GenBank. Five distinct clades resulted, supported with high bootstrap values, indicating the presence of five distinct taxa. The wounded trunks of A. malaccensis in the natural environment harbor multiple fungal taxa that exist in a complex system as a whole or in succession leading to agarwood production in the tree trunk.

Dr. Rozi MohamedJong Phai Lee and Mohammed Syazwan ZaliFaculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7183; rozimohd@putra.upm.edu.my

Fungal Diversity in Wounded Stems of Aquilaria malaccensis

Forestry & Environment

97

Keywords: Peat swamp forest, rainfall, soil acidity, soil organic matter, soil carbon storage

The amount of rainfall varies markedly daily and annually in tropical region while temperature can be constant. When the precipitation frequency is smaller, lowered water table occur and could increase substrate availability for CO2 releasing decomposition processes. Therefore, rainfall may affect the soil carbon storage of peat swamp forest. It was found different rainfall fluctuation on January and March 2008. Mean rainfall almost doubled from 6.6 mm/day in January to 12.0 mm/day in March. Furthermore, rainfall in March was fluctuated considerably than that in January. Thus, soil carbon storage under those extremely different rainfall conditions was compared. Soil sampling was conducted in January and March 2008 on two different plots (0.3 hectare each plot) to a depth of 15 cm. Mean rainfall on January was 6.6 mm/day while in March it was 12.0 mm/day. The humic acid extraction was done and soil carbon storage values obtained by calculation. The calculation of soil carbon storage was done by the bulk density method. Comparison between paired means of soil carbon storage under the two different rainfall gradients were tested using paired t-test. Under higher rainfall, unstable carbon tends to remain as stable carbon instead of CO2 evolution through decomposition. The high value of stable carbon under higher rainfall suggests that this natural tropical peat swamp forest plays an important role as a sink rather than a source of carbon. Inversely, this ecosystem has a role as a source of carbon under lower rainfall. It also suggests that unstable carbon tends to decompose and releases CO2 by oxidation under lower rainfall. Anaerobic environment is more prominent under higher rainfall and may facilitate high value of soil carbon storage (stable carbon) in this peat swamp forest. Anaerobic environment (more additional water) plays an important role in preserving soil carbon storage (stable carbon).

Dr. Seca GandasecaAnton Eko Satrio, Osumanu Haruna Ahmed and Nik Muhamad Ab. Majid

Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8685 5473; secags@yahoo.com

Effect of Precipitation Fluctuation on Soil Carbon Storage of a Tropical Peat Swamp Forest in Sarawak

Keywords: Peat swamp forest, chemical properties, timber harvesting, statistical analysis system

The objective of this study was to compare the soil pH, cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter, total carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and exchangeable K of peat swamps soil, before and after harvesting at Batang Igan forest in Sibu, Sarawak. This study compared selected chemical properties of a peat swamp soil before and after timber harvesting. Peat soil samples were taken at 0-15 cm depth in 6 plots with 0.1 ha each plot at Batang Igan forest at Sibu Sarawak, Malaysia. The soil samples were analyzed for selected soil chemical properties. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 9.2. The tropical peat swamp forest indicated its specific natural state such as rich in soil pH KCl and except for C/N ratio, the selected chemical properties such as soil pH water, cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter, total carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium were significantly different between before and after timber harvesting. Timber harvesting has significant effect on chemical properties of peat swamp.

Dr. Seca GandasecaMuhamad Ismawi Salimin, Osumanu Haruna Ahmed and Nik Muhamad Ab. Majid

Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8685 5473; secags@yahoo.com

Comparison of Selected Chemical Properties of Peat Swamp Soil Before and After Timber Harvesting in Sarawak

Forestry & Environment

98

Keywords: VRAP, visual resources, participant assessment, preference

Visual Resource Assessment Procedure (VRAP) is a technique for assessing visual landscape quality and it has been widely used in the United States unlike in Malaysia. This article describes a study to test the reliability of VRAP for use by Malaysian professionals. In this study, ten Malaysian landscape architecture professionals were asked to use VRAP to assess a farm landscape at a local university campus in Malaysia. Results indicated that 70% of the professionals agreed that the landscape could be categorised under the Preservation Class. Another 20% categorised the landscape under the Retention Class and the rest categorised the farm as Partial Retention Class. Thus, the result of this study indicated that VRAP is a reliable tool for assessing the visual landscape if it is to be applied by Malaysian professionals and for local landscapes. The article hopes that the VRAP method will assist professionals and researchers in assessing visual landscape quality in Malaysia with high confidence.

Mr. Mohd. Nazri SaidonMustafa Kamal, Mohd. Shariff, Ramdzani Abdullah and Habshah MidiFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4075; mnazri@putra.upm.edu.my

Reliability of the Visual Resource Assessment Procedure in Assessing Malaysian Visual Landscape Quality

Soci

al S

cien

ces

Social Sciences

101

Keywords: Supervision, doctoral students, in-depth interviews, supervisory relationships, management

Despite the plethora of studies that have been conducted on PhD supervision, little qualitative investigation has been conducted with a diverse, non-Western sample of doctoral students in an attempt to understand how the supervisory relationship is experienced, focusing specifically on the nature of supervisory experiences. In response, eighteen students from diverse, non-Western backgrounds studying at one Malaysian research university were interviewed. Results illuminated the theme of ‘management’ of the supervisory experience and included two streams: 1) acceptance of the situation, and 2) response to the situation so as to optimise their experience. The two major themes further included four sub-themes that included managing personal relations, time and accessibility constraints, academic compatibility, and expectations. Implications for the development of international research universities where PhD supervision of a diverse student body is a critical factor for university success and development are discussed.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abd. Lateef Krauss AbdullahIsmi Arif Ismail

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7925; lateef@putra.upm.edu.my

Students’ Perspectives on the Nature of the PhD Thesis Supervisory Relationship: Implications for UPM as a Research University

Keywords: At-risk, excellence, school culture, school climate, diverse needs

This paper attempts to discuss the changes experienced by a school which turned from at-risk to excellence. It highlights the role of the principal in changing the school culture through creative and insightful means. Labeled as a gangster school before 2002, the school has been receiving various awards from 2003 to date. Interviews with the principal, observation and document studies were the main instruments utilized. The findings revealed that the main impetus to the change was the principal’s ability to mould the school climate into one that is friendly and more sensitive to the needs of its diverse students, true to the spirit of education for all.

Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Sharifah Md. NorSamsilah Roslan, Norlizah Che Hassan and Rusnani Abdul Kadir

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8220; sharifah@educ.upm.edu.my

Dropout Prevention Practices of “Turned Around” At-risk Secondary School

Social Sciences

102

Keywords: Legal domain, national language, language choice, language use, lingua franca

It would be wrong to argue that the dominance of English over Bahasa Malaysia in the Malaysian legal domain exclusively expresses a tendency towards being Anglocised and resulting in competing lingua francas. The use of English goes way beyond dealing with this challenge of competing lingua francas. In actuality, promoting or defending the national language in the legal system does not obviate the mastering of English as a lingua franca for the legal profession in Malaysia. In this paper, we critically examine the language issue by providing a systematic account of the ways in which both Bahasa Malaysia and English are used in the Malaysian courtroom. Adopting a comparative approach with reference to actual court proceedings evidence of language use is gathered from both the subordinate and superior courts in Kuala Lumpur. Findings suggest that English continues to be the lingua franca in the Malaysian legal domain. Bahasa Malaysia, at times, is subjugated in the Malaysian courtroom, even though it is constitutionally and by legislation, recognized as the national and official language in Malaysia. While there is this underlying ‘competition’ between languages, it would be inaccurate to stereotype the dominant use of English as an example of being Anglocised. More to it is to realise the competing forces as a pragmatic functional approach to language use.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ain Nadzimah AbdullahChan Swee HengFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 1202; ain@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Development a Sociopsychological Framework to Map Language Choice and Use in the Legal Workplace

Keywords: Computer Assisted Instruction, Intelligent Tutoring System, experimental study, mathematics learning

In this experimental study, the use of Computer Assisted Instruction followed by the use of an Intelligent Tutoring System (CAI+ITS) was compared to the use of CAI (CAI only) in tutoring students to learn the topic on Algebraic Expression. The ITS system consisted of two main structures, the Student Model and Tutorial Model. The Student Model stores students’ responses throughout the tutorial process while the Tutorial Model presents a suitable tutoring strategy to students according to their progress. Two groups of students each participated in the study. One group of 32 students studied algebraic expression in a CAI learning environment, while the other group of 30 students was in a CAI and ITS (CAI+ITS) environment. Before the experiment began, subjects were given a pre-test on algebraic expression. Post-test was given at the end of the study. The study was administered in eight sessions with one hour per session. For the first stage of the study, both groups of subjects studied algebraic expression in a CAI environment. In the second stage, subjects from the CAI group went through a tutoring session with CAI, whereas subjects from the CAI+ITS environment continue their study using ITS tutorial. The result of the study showed that there was a significant difference in the students achievement in algebraic expression between students who learn with CAI+ITS and who learn with CAI only as delivery system. The findings of the study indicated that CAI+ITS was more effective in helping students learn algebraic expression as compared to using CAI alone. This study suggests that educators and software developers should focus on the development of ITS based learning tools or integrate ITS elements in courseware development rather than developing a mere CAI tool.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aida Suraya Md.YunusTsai Chen Chien, Wan Zah Wan Ali and Ab. Rahim BakarFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6175; aida@educ.upm.edu.my

Effect of Intelligent Tutoring System on Students’ Achievement in Mathematics

Social Sciences

103

Keywords: Human governance, performance improvement, corporate governance, learning organisation

Every individual should be entrusted with an internal driver to strive their best towards achieving their potential and to manifest their performance through innovative means. This can be reached only under circumstances where the abstract human values and principles are recognised and indoctrinated in the culture. The strategies discussed in this article will serve as input in proposing the areas of focus toward the practice of human governance.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arfah SallehAziuddin Ahmad and Naresh Kumar

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8490; arfah@putra.upm.edu.my

Human Governance: A Neglected Mantra for Continuous Performance Improvement

Keywords: Spirituality, higher education, quantum science

This article examines the issue of accountability and governance among higher learning institutions in discharging their duties to inculcate good behavior and mould their graduates into human business leaders. In order to appreciate the role of higher education and the requirement of the market place for graduates, we go backward in origin into the past to learn the education philosophy that has shaped today’s vocation. The distinctiveness of this article is that we review the advances in the science of quantum physics to understand the current worldview of reality. The way forward for higher learning institution to reintegrate spirituality in molding young generation who actualise authentic leadership and rightness-of-action founded upon the interconnectedness model of the universe is deliberated.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arfah SallehAziuddin Ahmad and Naresh Kumar

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8490; arfah@putra.upm.edu.my

Reintegrating Spirituality into Higher Education

Social Sciences

104

Keywords: Village development and security committee (VDSC), vision village movement (VVM), sustainable development, rural community

Rural development researchers have identified a number of factors that affect sustainable development among the rural community. Nevertheless, mix results were reported in literature. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate on the constructs that affect sustainable development among members of Village Development and Security Committee (VDSC) under the Vision Village Movement (VVM). A total of 235 respondents from 18 villages were involved encompassing three states in Malaysia. The final model derived from this study showed that four pertinent constructs that fit into the sustainable development model are spirituality, leadership, beautification, and education. It is believed that the findings of this study would add new perspective in understanding the complexities associated with sustainable development among the rural community.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahaman Abu SamahHayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril, Jamilah Othman, Ezhar Tamam, Hanina Halimatusaadiah and Jeffrey Lawrence D’SilvaInstitute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8599; hayrol82@gmail.com

Determinants of Sustainable Development Dimension among Leaders of Rural Community: A Case Study of Malaysia

Keywords: Participation, community empowerment, Malaysia

Historically, many community development initiatives in Malaysia are top-down approach. In such approach it is always said that there is no participation. Participation is just a window dressing ceremony. As a result, community empowerment is difficult to take places. However, not all state-development initiatives, community empowerment and capacity building cannot be materialized. In a planned village settlement in Malaysia, communities are encouraged to take their responsibilities to organize themselves, to form group, to plan an activity and to mobilize group members participating to meet their needs. In this community propelling initiatives, elements of individual empowerment and group empowerment emerged, and this characterised an empowered community. In short, based on this reality, it can be said that genuine participation encouraged community empowerment as shown in this case study.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Asnarulkhadi Abu SamahFariborz ArefFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7066; asnarul@putra.upm.edu.my

Community Participation in Community Development: A Case Study in a Planned Village Settlement in Malaysia

Social Sciences

105

Keywords: Relaps, ketagihan, dadah, Malaysia

Masalah penagihan relaps merupakan suatu cabaran besar kepada negara. Peningkatan mendadak bilangan penagih dadah dengan angka mencapai 292,696 orang iaitu melebihi satu peratus daripada jumlah penduduk negara dari tempoh 1988 hingga Mac 2006 amat membimbangkan semua lapisan masyarakat. Laporan oleh Agensi Dadah Kebangsaan mendedahkan bahawa sejumlah 32,808 penagih; 15,389 penagih baru dan 17,419 lagi penagih relaps berdaftar dengan agensi rasmi di seluruh negara pada tahun 2005. Di dalam negara yang penduduknya melebihi 26 juta, angka itu dianggap menggerunkan, bermakna hampir 3,000 penagih dikesan setiap bulan. Angka yang menggerunkan ini, terutama di kalangan penagih relaps membawa kepada persoalan apakah faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan berlakunya permasalahan tersebut. Oleh itu, kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti pengaruh tiga faktor utama, iaitu faktor-faktor individu, persekitaran sosial dan keberkesanan program pemulihan dadah terhadap kecenderungan penagihan relaps.Hasil kajian yang dilakukan telah berjaya mengenalpasti apakah tiga (3) faktor utama yang mempengaruhi penagihan relaps dalam kalangan penagih dadah di Malaysia iaitu faktor keyakinan diri, sokongan keluarga dan sokongan masyarakat sekeliling.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahaman Abu SamahFauziah Ibrahim, Mansor Abu Talib and Mohammad Shatar Sabran

Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8921 3652; ifauziah@ukm.my

Faktor-faktor yang Mempengaruhi Penagihan Relaps dalam Kalangan Penagih Dadah di Malaysia

Keywords: Social exchange, participation, watershed management, hable rud, Iran

The degree of popular participation in development programs is a major determinant of success or failure, but the factors which make participation efforts successful still remained a mystery. This study was designed to discover this mystery determine the factors that influence local people’s participation in Watershed Management Programs by using the social exchange framework. The data for this study were gathered from 200 respondents through personal interviews during August and September of 2008. The findings of study showed that level of participation in WMP was moderate; however people preferred more involvement in social rather than economical and environmental activities. Correlation analysis showed that six factors: 1) satisfaction of prior programs, 2) attitude toward WMP, 3) knowledge of WMP, 4) alternative income, 5) total income and 6) expectations of WMP have positive and significant relationship with level of participation in WMP. However, regression analysis discovered that among them five factors provided the best prediction for the level of people’s participation in WMP and explained 45 percent of the variation. These five variables were; level of people’s satisfaction of prior programs, their attitude toward WMP, people’s knowledge of WMP, their alternative income and level of their expectations met of WMP. The result of this study provided a number of theoretical and practical implications and recommendations to increase the level of participation in WMP.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahaman Abu SamahReza Bagherian, Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah and Shamsuddin Ahmad

Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8599; hayrol82@gmail.com

Factors Influencing Local People’s Participation in Watershed Management Programmes in Iran

Social Sciences

106

Keywords: National pride, news consumption, ethnicity

This survey examined the role of ethnicity in the relationship of news consumption and national pride. A total of 625 Malay, 416 Chinese and 112 Indian youths voluntary completed the self-administered questionnaires. Controlling age, gender and self-identification, the results of the multiple regression analysis showed that television news consumption significantly predicted national pride for all three ethnic samples but varied in strength. Newspaper consumption was a significant predictor of national pride but only for the Chinese sample.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ezhar TamamFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8663; ezhar@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Does News Media Consumption Influences National Pride?

Keywords: Islamic insurance, takaful, corporate demand, Malaysia

This study is the first attempt to empirically investigate the determinants of corporate demand for Islamic insurance (takaful) using data from main board of public listed companies at Bursa Malaysia. Factors like leverage, growth opportunities, expected bankruptcy costs, company size, managerial ownership, tax considerations and regulated effects have been examined in this study. The data covers a five-year period from year 2002 - 2006. The findings show that leverage, expected bankruptcy costs, tax considerations, company size, and managerial ownership play an important role in determining the corporate demand for Islamic insurance in Malaysia. Our conclusions are robust to alternative specifications model of GLS with Fixed Effects that help us to control for unobservable heterogeneity.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bany AriffinFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7735; bamin@econ.upm.edu.my

Determinants of Corporate Demands for Islamic Insurance in Malaysia

Social Sciences

107

Keywords: Segmental reporting, geographical segments, line of business segments

The paper reports on the effects of a local standard MASB 22 on disclosure practices among Malaysian companies and whether the introduction of MASB 22 has resulted in a greater level of disclosures with respect to segmental reporting under IAS 14 previously. The study finds that MASB 22 has improved segmental reporting with greater number of line of business and geographical segments being reported by sample companies.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hashanah IsmailNurul Adillah Yusof

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7739; hashanah@econ.upm.edu.my

Segmental Reporting by Malaysian Companies: IAS 14 versus MASB 22

Keywords: Binary response variable, covariate pattern, sensitivity, specificity, ROC curve

Logistic regression model is used in a wide range of applications leading to binary dependent data analysis. Though the vast majority of the works related to the logistic regression appears in epidemiological research, it is evident that the technique is frequently used in observational social science studies. The goal of logistic regression is to correctly predict the outcome for individual case using the most parsimonious model. To accomplish this goal, a model is created including all predictors that are useful in predicting the response variable. In spite of such increase, there has been no commensurate increase in the use of commonly available methods for assessing the model adequacy. Failure to address model adequacy may lead to incorrect inferences. The goal of this paper is to present an overview of few easily employed methods for assessing the fit of binary response model. The summary measures of goodness-of-fit as Likelihood Ratio test, Hosmer-Lemeshow test, Osius-Rojek large sample approximation test, Stukel test, and area under Receiver Operating Characteristic curve indicate that the binary response model fits the data quite well. However, recommendations are made for the use of methods for assessing the model adequacy in different aspects before proceed to present the results from a fitted logistic regression model.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah MidiS. K. Sarkar

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6876; habshahmidi@gmail.com

Adequacy of Summary Measures of Fit in Binary Response Model

Social Sciences

108

Keywords: Training and development, manufacturing, knowledge-workers, HRD professionals, learning and development

Human resource training and development in manufacturing firms is a critical aspect of the development of a knowledge-workforce in Malaysia. The objective of this study is to examine challenges to the effective management of HR T&D activities in manufacturing firms in Malaysia. In order to achieve this objective, in-depth interviews were conducted with 58 HR managers in charge of training and development activities. Purposive sampling technique was utilised to select respondents for this study. The study revealed three major challenges to the effective management of HR T&D. These include a shortage of intellectual HRD professionals to manage HR T&D activities, coping with the demand for knowledge workers and fostering learning and development in the workplace. It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide HR professionals with a clear understanding and awareness of the various challenges in managing effective HR training and development. Hence, relevant and appropriate policies and procedures can be developed and implemented for an effective management of HR T&D.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda AbdullahFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7638; hba@putra.upm.edu.my

Major Challenges to the Effective Management of Human Resource Training and Development Activities

Keywords: Audit process, corporate governance, external audit, COSO

The study reports on what audit partners of listed companies perceive to be the impact of good governance practice on the audit process. The responses received indicate that there are changes in the control environment brought about by greater consciousness on the part of directors on the need to have good internal control which is embedded in a bigger enterprise risk management framework. External auditors still use the audit risk framework which has been found to be dynamic enough to incorporate new areas of audit risk.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hashanah IsmailFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7739; hashanah@econ.upm.edu.my

Corporate Governance, External Audit and the Audit Process

Social Sciences

109

Keywords: T&D, HRD, spending, provision, levels, manufacturing firms, Malaysia

The main objective of this paper is to examine the circumstances for which the provision for, levels for provision and levels in which spending for training was emphasised. This study involves the use of qualitative and quantitative research design. Research data were collected through questionnaire surveys distributed to 2,350 HRD practitioners or key personnel in-charge of training in manufacturing firms in Malaysia with 365 responses (15.5 percent). The interviews were conducted on 38 HRD practitioners to supplement quantitative findings. The findings reveal that the provision for training is higher when new technologies and change is necessary. Production level employees were highly accentuated in the provision and spending for training in the Malaysian manufacturing firms. It can be concluded that providing training and provision of spending to employees at the production level, such as supervisors, technical staff and shop-floor employees, was crucial, as they are the main core of the workforce who are responsible for the productivity or outputs of the production line. This study contributes by expanding the literature in that the provision of, levels and spending for training is different in Malaysia manufacturing firms context, to that of Western countries.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda AbdullahFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7638; hba@putra.upm.edu.my

Delivering and Implementing HRD: Provisions of, Levels and Spending for Training in Malaysian Manufacturing Firms

Keywords: Implementing training, methods, HRD, manufacturing, Malaysia

The objective of this paper is to examine the how, where and by whom training is being implemented in manufacturing firms in Malaysia. This study involves the use of qualitative and quantitative research design. Research data were collected through questionnaire surveys distributed to 2,350 HRD practitioners or key personnel in-charge of training in manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The interviews were conducted on 38 HRD practitioners to supplement quantitative findings. This study found that the traditional methods of training are still widely used despite the extant of modern technology and the use of external trainers and consultants are preferred. This paper highlights the importance of taking advantage the modern technological means in implementing training.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda AbdullahFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7638; hba@putra.upm.edu.my

Implementing Training in Manufacturing Firms: Training Methods, Venue and Provider

Social Sciences

110

Keywords: Attributes, work values, MBA graduates, employability

The purpose of this research is to identify the characteristics and attributes of Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduates for employability in the workforce. This paper draws upon data from an inductive study where self-administered questionnaire were distributed to employers in organisations. The mode of inquiry adopted for the fieldwork was based upon judgmental purposive sampling in which questionnaires were emailed to human resource managers, heads of department, recruiters or any personnel with hiring decisions across various industries in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The findings suggest that cognitive skills, generic competencies are important attributes. Ten top important attributes for MBA graduates employability include management and leadership skills; good interpersonal skills; written spoken and English communication skills; good presentation skills; knowledgeable and intellectual; creative and innovative; strong analytical and critical thinking ability and team working. Work values that employers suggest as important include conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness to change as well as affability and camaraderie. Hence, it is pertinent that graduate business schools consider the importance of these attributes and work values in producing MBA graduates for employability.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda AbdullahLee Chai YeeFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7638; hba@putra.upm.edu.my

Attributes and Work Values of MBA Graduates for Employability

Keywords: Training and development, evaluation, transfer of training, public service, Malaysia

The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of training and development in the public sector using training evaluation framework and transfer of training elements. Quantitative method through questionnaire survey was used for data collection in which questionnaires were distributed to respondents in various ministries and departments in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. The findings of this study suggest that public service employees were evaluated at all five levels of evaluation, namely, the reaction, learning, behaviour change, results and transfer of training levels. Factors that can affect the effectiveness of training in the public sector include: 1) lack of support from top management and peers; 2) personal attitude, 3) job-related factors; 4) deficiencies in training practice. Information obtained could be practical when management decides to analyse the evaluation and transfer of training elements that has been addressed in this study as to get management support and to create conducive environment to apply related skill and knowledge on the job.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda AbdullahMohd. Mahyuddin YahyaFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7638; hba@putra.upm.edu.my

The Effectiveness of Training in the Public Service

Social Sciences

111

Keywords: Assessing ESL writing, writing scales, rubrics, argumentative writing assessment, holistic scoring

Impressionistic scoring of learners’ written works particularly when carried out by novice raters can lead to unreliable and even invalid results. Writing scales offer a possible solution to raters’ subjective judgment. The objective of the project was to develop and evaluate a Holistic Argumentative Writing Scale (HAWS) appropriate for Malaysian university English as a Second Language (ESL) writing courses. For this purpose, argumentative tasks were selected. Sample argumentative essays were collected and analysed to provide the researchers with some tentative evaluative criteria in five different levels performance. These criteria were converted to a questionnaire. The results of a discussion with four ESL writing lecturers helped the researcher develop a prototype scale. The focus group was reconvened to refine the scale. Five Raters were trained and anchor papers were assigned for different levels. The raters used the scale to score a batch of 110 argumentative samples. Tests of inter/intra-rater reliability both indicated high reliability coefficients. The learners’ MUET bands were tested for correlation with the scores assigned to their essays using HAWS and the results showed moderate/high and significant relationships. A questionnaire was administered to the raters to investigate the level of their satisfaction with the scale. They indicated moderate to very high levels of satisfaction of HAWS. The results also indicated that on average the raters had spent around five minutes to score each 250-word sample. HAWS can be a useful tool for judgement (the conventional task of evaluation), demonstration (quality control of educational programs), understanding (indicating the range and area of knowledge learned by students) and finally improvement (showing the areas calling for further development) (Norris, 2006).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran MukundanVahid Nimehchisalem

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8172; jayakaranmukundan@yahoo.com

Holistic Argumentative Writing Scale (HAWS)

Keywords: HRD, training, needs assessments, manufacturing firms, Malaysia

This paper aims to investigate the extent to which participating organisations have carried out needs analysis in accordance with their objectives and projected growth. The four areas that will be examined include: 1) the proportions of organisations that have performed HRD needs analysis and the frequencies at which these needs analyses were conducted; 2) approaches used in identifying HRD needs; 3) the levels in needs analysis and; 4) methods used in analysing HRD needs. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods was employed. Survey data was obtained from 365 HRD practitioners and supplemented with interview results from 36 HRD practitioners in manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Training needs assessments in the manufacturing firms are found to be generally performed informally through observations. Size of firms had an effect on the way training needs is being assessed and analysed. The absence of needs assessment and analysis is due to lack of expertise and it is irrespective of the size of firms. This study contributes to HRD practice in several ways. First, it conforms that HRD practitioners do recognize the importance and power of effective needs assessments in helping them plan and strategize for effective HRD activities. Second, it observes a lack of effective resources to help HRD practitioners in conducting needs assessment. Most of the studies on HRD and training are researched in Western countries. Limited empirical evidence can be obtained in Malaysia, particularly from the manufacturing industry. This study presents a comprehensive empirical survey and interviews on HRD needs and assessment in manufacturing firms in Malaysia.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslinda AbdullahFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7638; hba@putra.upm.edu.my

Training Needs Assessment and Analysis: A Case of Malaysian Manufacturing Firms

Social Sciences

112

Keywords: Corpus, tokens, nglish for nursing purposes, academic word list (AWL), general service list (GSL), Oxford 3,000 wordlist, WordSmith 5.0, RANGE

Nursing is an ever expanding field in Malaysia as there is a huge demand of nurses in Malaysia, as stated by the Prime Minister recently. The teaching and learning of nursing language, especially in English for Nursing Purposes (ENP) can be challenging as there is no comprehensive word list that has been developed for ENP in nursing to aid in pedagogy. Without a common general wordlist, materials developers might just develop books in an ad hoc manner based on intuitions and this can cause numerous varieties of words used in the materials which are not exclusive to nursing. Carefully and holistically developed wordlists like the General Word List (GWL), Academic Word List (AWL) and Oxford 3,000 Wordlist contribute greatly in vocabulary learning, teaching and testing in ELT. Hence, a nursing corpus ought to be developed to enhance ENP learning as well. In this research seven commercially published nursing books found in Malaysia were scanned and digitised for analysis. The digitized text files were analysed using WordSmith 5.0. All the 7 books were analysed using WordSmith 5.0 (Oxford University Press Tool) in terms of the vocabulary loading and distribution. A wordlist is created for each book. The created wordlists were then analysed to discriminate words from GSL, AWL using the “RANGE” software (Paul Nation) and Oxford 3,000 Wordlist using WordSmith 5.0. Words with high frequency that do not appear in all the mentioned wordlists were highlighted and selected to be included in the newly developed wordlist. A corpus with the word strength of 4,052,544 tokens is created in this study which benefits ENP practitioners in nursing to create more reliable and valid materials which are able to aid students to deepen their understanding of words in the field of nursing. Dictionary production will benefit from the creation of the corpus.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran MukundanAlif Fairus Nor Mohamad and Ng Yu JinFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8172; jayakaranmukundan@yahoo.com

Corpus of the Language of Nursing

Keywords: Nurse-Lexis, English for Nursing Purposes, vocabulary loading, distribution

Nurse-Lexis 1.0 is custom-made software for English for Nursing Purposes (ENP). It benefits teachers by providing a guide for teaching and testing vocabulary in the nursing materials. ENP teachers can evaluate their teaching materials more thoroughly in terms of vocabulary loading and distribution by using the software. It promotes professional development among teachers in the usage of nursing vocabulary as teachers can consistently evaluate and scrutinise the words in the nursing materials. The programme can be used for comparison of different nursing texts as to distinguish the more comprehensive book. The software is able to evaluate or research the effectiveness of vocabulary presentations in the nursing materials. Teachers or instructors who use the product can perform a cross-reference with the essential word lists, downloaded and installed in the programme. The word lists include the General Service List (GSL), Academic Word List (AWL), Oxford 3,000 Words and a list of essential nursing words found in the nursing on-line dictionary. The frequency of the words found in the nursing materials as compared with the essential word lists can be obtained in the form of word-table and graphs. The results are easily printable and stored in the system. The creation of the software facilitates and encourages more researches in the field of nursing in terms of nursing vocabulary teaching, learning and testing. This software transforms impressionistic evaluation of nursing vocabulary into an empirical one. The newly developed software is a hybrid version of RETROTEXT-1.0 software (Mukundan, 2009).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran MukundanAlif Fairus Nor Mohamad, Ng Yu Jin and Almaz Hong Siaw SwinFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8172; jayakaranmukundan@yahoo.com

Nurse-Lexis 1.0

Social Sciences

113

Keywords: Assessing ESL writing, writing scales, rubrics, argumentative writing assessment, analytic scoring

Rating scales are as feasible tools that can mitigate the validity issues of objective writing tests, and can reduce the reliability problem of essay tests scored impressionistically. The existing instruments are not appropriate for use in Malaysian universities. They are either generic or their grading system is not suitable for this context. This developmental study included design, operationalisation, trial and validation of an analytic scale of argumentative writing. ESL writing lecturers’ views on the importance, wording and inclusiveness of the criteria were investigated (through a survey and focus group discussions) with the help of a checklist. According to these criteria, the researchers defined the argumentative writing performance in a batch of a number of sample essays. This resulted in prototype descriptors of five different levels of performance in terms of their content, organization, language conventions, vocabulary, and overall effectiveness. Focus group discussions were held to refine the clarity of the rubrics, the anchor papers and the extended scoring guide. Focus group participants also helped the researchers decide on the grading system of the scale. The prototype scale was tested for its inter/intra-rater and internal reliability, which resulted in moderate/high coefficients. Criterion-related validity test results showed high and significant relationships between the students’ MUET bands and the scores assigned to their written samples using ASAW. In addition, concurrent validity was tested using other well-established writing scales. The results of Pearson tests indicated moderate and significant correlations. As for consequential validity, the raters and focus group participants’ responses to a questionnaire on the usefulness of the scale indicated their moderate/high levels of satisfaction with ASAW. The scale can be used as a tool to benefit three main contexts in language instruction “(a) research, that is, theory building; (b) policy development; and (c) professional practice, that is, classroom or curriculum development” (Kiely, 2009:101).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran MukundanVahid Nimehchisalem

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8172; jayakaranmukundan@yahoo.com

Analytic Scale of Argumentative Writing (ASAW)

Keywords: Vocabulary teaching, vocabulary testing, language learning-teaching software, self-access teaching-testing materials

Vocabulary teaching in most situations is very ad hoc. Teachers depend very much on intuition when teaching and testing vocabulary. This is a serious matter as vocabulary is widely considered the building blocks of language and it needs a lot of attention. The proposed software has two main functions; it can help the teacher do in-depth analysis of words as they appear in textbooks and help them have greater awareness of the load and distribution patterns of vocabulary which can provide evidence on strengths and weaknesses; and provide help in developing tests for vocabulary. In addition to this a localised thesaurus or dictionary can be developed using this software. VOPACT is the beginning of the development of a comprehensive teaching-testing teacher-assist kit that will make teachers more creative and efficient in the teaching and testing of vocabulary. It will also have the potential to be developed as a tool for self access learning purposes.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran MukundanNg Yu Jin, Alif Fairus Nor Mohamad, Vahid Nimehchisalem and Norwati Roslim

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8172; jayakaranmukundan@yahoo.com

A Comprehensive Vocabulary Teaching-testing Teacher-assist Kit

Social Sciences

114

Keywords: Physical and financial capitals, social capital, human capitals, natural capitals, work performance

The main purpose of this study is to reveal the physical and financial capitals, social capital, human capitals, natural capitals and work performance of employees in Malaysian public sector. AMOS was used to fulfill the purpose. Based on the results gained, only three of the four predictor variables were significance in explaining work performance. The three predictor variables were: physical and financial capitals, human capital and social capital (t = 7.735, p =.0001). The factor natural capital (X4) was not significant. This suggests that the four-predictor MLR model was only partially supported by the research data.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jegak UliMd. Salleh Hassan, Bahaman Abu Samah, Jamilah Othman and Hayrol Azril Mohamed ShaffrilInstitute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8599; hayrol82@gmail.com

Physical and Financial Capitals, Social Capital, Human Capitals, Natural Capitals and Work Performance of Employees in Malaysian Public Sector

Keywords: Professional development, retrospective evaluation, language teaching materials, ELT material development

Professional development in English Language Teaching (ELT) is very lacking and this is due to the fact that teachers believe there is very little opportunity to be involved in it. In the quest to develop a comprehensive framework for the evaluation of ELT materials (specifically textbooks) the researchers stumbled upon a huge advantage the framework had in contributing to the on-going professional development of teachers. Teachers using the software for evaluating books retrospectively will be involved in individual as well as team evaluations and the result of this is that teacher collaborations, discussions and decisions with regards learning-teaching have bigger focus in the lives of teachers. Such important matters like adaptation of teaching materials will become a reality as a result of this.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jayakaran MukundanAlif Fairus Nor Mohamad, Ng Yu Jin, Vahid Nimehchisalem and Norwati RoslimFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8172; jayakaranmukundan@yahoo.com

Professional Development within ELT Material Development

Social Sciences

115

Keywords: Online shopping, value orientations, perceived benefits

The rising trend in internet purchasing provides a growing prospect for e-marketing in Malaysia. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) provide a valid basis for explaining and predicting consumers’ online shopping behaviour. This study aims to determine (1) the effect of value orientations on consumers attitude towards online shopping, and (2) how does perceived benefits motivate consumers to shop online. A total of 370 graduate students participated in the study, and data were collected using self-administered questionnaire. The instrument for online shopping attitude demonstrated acceptable levels of internal consistency, content validity and construct validity (factor analysis). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were high in all scales, ranging from 0.83 to 0.90. The multiple regression analysis revealed that utilitarian value orientation had high effect (? = .115, p= .000) on attitude, while hedonic orientation had no significant effect (? = .037, p= .076) on attitude toward online shopping. The findings of the study implied that convenience (time and money saving) (? = .437, p= .000), cheaper prices (? = .206, p= .000) and wider selection (? = .243, p= .000) were dominant factors that motivate consumers to shop online. Success in creating highly favorable attitude toward online shopping by enhancing the perceived benefit, will consequently move forward the online marketing rigorously.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Laily PaimNarges Delafrooz and Ali Khatibi

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7051; laily@putra.upm.edu.my

The Effects of Value Orientations and Perceived Benefits on Online Shopping Behaviour

Keywords: Cage culture system, entrepreneurs, potentials and problems

Cage culture has become a popular aquaculture system nowadays. To further intensify this economic activity the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MOA) through the DOF has zoned the aquaculture industry via Aquaculture Industry Zone (ZIA) Programs throughout Malaysia. The main focus of this paper is to clarify all the potentials and problems faced by the cage culture system entrepreneurs in running their aquaculture activity. This study was a qualitative case study that provided an in-depth description of potentials and issues in aquaculture industry in the district of Kuala Pahang, Malaysia. Data was gained using a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) among the cage culture system entrepreneurs guided by an interview guide. Ten cage culture entrepreneurs were selected as the FGD members. The questions served as a guide, but allowed respondents freedom and flexibility in their answers. The cage culture system was found to provide better income that lead to a higher quality of life for the entrepreneurs, positive intangible values existed among the entrepreneurs; experiences have taught them to become self independent. There were problems identified such as no independence in selecting the fingerlings, environmental problems seem to burden them, unstable pellet price, no official agreement between them and the government emphasizing the portion of the river is given to them for running their business and lot of bureaucracies that the entrepreneurs need to face. It can be concluded that even though cage culture industry proved to enhance the level of income and quality of life, a number of problems must be overcome first to further enhance their level of income and quality of life. Therefore, there is a need for the related agencies to provide more financial supports help to solve the environmental problems and further develop their administration aspects to reduce issues such as bureaucracy and official agreement.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jegak UliAhmad Faiz Abdul Nasir, Khairuddin Idris, Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril and Jeffrey Lawrence D’Silva

Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8599; hayrol82@gmail.com

Aquaculture Industry Potential and Issues: A Case from Cage Culture System Entrepreneurs: Suggestions for Intensification of Aquaculture Industry

Social Sciences

116

Keywords: Banking sector, capital market, financial development, income inequality, ARDL bounds test

This study examines the role of financial development in influencing income inequality in Malaysia over the period of 1980-2000. The empirical results based on ARDL bounds test indicate that financial market development is, at best, very weak and statistically insignificant in reducing income inequality in Malaysia. The evidence is valid for a variety of financial indicators, including the banking sector, the stock market and financial aggregate variables. This finding suggests that financial intermediaries should improve their efficiency in terms of allocating financial resources to finance household’s productive activities, and hence contribute towards improving income inequality. The development of an efficient financial development thus should be at the center of a propoor development strategy. The evidence also highlights that besides various government’s development programs, efforts should also concentrate on improving institutional quality, economic development and maintaining low inflation in its attempt to combat income inequality.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Law Siong HookTan Hui BoonFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7768; lawsh@econ.upm.edu.my

The Role of Financial Development on Income Inequality in Malaysia

Keywords: Financial development, trade openness, capital flows, dynamic panel GMM analysis

This paper examines the impact of trade openness and capital flows on financial development in developing countries using a dynamic panel GMM estimation technique. The empirical results reveal that trade openness and capital flows are statistically significant determinants of financial development. Simultaneous opening of both the trade and capital accounts also appear to have positive impacts on financial development. The evidence also suggests that openness leads to improved financial development through institutional quality and competition channels. However, the institutional channel outperforms competition in ensuring the positive effects of openness on financial market depth in developing countries. Although competition plays an important role, its effect is much lower than that of institutions. This finding suggests that openness can weaken the political power of entrenched business interests that might otherwise block institutional reforms. They will be more likely to support reforms that promote a deeper and more efficient financial system since they need greater access to external sources of capital.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Law Siong HookFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7768; lawsh@econ.upm.edu.my

Trade Openness, Capital Flows and Financial Development in Developing Economies

Social Sciences

117

Keywords: Istilah Arab, sistem, produk, perbankan, kewangan, Islam

Prinsip ‘menyuruh kepada kebaikan dan mencegah daripada kemungkaran’ (al-amru bi al-ma’ruf wa al-nahyu ‘an al-munkar), telah memberikan kesedaran terhadap umat Islam tentang keperluan kepada sistem perbankan dan kewangan Islam. Walaupun perbankan Islam hanya mula dikenali dalam pasaran kewangan global pada tahun 70 an, akan tetapi sistem perbankan Islam sebenarnya telah bermula sejak kedatangan agama Islam itu sendiri. Pada hari ini, institusi perbankan Islam beroperasi di hampir kesemua negara Islam dan di beberapa buah negara Barat yang menawarkan perkhidmatan perbankan dan kewangan kepada semua orang termasuk yang bukan Islam. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) dalam Financial Market Master Plan pada tahun 2001 mensasarkan sistem perbankan Islam menguasai 20% daripada keseluruhan industri perbankan Malaysia pada tahun 2010. (Bala Shanmugam, Vignesen Perumal dan Alfieya Hanuum Ridzwa (eds.)., 2004:95) Penyelidikan yang dijalankan ini meneliti kesesuaian penggunaan 16 istilah Arab yang digunakan dalam sistem dan produk perbankan Islam yang ditawarkan oleh 28 buah institusi perbankan tempatan serta 45 istilah Arab yang digunakan dalam pasaran modal Islam tempatan yang ditawarkan oleh 19 buah institusi pengurusan pasaran modal Islam. Setiap istilah yang digunakan merujuk kepada perkhidmatan perbankan dan kewangan yang ditawarkan. Tujuannya adalah untuk memastikan sejauh mana istilah yang digunakan benar-benar sesuai dengan konteks dan jenis perkhidmatan perbankan dan kewangan yang ditawarkan. Kaedah penyelidikan dilaksanakan menerusi pengumpulan sampel iaitu nama dan istilah Arab yang digunakan dalam sistem dan produk perbankan dan kewangan Islam oleh institusi-institusi kewangan tempatan serta analisis secara kualitatif iaitu istilah Arab dinilai berdasarkan kesesuaian bentuk dan strukturnya termasuk daripada aspek semantik berdasarkan kaedah dan sistem linguistik Arab. Penyelidikan ini melihat kesesuaian dan keserasian istilah yang digunakan dengan orientasi sistem dan konteks produk perbankan Islam yang ditawarkan. Penemuan daripada analisis digunakan untuk mencadangkan kaedah pemilihan istilah Arab yang sesuai digunakan dalam sistem dan produk perbankan dan kewangan Islam tempatan.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Azidan Abdul JabarFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8666; azid@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Penggunaan Istilah Arab dalam Sistem dan Produk Perbankan Islam Tempatan

Keywords: Intra-industry trade, adjustment costs, quality, product differentiation

There is a long established thread of the international trade literature concerned with the measurement of intra-industry trade (IIT). Two distinct strands of the literature have developed: first, measures of marginal IIT that are concerned with the adjustment implications of volume-based changes in IIT; second, measures of vertical and horizontal IIT that are concerned with quality-based differences in IIT. This paper marries the two literatures to provide a new perspective on the smooth adjustment hypothesis debate and suggests the use of the marginal product quality index, a new measure of changes in quality in matched trade changes that complements dynamic measures of volume-based IIT.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Azhar Abdul KarimRobert J.R. Elliott

Graduate School of Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7435; akmazhar@putra.upm.edu.my

On the Measurement of Changes in Product Quality in Marginal Intra Industry Trade

Social Sciences

118

Keywords: Parenting, young children, relationship, attachment

This study examined the likely direction of influence between perceived parental rearing and attachment type among first grade school children. Measures of perceived parental rearing and attachment type were administered to children through interview (n=120). The results revealed that securely attached children perceived their mothers as warmer than insecurely attached children. Ambivalently attached children perceived their mother as overprotective, anxious and less warm. More so, avoidant attached children perceived their mothers as less warm and less protective. Further findings indicated that, ambivalently attached children perceived their mothers as overprotective and anxious than avoidant children. These results provide new insight into the direction of effects between attachment and perceived parental rearing during childhood. Future studies may consider moderating variables which may affect the relationship between perceived parental rearing and attachment style.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rohani AbdullahSakineh Mofrad and Bahaman Abu SamahFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7081; rohani.safri@gmail.com

Do Children with Different Attachment Type Perceive Different Parental Rearing?

Keywords: MBIM, MABBIM, tokoh MABBIM, tokoh kencana MABBIM, tokoh ilmuwan MABBIM, tokoh khas MABBIM

Selama 35 tahun (1972-2007), Majlis Bahasa Indonesia-Malaysia (MBIM) dan Majlis Bahasa Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia (MABBIM) telah memperlihatkan banyak kejayaan, khususnya dalam penyelarasan sistem ejaan dan istilah yang dapat dimanfaatkan bukan sahaja di peringkat nasional malah di peringkat supranasional. Siapakah tokoh-tokoh yang terlibat dari sejak awal penubuhan MBIM sehingga kepada kejayaan MABBIM kini? Buku yang berjudul Tokoh Pembinaan Bahasa Melayu Serantau 35 Tahun MABBIM dapat memberikan jawapannya. Buku ini mengandungi lima bab yang menampilkan tokoh-tokoh penting yang terlibat sepanjang tempoh 35 tahun, yang terdiri daripada negarawan seperti Tun Abdul Razak Hussein dan Tun Hussein Onn, serta ahli-ahli politik dan Jawatankuasa Tetap Bahasa Malaysia (JKTBM) yang merupakan pengasas dan peneraju MBIM/MABBIM. Pengarah dan Ketua-Ketua Pengarah Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka sebagai Pengerusi JKTBM dan tokoh-tokoh bahasa yang berperanan menentukan semua dasar dan keputusan bagi menjayakan usaha untuk mencapai matlamat dan cita-cita MBIM/MABBIM demi kepentingan semua negara anggota, iaitu Malaysia, Indonesia dan Brunei Darussalam, serta Singapura sebagai negara pemerhati. Tokoh-tokoh yang lain terdiri daripada pakar dalam pelbagai bidang ilmu dan sumbangan mereka dalam menghasilkan karya dalam bentuk buku yang bermanfaat kepada institusi pengajian tinggi dan masyarakat umum. Sumbangan mereka ini amat penting kepada kejayaan MABBIM dan berjaya membentuk persefahaman serantau dalam sosiopolitik, kebudayaan, ilmu dan kemanusiaan, dan penting dalam konteks hubungan antara negara, antara rakyat dan antarabangsa. Semua yang terlibat dalam kegiatan MBIM dan MABBIM dari awal hingga kini, baik ketua perwakilan, ketua delegasi, pakar-pakar bidang berjaya menghasilkan produk bahasa yang dapat dimanfaatkan bukan sahaja oleh negara-anggota anggota, malah negara-negara lain yang menggunakan daftar istilah, glosari dan Sistem Ejaan Rumi Baharu atau Ejaan yang Disempurnakan. Terbitnya buku ini adalah sebagai penghargaan terhadap peranan dan sumbangan tokoh-tokoh MBIM/MABBIM selama 35 tahun, di samping sebagai bahan sejarah dan dokumentasi.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Raja Masittah Raja AriffinFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7771; rma@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Tokoh Pembinaan Bahasa Melayu Serantau 35 Tahun MABBIM

Social Sciences

119

Keywords: English language needs for employability, Malaysian public university graduates, perceptions on English language needs

The Mediated Employer-Employee Language Profile (MELP) project focuses on establishing a profile to benchmark English language needs for the enhancement of employability of Malaysian public university graduates, and provides a point of reference for industries to actualise their language needs. The profile mechanism attempts to offer strategies that help to match specific employment sector’s language needs to that of the prospective employee language profile. The objectives of the study address language needs in relation to employability through an exploration of attitudes, importance of English, use of English, and the devising of a mechanism that can help match English language needs between graduates and the private employment sector. Both quantitative and qualitative procedures were utilised to obtain data for the project. The quantitative data comprised surveys of employment needs and language audits. The qualitative data were obtained via interviews and field notes. The project was designed to constitute three major phases. The first phase involved getting information on attitudes and perceptions on English language needs. The second phase evaluated the importance and use of English, and level of readiness of students, particularly those of industrial training students, to function at the workplace. The second phase also targeted at the explication of the nature and relevance of the English language programmes at tertiary institutions. The final phase constituted the development of the MELP mechanism which was anticipated to capture the differing English language needs specific to each identified employment subsector. The mechanism is an important conduit for the dispensing of knowledge and information about workplace needs relevant to language education. Potential employees can appreciate and digest the values attached to differing aspects of language use in the workplace. This links the use of pragmatic research outcomes to the real world of work, which contribute to a more effective workforce for the nation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosli TalifFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8729; rosli@fbmk.upm.edu.my

The Development of the Mediated Employer-Employee Language Profile (MELP) as a Mechanism to Benchmark English Language Needs of the Malaysian Service Sector Industry

Keywords: Problem based learning, calculus, Mathematics education, performance

Calculus is an important subject for science and engineering students but they state that it is abstract, difficult and highly boring. Problem-based learning (PBL) as a student centered and active learning approaches can be used to improve students’ interests and performance in learning of calculus. This study is designed to investigate: (1) student’s perception about PBL approach in calculus; (2) student’s engagement to acquire knowledge and; (3) student’s performance in test. A group of 24 Engineering Foundation Year students was randomly selected to introduce with PBL approach in basic calculus. The rubric of student engagement, questionnaire with open ended question and post test (Calculus Achievement Test) were used to identified perception, engagement and performance of students in this approach. The study showed that the students have a positive perception towards implement of PBL approach in calculus learning. It also increases their motivation to learn calculus and observe the applicability of calculus in real-life. Pearson correlation coefficient was a medium positive correlation between engagement scores and performance with an r of 0.45 [r (24) = 0.45,p < 0.05]. These results indicated that high score in engagement during learning session are associated with high performance in Calculus Achievement Test. However, an independent samples t-test show that there was no significant difference in Calculus test achievement PBL group (M= 78.44,SD = 13.49) and TRAD group (M= 78.23,SD = 15.23); t(46) = 0.05,p = 0.960 > 0.05). This pedagogical approach has made the teaching and learning of calculus more interesting and effective. It is also able to develop the potential of individuals to be more creative, critical in thinking and effective in problem solving.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rohani Ahmad TarmiziMohd. Zin Mokhtar, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd. Ayub and Mokhtar Dato’ Hj. Nawawi

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6889; rht@educ.upm.my

Utilisation of Problem-based Learning in Enhancing Learning of Calculus for Engineering Students

Social Sciences

120

Keywords: Work values, technical education, vocational

The set of work values a person held will influence and determine his job satisfaction and performance in the workplace of trainees involved in National Dual Training System. This study firstly aimed to identify and plot the work values needed in industrial settings in their order of importance. Feedback from coaches and instructors were gathered and tabulated in a matrix of important work values. Then an instrument was developed to measure these work values in the trainees. The instrument was tested according to psychometric procedures and has proven to exhibit validity and reliability. This instrument was then used to measure and tabulate the work values of 484 trainees from four zones in Peninsular Malaysia. Findings revealed that there were matches and mismatches in terms of the trainees work values as compared to the ones determined by the coaches and instructors. The discrepancy in the order of work values highlighted the specific work values that needed to be inculcated in the trainees.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Samsilah RoslanAbdul Rahman Md. Aroff, Rahil Mahyuddin, Asmawati Suhid, Kamariah Abu Bakar, Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah, Chee Chan Soon, Nur Surayyah Madhubala Abdullah, Fadzilah Abd. Rahman and Ahmad Fauzi Mohd. AyubFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 1241; samsilah@gmail.com

Work Values of National Dual Training Programme Apprentices

Keywords: Factories, machinery, industries, safety and health, amendment

As far as the development of OSH legislation in Malaysia is concerned, it has taken place as early as the late 19th century. Beginning as a simple rule to regulate the use of steamboiler, it has become more comprehensive to cater for the complex OSH problems prevailing today. The OSH legislation underwent series of development before and after the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and after Independence in 1957, with the enactment of the Factories and Machinery Act 1967. On January 1 2007, the Factories and Machinery (Amendment) Act 2006 was enforced to provide for the provision giving the power to the Minister to issue licence to individual or company carrying out activities under the Act; to update, improve and clarify unclear or vague provisions; to ensure the relevancy of the provisions contained in the Act with current development and to ease the enforcement of the law; as well as to increase the amount of fine under the Act. The amendment has been seen as a positive effort to improve the Factories and Machinery Act which was enacted 39 years ago.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rozanah Ab. RahmanFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7641; rozanah@econ.upm.edu.my

Development of OSH Legislation in Malaysia: With Special Reference to the FMA (Amendment) Act 2006

Social Sciences

121

Keywords: Older driver, mobility pattern, frequency

Several study indicated that mobility of the older person is not only desirable for their social integration, but also contributes significantly to their quality of life. The purpose of this study is to examine the mobility pattern among older road user. The cross-sectional survey study entitled Perception of Needs and Barriers of Older driver in Malaysia (2006-2008) was carried out through face-to face interview with 400 respondent aged 50 years and above. The mobility patterns of the respondents were observed through the questions related the usual visited destinations, frequency of the visited destinations in a month, with whom the respondent visit, drive or ride with others and the use of transportation mode. The mean age of the respondents was 59.6 years (±6.7SD), equal gender distribution, mean monthly income was RM 1743.47 and 45.8% are still employed. Majority of the respondents are Malay (45.8%) and Chinese (45.8%), 84.0% were married and 58.5% of the respondents attained secondary education. The mean frequency of driving per week was 8.0 times (±6.2SD) and 55% respondents drive less than 50km per week. Study showed that market is the most frequent visited place among the respondents (85%) followed by bank (76%), shopping complex (68%), visiting relatives/friends house (64%) and religious place (60%). Generally, respondents visited those places by driving a car and accompany their spouse. Meanwhile 26.4% respondents used to ride with others to go shopping complex and accompany their spouse (61.5%) or children (30.0%). In conclusion, the mobility pattern among studied population showed that market and bank are most frequent place visited by older person and most of them drive in short distance. Hence, the planner should aim to locate such facilities in each neighbourhood in order to build an aged friendly environment.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abdul RashidAsmidawati Ashari, Mohd. Fazdillah Bagat, Mohd. Rizal Hussain and Mohd. Hafis Ahmad Shukri

Institute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2735; asmidawati@putra.upm.edu.my

Mobility Pattern among the Older Adult Road User

Keywords: Income adequacy, inflation, coping behaviours

Data from the 2008 Survey of Consumer Empowerment in a Globalised Market were analysed to determine income adequacy, coping method adopted and factors associated with economic wellbeing status during recent global price increase among low income housing residents in Malaysia. Odds of self-reporting income adequacy as worse off versus no change (including better off) following the recent price increase was lower as the proportion of wife contribution to household income becomes greater. Respondents who are satisfied with their own financial situation had lower odds of perceiving their income adequacy to be worse off following the recent price increase compared with those who are not satisfied with their financial situation. Household income, poverty status, number of earner, education, location, family structure and number of children below 18 in the family were not significant factors in self-reported health.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharifah Azizah HaronZuhairah Maarof

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7108; sh.azizah@putra.upm.edu.my

Economic Well-being and Coping Behaviours of Low Income Housing Residence During Recent Economic Downturn

Social Sciences

122

Keywords: Pola komunikasi, komunikasi keluarga, keluarga tani

Komunikasi keluarga dalam kalangan keluarga tani merupakan aspek penting dalam membantu perkembangan bidang pertanian dan merupakan penyumbang utama dalam ekonomi negara. Perbualan harian mengenai pertanian dalam kalangan keluarga diharapkan dapat meningkatkan budaya tani dalam kalangan keluarga tani. Komunikasi keluarga adalah merujuk kepada interaksi antara ahli dalam keluarga, ibu-bapa, bapa-anak dan suami-isteri. Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk melihat pola komunikasi dalam kalangan keluarga tani, topik yang mereka bincangkan dan bagaimanakah gaya komunikasi yang diamalkan di kalangan keluarga keluarga tani dalam membantu terhadap perkembangan bidang pertanian di negara ini. Seramai 448 keluarga tani yang terlibat dalam penanaman padi, getah dan kelapa sawit, telah ditemubual menggunakan borang soal selidik yang telah diedarkan di empat kawasan Semenanjung Malaysia iaitu utara, tengah, selatan dan timur. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa dari segi pola komunikasi; komunikasi dalam kalangan keluarga tani banyak dilakukan melalui bersemuka dan juga melalui perantaraan seperti menggunakan telefon. Tujuan komunikasi antara pasangan suami/isteri adalah untuk membuat keputusan dan bersembang-sembang. Sementara tujuan komunikasi ibubapa dengan anak pula lebih kepada menasihati, mengajar perkara yang betul dan salah dan mengawal anak-anak. Dari segi topik yang keluarga tani bualkan, hasil kajian mendapati bahawa pasangan banyak berbual mengenai ekonomi keluarga, hal-hal persekitaran kampung dan hal-hal anak. Sementara topik yang dibualkan dengan anak-anak pula lebih kepada pelajaran, pengajaran/teladan, adab sopan/budi pekerti baik dan agama. Perbualan mengenai pertanian terutamanya dari segi harga hasil tanaman, cara menanam dan penyakit tanaman juga turut juga dibincangkan tetapi amat sederhana. Dari segi gaya komunikasi yang diamalkan pula, dengan pasangan, adalah lebih berbentuk menghormati, terbuka dan bebas sementara gaya komunikasi ibubapa dengan anak pula lebih kepada tegas, demokrasi dan terbuka. Kajian merumuskan bahawa topik pertanian yang dibincangkan dalam komunikasi keluarga tani secara umumnya adalah sederhana. Implikasinya, amalan bertani kurang menjadi budaya apabila sedikit perbualan mengenai pertanian dalam kalangan keluarga tani.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Zobidah OmarNarimah Ismail, Jusang Bolong, Musa Abu Hassan and Saodah WokFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8797; zobidah@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Komunikasi Keluarga dalam Kalangan Keluarga Tani di Malaysia

Keywords: Personality, college major selection, congruence

PUTRA University Major Finder and Career Guidance software is device to help guide freshmen of university to assess their personality traits in terms of vocational interest and find university major or programmes that best suits their personalities. It consists of two main components. The first component is a Vocational Interest Inventory which will provide a three-letter personality code based on the combination of six categories; R-Realistic, I-Investigative, A-Artistic, S-Social, E-Enterprising and C-Conventional. The second component will be a university major finder which is designed to find and suggest from its database the list of majors or programmes with three -letter environment profile that best matches the their personality traits and vocational interest.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sidek Mohd. NoahSamsilah Roslan, Rosnani Abd. Kadir and Wong Kok FyeFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 1241; samsilah@educ.upm.edu.my

Putra University Major Finder and Career Guidance Software

Social Sciences

123

Keywords: Physical activity, Malay men, sport involvement, pedometer, Ramadan

Ramadan is the holy month for the Muslims. Through this month, the devotees not only restrain themselves for food, drink, and entertainment, but they also spend most their time praying and doing good deeds to gain their spiritual solace. Hence, many people believed that during this time of the year, most Muslims will live an inactive and sedentary lifestyle. However, no empirical data exist to substantiate this assumption among Malay Muslims. Study showed that minimum of 10,000 steps per day is required to achieve an active lifestyle status. The active lifestyle status is recommended because it links positively with individual’s health benefits. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate whether there is any difference in physical activity level among University Putra Malaysia (UPM) Malay Muslim men before, during, and after the month of Ramadan, and to analyse factors restricting their involvements in physical activity. Fifty-three UPM Malay Muslim male staff participated in the research. The Yamex-Digi walker CW700 pedometer was used to measure the physical activity level of the staff for four consecutive days. Results showed that there was a significant difference in physical activity level of the UPM Malay Muslim men before, during, and after the month of Ramadan. The reported F value was F(2, 51)=3.05 p<.056. The mean steps reported for before, during, and after Ramadan were 8375.38?2478.36, 7529.89?2483.11, and 8119.12?4033.16, respectively. The main factors restricting their involvements in physical activity were lacked of self motivation/laziness (94.3%) and friends’ support/companions (5.7%).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Soh Kim GeokSoh Kim Lam, Ruby Husain, Mohd. Sofian Omar Fauzee, Aminuddin Yuson and Ong Swee Leong

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8153; kims@putra.upm.edu.my

Comparing Physical Activity of Malaysian Malay Men Before, During, and After Ramadan

Keywords: Journalism, media technology, print media, news gathering

The development of ICT in the print media has influenced the way people carry out their daily activities at work place. Changes in technology create new markets with new dynamism, transform the structure of industries and influence the nature of the service and its quality. New available devices of technology such as computers, internet, and the multifunction of mobiles phone, assist the journalist in their everyday working life to gather information, and to write and rewrite their news stories. This study aims to examine how continuous technological changes and innovations - during pre-computer mediated communication and computer-mediated communication eras, have changed print media editorial practices in Malaysia. Twenty informants from four main stream media organizations: Utusan Group, NST Group, Nanyang and Tamil Nesan, were selected randomly by using purposive sampling. The selections of these informants were based on their broad experience in the field of journalism, i.e. more than two decades. Informants include those who are still working and retired, either from the Klang Valley area or outside the Klang Valley. Data was collected through an in-depth interview, using qualitative approach and phenomenology correlates, with interview session took place between 40 to 60 minutes. The findings show that the adoption of new technologies has brought about changes in the way information is gathered for editorials by journalists, design and layout of the newspaper, stored information and the dissemination of information. The media editorial and the journalist depend heavily on the use of the new technology in gathering and reporting news. The revolution of new technologies in the media editorial industry has also impacted the newsroom landscape. However, although new technology is heavily being used in media editorial today, the findings also show that the intended purposes of journalism and the responsibility of the journalists to the society still remain unchanged.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Zobidah OmarManimaran Govindasamy

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8797; zobidah@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Technological Evolution and Dynamism of Print Media Editorial Activities in Malaysia

Social Sciences

124

Keywords: Elder abuse instrument, population ageing, older persons, Malaysia

Incidence of elder abuse has been assessed sparingly across the world. Standardised instruments for determining elder abuse have not been developed (Daly and Jogerst, 2005) to measure the subject. This study examines the factorial structure and reliability statistics of Elder Abuse Instrument which measure incidence of elder abuse. A 16-item instrument was developed by the research team based on recent and established literature. Each item was also selected based on societal concern of traditional culture and differing values held in Malaysia. The instrument was positively worded with pre-determined response categories of (1) Yes, (2) No and (3) Not applicable. It was used to measure four types of elder abuse that include financial, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Data derived from a cross-sectional study entitled “Perception, Awareness and Risk Factors of Elder Abuse” in 2008. Principal Component Analysis (n = 480) was carried out, selecting a four-factor solution and using a varimax rotation. These four factors were found to account for 25.797% of the total variance. All the items load onto its original subscales with loading value of 0.30 or greater in each case. The subscales correspond to the four types of abuse in this study. Results showed that overall reliability of the instrument was Cronbach’s Alpha, 0.611. Reliability statistics by type of abuse ranges from moderate to high, with the highest Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.917 is noted for sexual abuse, followed by physical abuse (0.801), financial abuse (0.647) and emotional abuse (0.642). The instrument is definite and reliable to assess incidence of abuse in old age, particularly in the multiracial society such as Malaysia. However, further study is required to validate the instrument in a larger sample size and across heterogeneous settings.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tengku Aizan HamidSiti Farra Zillah Abdullah and Jariah MasudInstitute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2750; aizan@putra.upm.edu.my

Factor Structure and Reliability of the Elder Abuse Instrument in Older Malaysians

Keywords: Physical activity, university staff, sports participation, pedometer

The association between a sedentary lifestyle and susceptibility to diseases and poor physical and mental health are well established. This research sought to assess the level of physical activity undertaken by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) staff and to ascertain the factors influencing their physical activity participation. Two-hundred and twenty staff (113 females and 107 males) volunteered to participate in the study. In order to assess their physical activity level, the Yamex-Digi pedometer was attached to the participants daily for six consecutive days. The pedometer indicated that the average number of steps taken were 7,177 ? 2,518 a day. They ranked in the ‘low active’ category according to Tudor-Locke and Bassett (2004). A minimum of 10,000 steps a day, required for an ‘active’ lifestyle is needed to confer health benefits. It was concluded that the UPM staff were not benefiting much from their low level of physical activity. The major factor responsible for their low level of physical activity was found to be their lack of self-motivation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Soh Kim GeokSoh Kim Lam, Ruby Husain, Mohd. Sofian Omar Fauzee, Aminuddin Yuson and Ong Swee LeongFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8153; kims@putra.upm.edu.my

Assessment of Physical Activity of Universiti Putra Malaysia Staff using a Pedometer

Social Sciences

125

Keywords: Creative perception, appreciative learning approach, appreciative inquiry theory

Creativity is an important entity in developing human capital while computer games are the current generation’s contemporary tool. A research had carried out to enhance creative perception among lower secondary school students. The study applied randomised subjects, with control group experimental design, which involved 69 Malaysian form one students, aged 13-14 year-old. Appreciative learning approach, which based on Appreciative Inquiry (AI) theory, was administered on treatment group. Meanwhile, control group adopted self-paced learning, followed by do-it-yourself session. Previous studies showed that although appreciative learning approach is still at its infancy stage of development, the approach is gaining its momentum in educational settings as it focuses on strengthening a person’s capacities and potential. In this study, students’ creative perception was assessed through Khatena-Torrance Creative Perception Inventory (KTCPI). Treatment group gained a mean score of 71.82, which was significantly higher at .05 level of significance compared to the mean score of 50.49 exhibited by the control group. Therefore, appreciative learning approach has the potential to be a new pedagogical strategy in enhancing students’ creative perception in educational settings.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wan Zah Wan AliEow Yee Leng, Rosnaini Mahmud and Roselan Baki

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8174; wanzah@educ.upm.edu.my

Computer Games Development and Appreciative Learning Approach for Creative Perception Enhancement

Keywords: Psychogeriatrics, validity, GMS-AGECAT, community

The Geriatric Mental State (GMS) is a widely used psychiatric assessment for older persons, with a computerized algorithm (AGECAT) generating diagnosis for nine (9) syndromes. This study aims to investigate the level of agreement between a GMS-AGECAT diagnosis and clinical diagnosis of mental disorder among older persons living in the community. A two-phase epidemiological design was used where trained, lay interviewers first administered translated versions of the GMS (B3) to an nationwide older Malaysian sample (n = 2,980) in a door-to-door survey. The GMS B3 generates diagnoses for organicity, depression and anxiety disorder on six levels of confidence (0 - 5), with levels 3 and greater representing likely cases warranting professional intervention. Out of 381 respondents in the state of Johor, 120 older persons were randomly selected for home examination by a clinical psychiatrist (geriatrics) who is blind to the Phase 1 results. A comparison of the diagnoses derived from the lay interviewers and the clinician yielded an overall agreement of 76.2% (n = 105) with a moderate Kappa value of 0.502 (95% CI 0.319 - 0.649) [sensitivity = 67.4%; specificity = 82.3%]. Further analysis showed that the GMS-AGECAT (B3 version) reported higher agreement for organic disorders but not depression. In addition, higher level of education was associated with increased sensitivity, especially for organicity. Due to limitations of a small sample size, attrition and lapse of time in between the two phases, further studies are needed to determine the cross-cultural validity and reliability of the GMS-AGECAT algorithm among the older population in Malaysia. Its adoption would enable a rapid and accurate screening assessment of mental disorders by non-clinicians in a community setting.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tengku Aizan HamidSuraya Yusoff, Esther Gunaseli Ebenezer, Chai Sen Tyng and Siti Suhailah Abdullah

Institute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2750; tengkuaizan06@gmail.com

Identifying Psychiatric Disorders among Older Persons Living in the Community: A Comparison between Clinical Diagnosis and GMS-AGECAT in Johor, Malaysia

Social Sciences

126

Keywords: Dynamic panel data, income convergence, Indonesia

This study examines income convergence among provinces in Indonesia using dynamic panel data approach. The results show that static and dynamic panel data approaches produce different results of convergence patterns. Consistent with the theory, the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and fixed-effects estimators provide the upper and lower bounds. The first-differences generalized method of moments (FD-GMM) provides invalid estimators which are lower than the coefficient from the fixed effects estimators due to the weak instruments problem. The system-GMM (SYS-GMM) estimators are found to be unbiased, consistent and valid. They show that convergence process prevails among provinces in Indonesia for the period 1983 - 2003. However the speed of convergence is relatively very slow (0.29) compared to other studies in developing countries.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkornain YusopMuhammad FirdausFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7631; zulkornain.yusop@gmail.com

Dynamic Analysis of Regional Convergence in Indonesia

Keywords: Competition, audit market, auditor, competition, reporting

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of competition in audit market and client importance to perceived auditor independence from the perspective of Malaysian auditors, loan officers and senior managers of public listed companies. It is found that auditor independence would be threatened if auditors were to receive significant fees from a single client. The dependence on a single client would cause auditor to face a ‘self-threat’ risk, where they were economically and financially reliant on a single customer. The interview survey disclosed that regulatory authorities should closely monitor the profession by persistently scrutinising each audit firm’s revenue and expenses.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkarnain Muhamad SoriFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7755; zms@putra.upm.edu.my

The Effect of Joint Audit and Non-audit Services on Perceived Auditor Independence

Social Sciences

127

Keywords: Free trade area, trade creation, trade diversion, trade deflection, trade-enhancing, preferential trade arrangement

This paper examines ASEAN economic integration and its ability to promote intra-ASEAN trade, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. In order to achieve this goal, a modified gravity model is estimated within autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework, or bounds testing approach for each of the five ASEAN countries based on data from year 1970 to year 2001. The empirical results indicate that the effects of the size of economy on bilateral trade flow in ASEAN are either trade-enhancing or trade-inhibiting dependent on the country-specific. There is evidence that AFTA preferential arrangements are important and prevalent in enhancing intra-ASEAN trade. However, ASEAN countries may not as a whole benefit from the formation of AFTA as the trade deflection might occur in the regional market.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkornain YusopFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7631; zulkornain.yusop@gmail.com

AFTA and the Intra-trade Patterns among ASEAN-5 Economies: Trade-enhancing or Trade-inhibiting

Keywords: Trade liberalisation, aggregate import, ARDL bounds test, short run and long run impacts, interaction impacts

Bangladesh has been liberalising its trade regime extensively since 1992 in order to achieve higher trade performance and GDP growth. However, despite the long period of liberalisation, imports are still growing faster than exports, increasing the trade deficit. Trade liberalisation is considered a crucial contributory factor. The paper examines the impact of trade liberalisation on the aggregate import in Bangladesh, using the ARDL Bounds Test approach with annual time series data from 1972-1973 to 2004-2005. Empirical results suggest that trade liberalisation through reduction of the import duty rate increases the aggregate import substantially in the short run, but insignificantly in the long run. Trade liberalisation using simplification of non-tariff measures shows a significant but low positive impact on the aggregate import in the long run. Liberalization interaction with price decreases imports slightly hence improves the trade balance, while interaction with income increases imports slightly hence worsens the trade balance. An increase in imports is mainly stimulated by an increase in income. Moreover, higher income elasticity compared to price elasticity indicates that an effort to maintain imports at the desired level by increasing import duty could be counter balanced and ineffective. Therefore, a consistent policy to promote not only consumption of domestically produced products, but investment, production, and backward linkage industries is essential in order to improve the trade balance and GDP growth in Bangladesh.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zulkornain YusopFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7631; zulkornain.yusop@gmail.com

Impacts of Trade Liberalisation on Aggregate Import in Bangladesh: An ARDL Bounds Test Approach

Social Sciences

128

Keywords: Credit card, loss allocation, fraud

Consumer with credit card payment facility faces the risk of unauthorised payment. Unauthorised payment occurs when a person initiated a credit card payment by using the consumer’s access device without his consent. It causes losses which are basically allocated between the issuer and the consumer according to the laws governing the bank-customer relationship. Apart from the old laws, the credit card payment system which uses new technology involves new transaction format and possesses some distinctive characteristics also requires new form of regulation. Considering the need, Bank Negara Malaysia had issued the Credit Card Guidelines 2003 (the CC Guidelines) to regulate the consumer-issuer relationship, including regulating the allocation of unauthorised payment losses. Because of the importance of the CC Guidelines’ loss allocation rules, this paper examines the rules to identify their impact on the consumer and also to give comments and suggest ideas for improvement. The findings revealed that the rules are ambiguous while at the same time failed to consider the impact of technological development on the payment systems. The ambiguities and weaknesses allow the issuer to allocate the losses by using the contract terms to the consumer’s prejudice. Therefore, it is recommended that the consumer should be aware of the contract terms that allocate fraudulent payment losses, in particular, terms that prescribe his duties and liabilities in relation to the losses. Finally, Bank Negara should revise the CC Guidelines to remedy the weaknesses.

Dr. Adilah Abd. RazakParker HoodFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7871; adilah@econ.upm.edu.my

Allocating Unauthorised Credit Card Payment Losses: The Credit Card Guidelines and Consumer Protection

Keywords: Fonologi, optimaliti, diftong, monoftong, dialek Kelantan

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan isu pengguguran vokal tinggi dalam urutan vokal bukan tinggi-tinggi dalam dialek Kelantan berdasarkan teori optimaliti. Urutan vokal bukan tinggi-tinggi ini terdiri daripada /ai/, /au/ dan /oi/. Dalam bahasa Melayu, urutan vokal ini direalisasikan sebagai diftong, iaitu /ai/ direalisasikan sebagai [aj], /au/ direalisasikan sebagai [aw], dan /oi/ direalisasikan sebagai [oj], justeru terdapat anggapan bahawa proses pengguguran vokal tinggi ini sebagai pemonoftongan daripada diftong. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa proses pendiftongan mahupun pemonoftongan tidak berlaku dalam dialek Kelantan. Sebaliknya proses yang berlaku ialah pengguguran vokal tinggi dan pemanjangan vokal bukan tinggi yang mendahuluinya, dan kedua-dua proses fonologi ini berlaku secara serentak. Ini bermakna urutan vokal /ai/ dan /au/ direalisasikan sebagai [a:], manakala /oi/ pula direalisasikan sebagai [o:]. Kesemua dapatan ini direpresentasi dalam bentuk tablo kekangan berdasarkan teori optimaliti yang sekali gus membuktikan keupayaan teori ini untuk menjelaskan isu fonologi yang berlaku secara lebih berpada.

Dr. Adi Yasran Abdul AzizFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8761; adi@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Pengguguran Vokal Tinggi Dialek Kelantan Berdasarkan Teori Optimaliti

Social Sciences

129

Keywords: Islamic revival, non-Muslims, religious freedom, Malaysia

The non-Muslims’ responses towards the Islamisation policy of the government and Islamic revivalism in Malaysia and their major organisation aims regarding non-Muslims affairs have many things in common. In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, this research chose the simple random sampling procedure. By applying the random sampling, every ethnic community has an equal chance of being chosen and therefore, all ethnic communities were represented in the sample. Both primary (qualitative and quantitative) and secondary (documents) techniques and procedures were used to gather the data and information. For the purpose of this study, the in-depth interview and unstructured interview were adopted. This procedure involved going through all the data and picking out general themes, indexing and coding. Broad categories were gradually narrowed down to more focused concepts. For each theme or issue (such as the understanding of religious freedom in the Federal Constitution or the perception of the non-Muslims on an Islamic State), key elements were examined to understand the perception of the non-Muslims according to age and gender or according to religious division. However, it is fairly important, to know that the source of information on the perception of the non-Muslims on Islam in Malaysia came from various literatures written by Malaysians and Westerners. Although the Malaysian constitution guarantees the non-Muslims religious freedom and rights, what matters are the actual practices of the Malaysian government and civil servants in implementing the constitutional provisions? The non-Muslims are not convinced about their constitutional rights. Generally, their fears were based on the lack of a clear and open discussion. The non-Muslims sense of insecurity will be increased as long as their rights are denied or neglected. Attempts to Islamise Malaysia will further intensify the non-Muslim’s feeling of disadvantage and they will react to fight for their rights.

Dr. Amini Amir AbdullahFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7314; amini@putra.upm.edu.my

Islamic Revivalism, Religious Freedom and the Non-Muslims in Malaysia: A Preliminary Discussion

Keywords: Perisian sumber terbuka, kemahiran procedural, kemahiran konsepsual, sikap terhadap matematik, strategi kognitif

Penggunaan teknologi dalam pendidikan matematik telah terbukti dapat memberi manfaat yang berguna dan menarik minat pelajar terhadap matematik. Salah satunya adalah menerusi penggunaan perisian komputer matematik. Kewujudan isitilah perisian sumber terbuka telah memberi harapan kepada pendidik untuk mengintegrasikan teknologi dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran kerana ia kini boleh diperolehi secara percuma. Kajian yang dijalankan ini bertujuan membandingkan penggunaan perisian SAGE (perisian sumber terbuka) dengan perisian MACCC (perisian yang dibangunkan sendiri) dan pengajaran secara tradisional. Kajian ini bertujuan menentukan keberkesanan penggunaan terhadap pencapaian, kemahiran konsepsual, kemahiran prosedural, sikap pelajar terhadap matematik, dan penggunaan strategi kognitif pelajar. Seramai 68 orang pelajar UNITEN yang sedang mengambil kursus matematik kalkulus terlibat dalam kajian ini dibahagikan kepada tiga kumpulan [tradisional (28 orang), MACCC (23 orang) dan SAGE(24 orang)]. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan terdapat kesan signifikan terhadap min pencapaian pelajar antara setiap kumpulan [F(2,72) = 12.938, p = .000], min kemahiran konsepsual [F(2,72) = 14.544, p = .000], dan min kemahiran prosedural [F(2,72)= 6,982, p= 0.002] dengan pelajar dalam kumpulan SAGE menunjukkan keputusan lebih lebih baik dalam pencapaian, kemahiran konsepsual dan kemahiran prosedural berbanding dengan kumpulan lain. Begitu juga dengan sikap pelajar terhadap matematik dan penggunaan strategi kognitif pelajar. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan signifikan dalam min sikap terhadap matematik dalam kalangan kumpulan [F(2,65) = 6.003, p= .004] dan min strategi kognitif pelajar dalam kalangan kumpulan F(2,65) = 4.056, p = .022]. dengan pelajar daripada kumpulan SAGE adalah lebih baik dalam sikap terhadap matematik dan penggunaan strategi kognitif semasa pengajaran dan pembelajaran matematik kalkulus berbanding dengan kumpulan lain. Kajian telah menunjukkan bahawa penggunaan perisian sumber terbuka mempunyai banyak kelebihan terutamanya dalam pencapaian dan sikap mereka terhadap matematik.

Dr. Ahmad Fauzi Mohd. AyubRohani Ahmad Tarmizi and Mohd. Zin Mokhtar

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7913; afauzi@educ.upm.edu.my

Penggunaan Perisian Sumber Terbuka dalam Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Matematik Kalkulus dalam Kalangan Pelajar di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi

Social Sciences

130

Keywords: Manufacturing technology, knowledge, acquirer-provider relationships, implementation performance, Malaysia

If the breath and depth of the technology being acquired is beyond the capability of the adopting firms, the new technology is more likely to fail as early as at the implementation stage. This paper describes the important role of effective knowledge management between technology acquirer and technology provider in the process of manufacturing technology adoption and implementation. Emphasis is given to the relationships between technology complexity (TC), acquirer-provider knowledge management (APKM), and implementation performance (IP). Although knowledge management has been widely discussed by many academicians and practitioners, there is a gap in the literature and lack of research on knowledge within the context of technology acquirer and provider relationships in the process of technology adoption and implementation. Using a sample of the Malaysian manufacturing industry, the result of the study indicates that effective acquirer-provider knowledge management can enhance implementation performance, although the technology being implemented is complex to the acquiring firm.

Dr. Azmawani Abd. RahmanFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7578; aar@econ.upm.edu.my

Acquirer-provider Knowledge Management in Complex Manufacturing Technology Implementation

Keywords: English drama, William Shakespeare, adaptation, cultural inferences, appropriation, literature, play production

Shakespearean plays have long been produced and performed in Malaysia by both amateur and professional theatre practitioners. However, many of these productions are in the form of adaptations from the original texts. The adapted version of local Shakespeare play productions largely exhibits cultural interference. Despite this inevitability, these adapted plays are warmly received by the Malaysian audience. This study reports on a research project that seeks to discover the infusion of local cultural elements such as language, setting, props and costumes in selected productions of Shakespeare’s plays. This paper also explains the rationale behind the current preference of Malaysian audience on adapted Shakespearean plays.

Dr. Arbaayah Ali TermiziZainor Izat Zainal and Wan Roselezam Wan YahyaFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8675; arbaayah@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Appropriating Shakespeare for the Malaysian Stage: A Case Study of a Play Production Project

Social Sciences

131

Keywords: English language training, ESL needs, job-related needs, Malaysian workplace, motivation, personal needs, workplace learning

In company-sponsored workplace training programmes, training has traditionally focused on job-related needs of employees, in line with conventional wisdom in the practice of human resource development. The personal needs of employees that are not directly related to job demands, commonly labeled as ‘wants’, are often not considered important. In the context of second language learning, however, research has pointed to the importance of learner factors and learners’ motivation to learn a language. The sources of motivation, especially integrative motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972), which arises from the learners’ personal and social domains (Fishman, 1972) should not be neglected. This study compared the job-related and personal ESL (English as a second language) training needs of a group of non-academic employees of a public university in Malaysia. It investigates the extent to which personal needs are important motivators compared with job-related needs in workplace English language learning. The framework of this research on workplace learning is informed by theories and concepts developed in the fields of motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972; Dornyei, 2005), domains of language use (Fishman, 1972), and workplace training literature (Kraiger and Aguinis, 2001; Machin and Treolar, 2004; Tsai and Tai, 2003). Data were collected through a survey questionnaire containing statements of personal and job-related needs. The results showed that on the whole, the employees found both personal and job-related needs equally relevant. However, analysis of the most important needs showed a clear preference for personal needs.

Dr. Chan Mei YuitLee Geok Imm

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8712; cmy@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Needs vs Wants: Examining Employees’ Needs and Wants for Workplace ESL Training

Keywords: Oral tradition, folk music

Oral traditions of Dusun Labuk include tangon, runsai, mongindong, mansuak, and kurilang. Mongindong [cradle song] is typologically informal yet functionally important in Dusun Labuk community’s daily life especially in the past. Seven mongindong were collected from four Dusun Labuk community members at Beluran, the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. There is a phenomenon that the informants were reluctant to perform more than one mongindong for documentation purpose. The informants perceive each of them owns only one mongindong, therefore, two mongindong, although different in musical structure, are perceived as “sama” [the same] when they are performed by one informant. Further, under certain circumstance, the informants perceive the mongindong performed by one person is “sama” [the same] with the mongindong performed by another person. However, by viewing the tune and text of each collected mongindong, I perceive each mongindong is different from another. Led by these different opinions between the informants and I, this paper intends to describe and examine a possible way to analyse mongindong of Dusun Labuk. Findings from the analysis lead to an understanding of the sameness of mongindong held by the informants. Further study on Dusun Labuk’s culture and the community members’ knowledge of oral traditions is necessary for deeper understanding of mongindong.

Dr. Chan Cheong JanSusan Ang Ngar Jiu

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 7793; chanupm@gmail.com

Different Yet Similar: Study on Mongindong by Diris, Gustimin, Pariama and Tulai from Murok Village and Baba Village

Social Sciences

132

Keywords: Asset-liability management, bank efficiency, financial risks, data enveloped analysis

This paper reports new findings of a significant relationship between financial risks and economic efficiency of commercial banks where there is no reported study of this relationship in the literature. Efficiency is measured using two new measures derived from Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA): banking service efficiency and banking profits efficiency. The financial risks are interest rate risk, liquidity risk, credit risk and solvency risk. Test results indicate that changes in banking service efficiency are reflected in credit risk, whereas changes in profit efficiency are related to solvency risk (capital ratios). These findings suggest that lending and borrowing activities of banks will be considered as efficient if activities reduce the credit risk through reduction in the non-performing loans, and increases in banks interest bearing assets. Beside, our results also suggest that solvency risk is relevant to profit efficiency, because long-term obligations must be met for banks to survive. The results are plausible as they show the importance of asset-liability management in commercial banks.

Dr. Cheng Fan FahAriff M. and Annuar NasirFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8948 7706; chengfanfah@yahoo.com

Risk and Efficiency of Malaysian Commercial Banks

Keywords: Owner versus manager control, investor concentration, earnings response coefficients, emerging market

Dr. Cheng Fan FahAriff, M., Shamsher, M. and Annuar NasirFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 1106; chengfanfah@yahoo.com

This paper reports new findings that extend the income smoothing literature beyond owner versus management controlled firms. The Kuala Lumpur share market provided a suitable environment to select firms not controlled by managers but by two ownership classes, majority and minority owners. During the last fifteen years or so, a large number of previously family-owned firms have become listed, yet are managed by previous owners after listing. It is found that the share price changes at the time of accounting earnings disclosures are smaller the greater is the share ownership concentration. There is incentive for owner-controlled firms to smooth earnings, so leading to such earnings disclosures having lower share price effect observed: inside “investor” control or concentration is measured by four measures, and majority shareholder controls are significantly correlated with share price changes.

Shareholder Concentration, Accounting Earnings and Share Price Changes

Social Sciences

133

Keywords: Modul pemulihan dadah, konsep kendiri, keberkesanan

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk membina modul, menentukan kesahan, kebolehpercayaan dan keberkesanan modul khusus pemulihan dadah dalam kalangan penagih wanita. Reka bentuk kajian yang digunakan ialah kajian deskriptif dan eksperimen. Kajian deskriptif melibatkan aspek pembinaan, kesahan dan kebolehpercayaan modul. Pembinaan modul telah melibatkan seramai 19 orang iaitu seorang Pegawai Khas Dadah Jabatan Pelajaran Selangor, 9 orang Pegawai Khas Dadah dari setiap Pejabat Pelajaran Daerah di Selangor dan 9 kaunselor sekolah yang mewakili setiap Pejabat Pelajaran Daerah di Selangor. Kesahan kandungan modul telah dinilai oleh 2 orang pakar. Pakar tersebut telah diberi senaskah modul lengkap untuk disemak dan menjawab soal selidik kesahan kandungan modul ciptaan Rusell (1974). Kebolehpercayaan modul pula melibatkan 30 orang penagih dadah lelaki dari Pusat Serenti Dengkil, Selangor yang telah mengikuti 41 aktiviti modul tersebut dan seterusnya diminta mengisi soal selidik kebolehpercayaan modul ciptaan Jamaludin Ahmad (2007). Kajian eksperimen pula melibatkan 72 penagih dadah wanita dari Pusat Serenti Bachok, Kelantan yang dibahagikan kepada dua kumpulan iaitu 36 orang dari kumpulan kawalan yang tidak mengikuti sebarang aktiviti modul dan 36 orang dari kumpulan eksperimen yang mengikuti kesemua aktiviti modul. Soal selidik Skala Konsep Kendiri Tenenssee yang telah diuji kesahan dan mempunyai kebolehpercayaan .85 telah digunakan melalui kaedah ujian pra dan pasca. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa modul khusus pemulihan dadah mempunyai kesahan kandungan yang baik dan mempaparkan nilai pekali kebolehpercayaan Alpha Cronbach yang tinggi iaitu .96. Dapatan juga menunjukkan modul ini berjaya meningkatkan konsep kendiri penagih wanita sebanyak 10.5%. Sehubungan dengan keputusan yang diperolehi, beberapa cadangan telah dikemukakan.

Dr. Hj. Jamaludin Hj. AhmadRosdi Yusof

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8168; mal@putra.upm.edu.my

Keberkesanan Modul Pemulihan Dadah Terhadap Konsep Kendiri Penagih Wanita

Keywords: Work values, organization, commitment, performance, Malaysia

This study outlines the relationships between work values, organisational commitment and job performance among executive-level employees in Malaysia. A total of two hundred thirteen (213) respondents from 60 selected public listed companies in Klang Valley area were assessed. The instruments used were the 24-items work values (Elizur, 1996), and 18-items job performance (Suliman, 2001). Data was analysed using the SPSS version 10.0 and Linear Structural Relation (LISREL). The Pearson correlation, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression were used to test the hypotheses. Reliability and validity for the instruments were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and confirmed. The analyses of data revealed significant relationships between work values and organizational commitment; and work values and job performance. Indirect relationship was also seen between organizational commitment and job performance through work values. This particular study was therefore able to provide support for the proposed hypotheses and existing theories. In addition, similarities and differences with the past studies and new information pertinent to organisational practices in Malaysia were highlighted.

Dr. Dahlia ZawawiFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7729; dahlia@econ.upm.edu.my

Values in the Workplace: The Moral Compass That Influences Behaviour

Social Sciences

134

Keywords: Motivation, motivational perception, intrinsic motivators, extrinsic motivators, Malaysia

Human resource has become increasingly important as it can determine the success or failure of a company. As such, managers need to pay attention to the motivation of their employees. The purpose of this paper is to determine the motivational perceptions between the Malaysian managers and their employees. The study was conducted on 104 Malaysian managers and employees from 40 companies in the manufacturing and financial service industry. The results of the study indicated there were significant differences between the perceptions of the managers and their employees on what motivated the employees. The study also found that employees were more motivated by intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivators. The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are also discussed.

Dr. Ho Jo AnnLiew Ee YinGraduate School of Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7681; hja@econ.upm.edu.my

Motivational Perception of Superiors and Subordinates: The Case of Malaysia

Keywords: Keberkesanan modul ke atas motivasi pencapaian

Kajian keberkesanan Modul Pemulihan Dadah ke atas motivasi pencapaian dalam kalangan pelatih pusat serenti di Sepang ini telah dijalankan secara kuantitatif, menggunakan reka bentuk kajian eksperimental. Seramai 66 responden Pelatih Pusat Serenti di Daerah Sepang, Selangor, telah dipilih secara rawak sebagai sampel kajian iaitu, 33 orang pelatih kumpulan kawalan dan 33 orang pelatih kumpulan eksperimen. Modul yang digunakan ialah Modul Pemulihan Dadah yang dibangunkan oleh Dr. Hj. Jamaluddin bin Hj. Ahmad, dari Fakulti Pengajian Pendidikan, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Ujian Motivasi Pencapaian dan Skor Pencapaian telah digunakan untuk ujian pra dan ujian pasca. Untuk hipotesis, ujian -t dan Pekali Kolerasi telah digunakan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan antara ujian pra dan ujian pasca kumpulan eksperimen yang membuktikan keberkesanan Modul Pemulihan Dadah dapat meningkatkan motivasi pencapaian pelatih pusat serenti di Daerah Sepang iaitu, t (32) = -3.88, p = 0.000. Dapatan kajian juga mendapati memang terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan ke atas motivasi pencapaian di antara pelatih yang mengikuti modul pemulihan dadah (kumpulan eksperimen) dan yang tidak mengikuti modul pemulihan dadah (kumpulan kawalan) iaitu, t (32) = -3.82, p = 0.001 pada aras ? = 0.05. Walaubagaimanapun, dapatan kajian menunjukkan perbezaan yang ketara pada skor min motivasi pencapaian bagi kumpulan eksperimen di mana skor min tersebut lebih tinggi (111.21) berbanding kumpulan kawalan (85.94). Rumusannya, hasil kajian ini dapat meningkatkan motivasi pencapaian ke dalam diri seorang pelatih di pusat serenti di mana kesan pelaksanaan Modul Pemulihan Dadah dapat mengubah seseorang pelatih ke arah yang lebih baik. Motivasi pencapaian ialah kemahuan dalam diri seseorang individu untuk melakukan sesuatu untuk mencapai matlamat. Kajian ini juga menitikberatkan motivasi pencapaian yang diukur dari pelbagai aspek seperti perancangan matlamat, ketabahan, jangkaan pelatih terhadap kejayaan, tahap kebimbangan pelatih, risiko dan sikap pelatih adalah merupakan sebahagian dari unsur-unsur kekuatan dalaman dan jati diri terhadap pencapaian motivasi.

Dr. Hj. Jamaluddin Hj. AhmadSiti Rahmah AliasFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8168; mal@putra.upm.edu.my

Keberkesanan Modul Pemulihan Dadah Ke Atas Motivasi Pencapaian dalam Kalangan Pelatih Pusat Serenti di Sepang

Social Sciences

135

Keywords: Small and medium size enterprise (SME), business incubation centers (BICs), industrial clusters, industrial district

This research tries to propose a conceptual framework regarding to Cluster Development Plan. Today development frameworks are based on Small and Medium size Enterprises (SME) where both have become the centre of several countries consideration. In multivarious researches, different models were discussed (1989- 2005). The two important development models are categorised as: development model base on large enterprise and development model base on strategic cooperation of small and medium size enterprises. In this research, the two development categories are analysed and focussed on industrial SMEs. The result of research indicates that industrial structure of SMEs are geographically distributed throughout the countries and then build up together as Clusters, in which gaining from cluster opportunities and minimising threats. Therefore the main policies of the countries are aimed at Industrial Clusters. This research categorises Cluster Development Plan Framework (CDPF) into four progressive stages and consequently proposes a conceptual model for CDPF and compromises latest findings as a unique framework. This CDPF is based on two major factors; government and competitive advantages as the external and internal factors respectively. Goals, policies and supporting institutions are main variables of government factor hence; right institution and innovation are constructing Variables of Competitive advantages. Consequently each of them has its own subcategories in detail. This conceptual framework should be tested in different environmental situations to gain the validity of a holistic framework.

Dr. Hossein NezakatiSeyed Mahameddin Tabatabaei

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 2920; hossein@econ.upm.edu.my

Cluster Development Plan Framework

Keywords: Culture, cultural values, cultural dimensions, ethical perception, moral awareness, Malaysia

This study was conducted to determine how culture influences ethical perception of managers. Most studies conducted so far have only stated similarities and differences in ethical perception between cultural or ethnic groups and little attention has been given to understanding how cultural values influence the ethnic groups’ ethical perception. Moreover, most empirical research in this area has focused on moral judgment, moral decision-making and action with limited empirical work in the area of ethical perception. A total of 22 interviews were conducted and the questionnaire survey yielded 272 managerial responses. Three implications were obtained based on the findings of the study. The first implication is that differences in ethical perception can exist when one culture attributes moral significance to something that another culture does not. The results of the study also suggest that similarities in ethical perception can happen when a situation is viewed as an accepted and institutionalised part of doing business. Finally, the findings of the study also show that the influence of culture on ethical perception varied according to the different types of scenarios.

Dr. Ho Jo AnnGraduate School of Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7681; hja@econ.upm.edu.my

Ethical Perception: Are Differences between Ethnic Groups Situation Dependent?

Social Sciences

136

Keywords: Faktor penagihan dadah

Kajian kualitatif ini bertujuan untuk memahami faktor-faktor penagihan dadah di kalangan wanita di Malaysia umumnya lantaran peningkatan kadar peratus penglibatan golongan wanita khususnya. Dalam usaha memahami persoalan ini, satu kajian telah dijalankan di tiga buah tempat iaitu Pusat Pemulihan Narkotik Wanita Bachok, Penjara Wanita Kajang dan Pusat Khidmat Komuniti AADK Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. Kajian ini melibatkan responden seramai 99 orang yang ditemubual secara individu dan kumpulan. Hasil daripada temubual tersebut data dianalisis secara manual dengan membentuk tema dan subtema. Oleh yang demikian, hasil kajian telah mengenalpasti 10 tema utama yang telah menyumbang kepada peningkatan masalah penagihan dadah di kalangan penagih wanita ini iaitu faktor diri sendiri, faktor keluarga, faktor rakan, faktor persekitaran, faktor perkahwinan, faktor pekerjaan, faktor pendidikan, faktor paksaan, faktor bahan dan faktor media/teknologi.

Dr. Hj. Jamaludin Hj. AhmadNor Asida ShafiiFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8168; mal@puta.upm.edu.my

Perbandingan Faktor Penagihan Dadah dalam Kalangan Penagih Wanita di Puspen, Penjara Kajang dan Pusat Khidmat Komuniti

Keywords: Income security, old age, income sources, vulnerability

Previous studies on older persons in Malaysia have shown that majority have minimal or no education, were formerly engaged in low paid jobs, or self employed in agriculture and the informal sector, which has limited social protection coverage. They are likely to be exposed to vulnerability risks. This study explores factors determining income security of older people aged between 55 to 75 years, using a nation wide database on the economic and financial aspects of ageing (Jariah et al 2004/2005). The sample comprised 1841 older respondents in Peninsular Malaysia. Results indicate that 52.8% of the elderly were income insecure, earning per capita income below poverty level. Using logistic regression, the model emerged was significant (Nagelkerke R Sq.= 0.48). The strongest predictor is current work status of the elderly, recording an odds ratio of 23.7 times (p>0.000) likelihood elderly being income secure when compared to those not currently working. Four other significant determinants (p>0.000) are: Malays 2.9 more likely than non-Malays; males 2.9 times more likely than females, and those with savings two times more likely to be income secured. Education and age were negatively correlated and significant (p>0.000, p >0.01 respectively), indicating that those with no or minimal education and those with advancing age were more likely to be income insecure. Providing work opportunities for the elderly and facilitating income generation opportunities for those in the informal sector are crucial policy implications especially in light of early mandatory retirement age that terminates the main income flow of workers and shortens the period for saving in old age. Providing social protection for the disadvantaged in the late stage of old age would ensure them with income security.

Dr. Husna SulaimanJariah MasudInstitute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2754; husnaSulaiman@putra.upm.edu.my

Determinants of Income Security of Older Persons in Peninsular Malaysia

Social Sciences

137

Keywords: Elderly income security, children’s remittance, work related income

Income security in old age is crucial for the elderly to enjoy a decent life. Rapid economic development brings about socio demographic changes which have impact on the income security of the elderly. This study focuses on the changing trend in income security of the elderly from 1999 to 2008. Three sources of income i.e. work related income, investment and income from children/other family members (informal and not guaranteed) are compared using three sets of database collected in 1999 (a study on the need of the elderly, with sample size of 1776 elderly respondents), 2004 data on economics and financial aspects of ageing (1841 elderly) and 2008 study on patterns of social relationship (1890 elderly). Findings from the three studies reveal that majority of the elderly relied on children’s remittance to support their old age which decline from 78.2 in 1999 to 66.1% in 2008. Elderly respondents who received work related income also decline from almost half in 1999 study to 48.9% in 2004 and 33.9% in 2008; while 42% respondents in 1999 study reported receiving two or three sources of income but later studies reveal that the proportion receiving more than two sources of income decline significantly (32% in 2004 and 23% in 2008). The proportion reported receiving “no income” increased from 4.4% (1999) to 8.8% (2004) and 14.7% (2008). The trend reveals an increasing risk of income insecurity among the elderly due to decline in income and its sources and financial supports children. They are at risk of falling into poverty. Policies and programmes to mitigate their vulnerability into poverty require immediate attention.

Dr. Jariah MasudHusna, S. and Tengku Aizan Hamid

Institute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2754; jariah@putra.upm.edu.my

Income Security Trends among Malaysian Elderly

Keywords: High and low context of communication, dominating, integrating, avoiding, miscommunication

This is aimed to investigate sources of conflict in communication at the domestic workplace among Malaysian employers and Indonesian domestic workers in Kuala Lumpur. The following questions will be addressed: what patterns and context of communication do they use, what strategies do they use in managing with these conflicts? The data collection methods included both descriptive quantitative and qualitative that consisted of a survey questionnaire, open-ended guided interviews, and a review of the relevant literature. Data were collected from the 110 Malaysian employers and 110 Indonesian domestic workers in Kuala Lumpur who filled out the survey in January 2009. The findings indicate that: 1) conflicts in communication at domestic workplace among participants arose out of culturally-based differences in context and pattern of communication, difference assumptions about verbal and non-verbal or direct and indirect communication styles, and differences strategy in manage these conflict 2) The Malaysian employers tended to use either a dominating style or an integrating style in dealing with conflict, and 3) The Indonesian domestic workers tended to use either a avoiding style or integrating style in dealing with conflict. Finally, this study makes recommendations as how to better prepare Indonesian domestic workers working with Malaysian employers at domestic workplace in Malaysia and other Indonesian domestic workers working in intercultural or international domestic workplace, to resolve culturally-based interpersonal conflicts more effectively.

Dr. Jamilah OthmanInon Beydha Lukman, Md. Salleh Hj. Hassan and Abdul Hadi Sulaiman

Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8579; jothman@putra.upm.edu.my

Pembentukan Indeks Pengukuran Komunikasi Berkesan: Strategi Pengurusan Konflik di Kalangan Pembantu Rumah Asing Indonesia dan Majikan Malaysia

Social Sciences

138

Keywords: Socio-demography factors, youth, acceptance, contract farming

Contract farming has been identified as one of the agriculture branches that have a huge potential to attract youth participation in agriculture based on its bigger profits and easiness to conduct. This study intends to investigate socio-demographic factor that affect acceptance towards contract farming among youth in Malaysia. A total of 400 respondents were involved in this study. The respondents were selected from four universities in Malaysia and all of them are either in Agriculture, Economic or other courses (social science and pure science). From the ANOVA test conducted, it can be concluded that zone have significant difference with acceptance towards contract farming while Pearson Correlation employed indicates that age and monthly expenditure have no significant relationship with acceptance towards contract farming.

Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence D’SilvaJegak Uli, Bahaman Abu Samah and Hayrol Azril Mohamed ShaffrilInstitute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8599; hayrol82@gmail.com

Socio-demographic Factors that Impinge Youth Acceptance towards Agriculture: The Case of Contract Farming in Malaysia

Keywords: Old age, work, perceived health, savings, investment

With increase life expectancy, one can expect to live longer life in old age. Those with insufficient financial resources may need to work to earn a living; while those financially endowed may want to work on voluntary basis. This paper focuses on elderly involvement in work and identifies characteristics of those who continue to work into old age. Data collected among 2327 older persons age 55 to 75 in a nation-wide study on economic and financial aspects of ageing are used in the analysis. There were 25.7% elderly in the study who were still working while the rest have either stopped work or have never worked before, majority of whom were women. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors that contribute to the likelihood of elderly working in old age. The full model which contained independent variables such as sex, stratum, age, education, marital status, having savings and investment, and perceived health status, was significant (p>0.000) and explained 25% of the variation of the dependent variable (Nigelkerke R Square was 0.25). Results indicated that elderly males were 3.4 times more likely to work than elderly females. The odds ratio of those living in the rural areas was 1.6 over urban residents, those married was also 1.6 compared to currently not married elderly while those having investment (1.4 times) and savings (1.3 times) were more likely to work. The likelihood to work decline with age while perceived poor health emerged as the strongest predictor, with 42 times the likelihood not to work among the older persons. The findings obtained can help increase the understanding of implementers in designing appropriate work in favorable environment for the elderly.

Dr. Jariah MasudHusna Sulaiman and Tengku Aizan Tengku A. HamidInstitute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2754; jariah@putra.upm.edu.my

Working in Old Age

Social Sciences

139

Keywords: DuPont, banking, Asian financial crisis, ROE, ROA

This paper presents a model for the financial analysis of a bank in a rapidly changing environment based on the DuPont system of financial analysis. The DuPont system of financial analysis is based on analysis of return on equity which is disaggregated into net profit margin, total asset turnover and the equity multiplier. AFFIN Bank Malaysia is one of the largest banks in Malaysia and is one of the core banks from the consolidation process of the banking industry in response to the Southeast Asian economic crisis in 1997-98. The analysis covers the beginning of 1999 which is the year that AFFIN Bank was formed until 2006. The DuPont system of financial analysis shows the impact of the Asian financial crisis and the restructuring of the banking industry in Malaysia on the financial performance of AFFIN Bank and the gradual recovery of AFFIN Bank to return to steady performance over the past eight years.

Dr. Junaina MuhammadHenry W. Collier and Carl B. McGowan, Jr.

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7745; mjunaina@econ.upm.edu.my

Evaluating the Impact of a Rapidly Changing Economic Environment on Bank Financial Performance

Keywords: Syariah compliant, stock price, trading volume, index effects

The stock price and trading volume reactions of companies to single events, such as public announcements on mergers, dividend payments, or security issue announcements have been studied extensively. The impact of news about a continuing event such as the news on the inclusion in and exclusion of stocks from the KLSE Syariah Index that occurs twice yearly affects security prices and trading volume. This paper examines reasons that price and trading volume of Syariah-approved stocks might react to the inclusion-exclusion exercise. The selection criteria set by the Syariah Advisory Council of Securities Commission of Malaysia in updating the list of the Syariah-approved stocks is not based on the financial soundness alone. Views from Syariah perspective and from financial theories are discussed to support the behaviour of the included and excluded stocks from the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Index.

Dr. Junaina MuhammadMcGowan, Carl, Jr.

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7745; mjunaina@econ.upm.edu.my

The Theoretical Impact of the Listing of Syariah-approved Stocks on Stock Price and Trading Volume

Social Sciences

140

Keywords: Cointegration, unit root, market performance, agriculture

Since independence, agriculture has been Malaysia’s primary economic activity and the major source of national income. However, in 1987, the manufacturing sector takes over as the premier sector in the economy growth (BNM, 1989). Recently, in the ninth Malaysia plan period, the government has given a new emphasis to agriculture sector. Thus, this paper is to investigate the long-run relationship between Malaysian stock market and agriculture sector performances during 15 years period from 1990 to 2005. The results suggest that Malaysian stock market and agriculture sector have a positive long-run relationship.

Dr. Junaina MuhammadMohamad Iruwan Ghuslan and Kamaruzaman JusoffFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7745; mjunaina@econ.upm.edu.my

Long Run Relationship between Malaysian Stock Market and Agriculture Sector

Keywords: Entrepreneurial behavior, entrepreneurial attitude, secondary school students

Attitude as one of the most influential factors affecting entrepreneurial learning and behaviour has been under investigation to recognize how it can be improved through educational interventions. A study was conducted to determine the entrepreneurial attitude of 3,000 secondary school students in Malaysia. Findings indicate that students scored high on self-esteem cognition, achievement cognition, and achievement affect, but students had low mean scores in self-esteem behaviour, personal control affect and self-esteem affect. Moreover, there is no significant difference between the students’ ethnic groups in terms of their self-esteem behaviour. This paper discusses that entrepreneurial attitude can be developed through proper learning exposure and entrepreneurship education opportunities. It also presents the implications of the study to improve the Malaysian education system and entrepreneurial attitude of students during the critical years of secondary school.

Prof. Dr. Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope PihieAfsaneh BagheriFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8217; zalp@educ.upm.edu.my

Examining the Entrepreneurial Attitudes of Vocational and Technical Students in Malaysian Secondary Schools

Social Sciences

141

Keywords: Semangat patriotisme, mahasiswa bukan Melayu, institusi pengajian tinggi awam, institusi pengajian tinggi swasta, institusi pertahanan negara

Berdasarkan laporan-laporan media semenjak tahun 2003, statistik daripada Polis Diraja Malaysia dan Akademi Tentera Malaysia, didapati penglibatan generasi muda bukan Melayu terutamanya kaum Cina dan India dalam institusi pertahanan negara yang merupakan manifestasi utama kepada semangat patriotisme amat sedikit sekali. Sekaligus hal ini menggambarkan semangat patriotisme yang kurang meyakinkan di kalangan mereka. Justeru itu, kajian ini dilakukan secara saintifik untuk melihat sejauh manakah semangat patriotisme di kalangan generasi muda bukan Melayu tersebut terhadap negara. Kajian ini melibatkan seramai 743 responden yang dipilih dari dua buah IPTA dan dua buah IPTS. Kesemua lokasi IPT yang dipilih ini terletak di sekitar Lembah Kelang. Data kajian diperolehi melalui soal selidik yang telah dianalisis secara deskriptif dan inferensi seperti analisis min, peratusan dan ujian ANOVA sehala. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan semangat patriotisme di kalangan generasi muda bukan Melayu terbabit adalah sederhana. Seterusnya, perbandingan semangat patriotisme di kalangan responden dalam kajian ini telah dilakukan dengan semangat patriotisme yang ditunjukkan di luar negara seperti Amerika Syarikat, Kanada, Itali, Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, China, dan Korea Selatan.

Dr. Ku Hasnita Ku SamsuMohd. Haizam Mohd. Nor

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7878; hasnita@putra.upm.edu.my

Semangat Patriotisme dalam Kalangan Mahasiswa Bukan Melayu di IPT Sekitar Lembah Kelang

Keywords: Sustainable campus, campus community, sustainable development awareness

This research aims to create a tool to assess sustainable development effort in higher education in Malaysia and to test its application. The fourth mission in Ninth Malaysia Plan clearly stated the need to improve the standard and sustainability of quality of life. In addition, the Malaysian National Urbanization Policy clearly stated for the need to create a safe and healthy city for Malaysian. These goals may not be attained without a concerted effort to secure sustainability, especially at the higher education level where it could create multiplier effect to industry and society as a whole. This research will identify important attributes for sustainability assessment process at higher education. The benefits of creating and using cross-institutional tool for campus sustainability assessments include: identifying attributes for sustainability assessment such as energy resource consumption, environmental loadings, indoor environmental quality, service quality and social and economic aspects. The assessment may be used to benchmarking leaders of best practices and providing a directional tool to measure progress toward the concept of a sustainable campus. It will also identify strengths, weaknesses of current practice and implication for future sustainability effort for Malaysian Higher Education. Findings could assist Higher Education Institutions to facilitate sustainable development efforts in their activities, curriculum and built environment as a way to create sustainable graduates and society.

Dr. Kamariah DolaFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4061; drkamariahupm@gmail.com

Assessment Tools for Sustainability in Higher Education to Create Sustainable Campus

Social Sciences

142

Keywords: Monetary exchange rate model, Malaysia

This study examines the validity of four different variants of the monetary model of exchange rate determination for Malaysia covering both the pre- and post-crisis periods using the vector error-correction models. The findings demonstrate that for both periods, the variables used are cointegrated. Tests tend to suggest that of the four variants of monetary model, the sticky-price model holds in both periods while the flexible-price model holds only in the post-crisis period. The proportionality between the exchange rate and relative money does not hold in any period. The plotted actual and fitted exchange rates for both sub-samples show that the models are able to track the actual exchange rate trend quiet well.

Dr. Lee ChinM. AzaliFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8646 7769; leechin@putra.upm.edu.my

Different Variants of the Monetary Model: Malaysian Experience in the Pre- and Post-crisis Periods

Keywords: Communication competence, knowledge, skills, adaptation, appropriateness

Communication competence has been studied in a diverse array of scholarship such as human-computer interaction, marketing, gerontology, institutional contexts, conflict and intercultural relations. Interesting to note though, despite this vast literature, communication competence lacks definitional consensus. Even though a plethora of studies on communication competence exist, scholars studying the concept are still perplexed with what constitutes communication competence and also there are others who express concern about the lack of theory. Tracing the related literature on communication competence might provide some insights into the underlying elements of communication competence. This essay attempts to put forth those elements.

Dr. Lailawati Mohd. SallehFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8646 7773; laila@econ.upm.edu.my

Basic Elements of Communication Competence

Social Sciences

143

Keywords: Audience, art music, concerts

The development of art music and the construction of acoustically designed concert halls in Malaysia have provided more opportunities for live performance of various genres of art music. Full attention is given to performers and their performances at a live concert, however it should be noted and emphasized that a live concert will not take place without the existence of its spectators. In comparison with pop concerts, the size of audience at art music concerts is often small and this has become a concern among organizers and performers. This study was carried out to study the characteristics of the Malaysian audience at three concerts with a selection of eight performances. Audience at these performances was observed and a survey was used with interviewers, intercepted potential respondents after each concert. A total of 660 samples were gathered. The result of the survey could function as a preliminary examination for future research to trace the changing characteristic of audience over time.

Dr. Loo Fung ChiatLoo Fung Ying

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7120; lfc@putra.upm.edu.my

Audience at Art Music Concert in Malaysia

Keywords: Monetary exchange rate model, ASEAN

This study examines the usefulness of divisia money, relative to simple sum money, for exchange rate modelling in a period of rapid financial deregulation. This comparison is conducted using the monetary model of the exchange rate. In the long-run modelling, the divisia money is significantly superior to simple sum money in the case of Malaysia and the Philippines while indifferent for Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

Dr. Lee ChinMuzafar Shah Habibullah and M. Azali

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7769; leechin@putra.upm.edu.my

Tests of Different Monetary Aggregates for the Monetary Models of the Exchange Rate in Five ASEAN Countries

Social Sciences

144

Keywords: Mandated counselling, referral services, undergraduates, eastern values

Counselling is characterised by an explicit agreement between a counsellor and client to meet in a certain, private setting at agreed times and under disciplined conditions of confidentiality, with ethical parameters, protected time and specified aims and can be activated through referral services. However, this could contribute to the phenomenon of involuntary participation, especially in the case of mandated counselling. Mandated counselling as an avenue to ensure individuals present for counselling, is practiced in educational settings, such as in higher learning institutions. It is argued that the involuntary nature of mandated counselling could somehow influence the counselling process and outcome. Nevertheless, there is an increased use of counselling services for referral cases such as disciplinary mandate, and the question of whether this intrusive and coercive phenomenon impinges on counselling effectiveness, becomes important. The aim of the study reported in this paper, is to understand and describe the lived experiences of university students mandated for counselling. Seven students were interviewed to better understand their individual subjective experiences. Data were analysed according to phenomenological analysis (Moustakas, 1994). Findings showed that the meaning-making can be both positive and negative. Counsellor presence, continuous outreaching and other interventions were suggested by respondents.

Dr. Mansor Abu TalibFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7053; mansorat@putra.upm.edu.my

Essences and Meaning of Being Mandated for Counselling

Keywords: Job satisfaction, occupational stress, male navy

Job satisfaction and occupational stress both indicate workers’ appraisal towards the workplace and work itself. Thus, it is important to have valid measure of job satisfaction and occupational stress. This measure is also important in the Malaysian workplace context. A total of 40 male officers and non-officers, from the seaman and engineering and supply branch in the Lumut Naval Base participated in the study. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS; Spector, 1985) and Job Related Tension Index (JRTI; Kahn et al., 1964). This preliminary study established internal consistency using Cronbach alpha values for both instruments. Factor analysis on JSS yielded similar constructs to the original scale. Additionally, the study determined the level of occupational stress, job satisfaction and relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction facets. The findings of the study revealed that the reliability of both instruments were greater than .80. Most male Navy personnel reported moderate levels of job satisfaction in the favorable nature of work facet. High occupational stress on the other hand, was related to an unknown superior’s evaluation of one’s workplace performance. Correlational analyses found that occupational stress was associated with overall job satisfaction and in eight of its facets. Collectively, results provide evidence that both instruments are reliable in the Malaysian military setting context. Caution should be made that findings of this preliminary study should not be generalised to the larger population due to its small sample size.

Dr. Mansor Abu TalibRumaya Juhari, Rusinah Joned and NorLiyana Mohd. BokhtiFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7053; mansorat@putra.upm.edu.my

A Preliminary Study on Occupational Stress and Job Satisfaction among Male Navy Personnel at a Naval Base in Lumut, Malaysia

Social Sciences

145

Keywords: Career readiness, undergraduates, gender

Career development is important especially for university students who are in the process of preparing themselves to enter the job market. Career development is important because it is the processes and activities that may shape one’s career in the future. As Malaysia moves towards a knowledge-driven economy, the skills and qualification requirements in the employment market have subsequently become increasingly demanding. The study aimed to investigate the influence of gender on career readiness among Malaysian undergraduate students at Malaysian universities. Data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire of 1229 Malaysian undergraduate students from four public universities. Respondents were identified through the multistage stratified sampling method. Findings of the study indicate that a majority of the respondents reported low level of career readiness. When compared to male undergraduates, female undergraduates were found to have lower career readiness as manifested by the higher need for career information, and by being more anxious and indecisive when having to make career decisions. An understanding of the factors which contribute to career readiness among male and female university students will help to provide insights for educators in improving students’ career developmental process.

Dr. Mansor Abu TalibMohamad Shatar Sabran and Tan Kit-Aun

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7053; mansorat@putra.upm.edu.my

Influence of Gender on Career Readiness among Malaysian Undergraduates

Keywords: Social support, female headed household, emotional support

The increasing prevalence of female headed families is not a concern issue but the number of female headed families that experience significant social and economic disadvantage is of importance. Social capital is a concept that encompasses various dimensions of social resource such as social networks, community attachment and social support. Social support within the family and community is important in overcoming deficiencies among female headed households. Female headed household or single motherhood means shouldering family responsibilities alone and has greater likelihood of becoming poor. The objectives of this study are to examine sources and types of support received and expected by female headed household single mothers and their perception towards their support network upon becoming single mothers. A study that examines the social support or network of female headed household is vital in ensuring appropriate support provided by support providers can effectively enhanced their well being. Hence, they and their children will not be deprived of good future and opportunities. A total of 700 respondents participated in this study, which was conducted in northern, southern, eastern and central region of Peninsular Malaysia. Majority (74.5%) had sought and received support while 25.5% did not. Family members and relatives were the most support providers important to female-headed households. Financial aid, emotional support, motivation and support in term of guidance and advice were the four most important types of support to the female headed household respectively. School, Pusat Zakat and Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat were the top three agencies where support was received. Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Pusat Zakat, Single Mothers Association were the top five support-expected agencies. Whereas, Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, Pusat Zakat, School, Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Single Mother Associations and Baitul Mal were the six top support-known agencies to provide support to female headed households.

Dr. Mansor Abu TalibSharifah Azizah Haron, Jariah Masud and Benjamin Chan Yin Fah

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7053; mansorat@putra.upm.edu.my

Instrumental and Emotional Support to the Female Headed Households

Social Sciences

146

Keywords: Handicraft, batik, rural development, rural industries

This study identifies factors that contribute to the development of handicraft industries. The focus is on batik industries. The study was carried out in the District of Kota Bharu in the State of Kelantan, Malaysia, and targeted the entrepreneurs in the batik handicraft enterprises. The study is based upon both quantitative and qualitative analysis of material derived from field-work in several villages in the study area. The analysis of data employed path-analysis model in order to determine the factors that contribute to the explanation of the dependent variable - the development of the industries. The findings show that the selected factors have contributed significantly in the explanation of the development of the industries. The findings imply that it is imperative to consider and understand the local resources, skills, attitudes and aspirations in any government efforts to foster the development of these handicraft industries.

Dr. Ma’rof RedzuanFariborz ArefFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7064; marof@putra.upm.edu.my

Path-analysis Model of the Development of Handicraft (Batik) Industries in Kelantan, Malaysia

Keywords: Bario, homestay, pembangunan komuniti berasaskan aset (ABCD), modal insan, modal sosial, modal fizikal, modal kewangan

Bario terletak di Tanah Tinggi Kelabit, iaitu di utara timur Sarawak dan berhampiran dengan sempadan antarabangsa di antara Sarawak dan Kalimantan. Sungguhpun Bario terletak jauh di pedalaman, namun Bario sering kali mendapat kunjungan pelancong dari luar. Sektor pelancongan telah memberi peluang kepada penduduk Bario untuk memperkenalkan cara hidup dan budaya mereka kepada masyarakat luar. Secara khususnya, sektor pelancongan telah membuka ruang kepada penduduk Bario untuk terlibat dalam program homestay. Kajian ini mengaplikasikan pendekatan Pembangunan Komuniti Berasaskan Aset (Asset-Based Community Development - ABCD) untuk mengenal pasti aset komuniti yang terdapat dalam komuniti Bario dan pengusaha homestay. Kajian ini mempunyai beberapa objektif, iaitu mengenal pasti aset yang dimiliki oleh pengusaha homestay dan penduduk Bario, mengenal pasti kepenggunaan dan pemanfaatan aset komuniti oleh pengusaha homestay dan mengenal pasti kualiti hidup pengusaha homestay dan penduduk Bario melalui perusahaan homestay. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif yang melibatkan tiga belas orang pengusaha Homestay di Bario. Data kajian diperoleh dengan menggunakan kaedah tinjauan berasaskan borang selidik kajian. Data kajian dianalisis dengan menggunakan perisian komputer SPSS dan dihuraikan melalui data deskriptif. Dapatan kajian telah mengenal pasti empat bentuk aset/modal yang terdapat dalam komuniti Bario iaitu aset/modal insan, sosial, fizikal dan kewangan. Pengusaha homestay memanfaatkan aset/modal komuniti dengan baik dan pemanfaatan tersebut telah menyumbang peningkatan kualiti hidup pengusaha homestay dan penduduk Bario.

Dr Ma’rof RedzuanW. A. Amir ZalFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7062; marof@putra.upm.edu.my

Pengembangan Potensi Homestay dari Perspektif Pendekatan Pembangunan Komuniti Berasaskan Aset (ABCD): Kajian Kes Bario Sarawak

Social Sciences

147

Keywords: Assurance, halal food, Muslim consumers

This paper reports on the results obtained from quantitative and qualitative data on consumer decision making process in shopping for halal food. A total of 213 questionnaires were returned by respondents, confirming that our respondents who are concerned about the “halal” logo are also concerned about the ingredients used. The study also confirms that there is a significant relationship between respondents’ religion and their perceptions towards halal logo and ingredients. While the qualitative data from a focus group interview on how Muslim consumers shop for halal food shows that there is a need for assurance that food to be purchased is halal, implying the presence of risk and uncertainty when making purchase considerations. Using the audit risk framework in conventional assurance services, the study finds that assurance is sought in relation to the halalness of business premise, halalness of product, and assurance from environmental elements such as the halal logo displayed.

Dr. Mohani AbdulHashanah Ismail, Haslina Hashim and Juliana Johari

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7645; mohani@econ.upm.edu.my

Consumer Decision Making Process in Shopping for Halal Foods in Malaysia

Keywords: Reengineering, acceptance level, service organisation, Malaysia

The purpose of this research was to investigate the employees’ acceptance level in reengineering process among selected Malaysian services organisation: The Bank (banking), TeleCo (telecommunication company) and the University. The real name of the organisation had been disguised. Employees’ views on the process and their daily tasks affected by reengineering process were also considered. Based on a measure of their perceptions, the employees of these organisations were questioned in order to ascertain the importance of the reengineering in service organisations. There will be a comparative discussion of the three selected organisations, using the selected criteria in order to identify their level of acceptance. The survey was conducted by mail, and the findings are summarised herein. Results from the research were expected to contribute new information in the development criteria for any changes especially in Malaysian service organisation.

Dr. Mass Hareeza AliFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7689; mass@econ.upm.edu.my

Employees’ Acceptance Level in Reengineering Process among Malaysian Services Organisation

Social Sciences

148

Keywords: Arrears of maintenance, child maintenance, compliance to court order, depression, economic strain, iddah maintenance, mut’ah, satisfaction

The main objective of this study was to assess the welfare of divorced women relating to financial supports after divorce i.e., iddah maintenance, mut’ah, arrears of maintenance, and child maintenance. The specific objectives were to determine the divorced women’s satisfaction with the amount of financial supports; the ex-husband’s compliance to court-ordered financial supports; satisfaction with post-divorce welfare (level of economic strain and level of depression); relationships between satisfaction with the amount of financial supports and post-divorce welfare; and relationships between the ex-husbands’ compliance to court-ordered financial supports and post-divorce welfare. Data were collected using questionnaire. The samples were 201 divorced women recruited from the recorded cases in the year of 2003 till 2005 in the Shariah Subordinate Courts of Hulu Langat and Gombak Timur, Selangor. Pearson correlation showed that two factors were negatively correlated with the economic welfare of the divorced women i.e., the dissatisfaction with the amount of iddah maintenance, mut’ah, and child maintenance and the ex-husband’s none or partial compliance to court-ordered iddah maintenance, mut’ah, and child maintenance. However, contrary to expectation, the divorced women’s satisfaction with the amount of all types of financial supports provided by the ex-husband and their ex-husbands’ none or partial compliance to all types of financial supports were found to have no significant relationships with depression. Findings indicate that the assessment of a reasonable sum of financial supports and the effective enforcement of court order are the significant factors that might augment the welfare of women after divorce.

Dr. Muslihah Hasbullah@AbdullahNajibah Mohd. Zin and Saodah WokFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7690; muslihah@putra.upm.edu.my

Relationships between Satisfaction of Muslim Women on Financial Supports After Divorce and Ex-husbands’ Compliance to the Supports with Post-divorce Welfare

Keywords: Servicescape failure, recovery strategy, customer satisfaction, food service industry

Servicescape has become an increasingly important element in the delivery of customer expectation and delight in services industry. However, servicescape failure can result in customer dissatisfaction. The subsequent interaction with a service employee has a great deal of influence on customer ultimate satisfaction. Despite the acknowledged importance of servicescape, there is a dearth of investigation on servicescape failure and the associated recovery strategy in the food service industry. This research attempted to offer solutions on how to deal with the angry customers as a result of servicescape failure. The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) was used to examine servicescape failures and recovery strategies in the food service industry. In-depth personal interview was applied. The transcription was content analyzed through an inductive sorting process. The developed classification system was measured by inter-judge reliability and content validity. Using the CIT, data on 226 servicescape failures and 287 recovery actions were collected from 174 informants. The analysis revealed that cleanliness issues (76.1%) were the most reported problem in the food service industry, followed by design issues (11.1%), social interaction issues (7.1%), and functionality issues (5.7%). Customers exhibited negative reactions to those failures with displaying of emotional and physiological responses. The recovery strategies identified through the sorting process resulting in five major categories which were empathetic, corrective, compensatory, authority intervention, and no recovery. Combination of prompt action-oriented responses and sincere empathetic responses was perceived as far more effective and was likely to meet customer satisfaction, regardless of servicescape failure type. This study has implications for food service practitioners who are seeking to improve the tangibles in their eateries. It is recommended that food service managers have to closely monitor the servicescapes and implement appropriate recovery strategies which may greatly affect customer satisfaction. Staff training is a necessary process in developing efficient service delivery systems.

Dr. Mohhidin OthmanChua Bee Lia, Boo Huey Chern, Muhammad Shahrim Ab. Karim and Sridar RamachandranFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8363; mohhidin@putra.upm.edu.my

Servicescape Failure and Recovery Strategy in the Food Service Industry: How to Satisfy the Angry Customers?

Social Sciences

149

Keywords: Relationship-marketing, cultural value dimensions, reciprocity, business ethics

This case on business culture in Malaysia presents an opportunity for post-graduate and final year undergraduate students the exposure on relationship-marketing, cultural value dimensions, reciprocity as well as ethical issues. The case was about a breach of verbal trust given to a client who resulted in the focal company facing the risk of losing significant amount of time and financial losses. This case has a moderate level of difficulty and may be used to teach marketing, cross-cultural management and business ethics.

Dr. Ng Siew ImmLau Yeng Wai and Ho Jo Ann

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7692; siewimm@econ.upm.edu.my

Reciprocity at Any Cost?

Keywords: Absorptive capacity, knowledge transfer, Malaysia, multinational corporation, social capital

This study investigated the current business practices in Japanese electrical and electronics manufacturing subsidiaries as well as the influences of both absorptive capacity and social capital on knowledge transfer within the firms’ intra-MNC network in the wake of full AFTA implementation in 2018. Results showed that employees are generally satisfied with the current practices in these subsidiaries with relation to the eight dimensions being studied; learning system, training, communication, reward, promotion, compensation, trust and centrality. This study also found that absorptive capacity has definite but small relationship with knowledge transfer, while social capital bears much more substantial relationship with the former.

Dr. Naresh KumarRaduan Che Rose and Nurul Fatiha Abdul Muien

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7632; naresh@putra.upm.edu.my

The Influences of Absorptive Capacity and Social Capital on Knowledge Transfer

Social Sciences

150

Keywords: Keterlibatan audien belia, media penyiaran, mesej perpaduan

Media penyiaran memainkan peranan penting dalam sistem penyampaian maklumat. Televisyen sebagai salah satu media penyiaran utama bagi penyampaian maklumat dilihat masih lagi berperanan terutama dalam konteks masyarakat di luar bandar. Namun begitu, sejauh manakah peranan televisyen ini penting dalam penyampaian mesej? Kajian ini membincangkan keterlibatan audien belia dengan mesej-mesej perpaduan di televisyen Malaysia. Keterlibatan audien belia ditakrifkan sebagai situasi di mana belia memahami dan melibatkan diri dengan mesej-mesej perpaduan yang disiarkan menerusi televisyen Malaysia. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk menentukan sejauhmana belia Malaysia menyedari dan mentafsir mesej-mesej perpaduan dan apakah bentuk penglibatan mereka terhadap mesej-mesej perpaduan yang disiarkan. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif. Seramai 513 orang belia di sekitar Lembah Klang dan berumur antara 15 hingga 25 tahun telah terlibat dalam kajian ini. Hasil kajian menunjukan bahawa responden menyedari tentang kewujudan mesej-mesej perpaduan dan berupaya mentafsirnya dalam kempen kemasyarakatan yang disiarkan. Antara bentuk-bentuk keterlibatan adalah pengingatan semula secara rujukan, secara kritikal dan penyertaan secara tingkahlaku. Hasil kajian juga menunjukkan implikasi kerterlibatan belia dengan mesej perpaduan lebih menjurus ke arah tinggi dari segi pemikiran dan perasaan tetapi sederhana pada tingkah laku.

Dr. Nobaya AhmadMd. Salleh Hassan, Jamilah Othman, Mariah Muda, Dzuhailmi Dahalan and Nor Azliza Wanis AbdullahInstitute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7052; nobaya@putra.upm.edu.my

Keterlibatan Audien Belia dengan Mesej-mesej Perpaduan dalam Kempen Kemasyarakatan di Televisyen Malaysia

Keywords: Cultural similarity, intentions, New Zealand, novelty seeking, uncertainty avoidance, travel experience

This paper examined how Chinese, German and American individuals’ perceptions of cultural similarity/difference influence intentions to travel to New Zealand, a novel long-haul destination. The relationship was examined along with a set of potentially influential individual difference variables, including international travel experience, uncertainty avoidance, novelty seeking and ethnocentrism. Cultural similarity was a common positive predictor of travel intentions toward New Zealand across all three countries. Respondent’s travel experience and novelty seeking were also important positive influences for this long-haul destination, at least for Americans and Germans. Respondent’s level of uncertainty avoidance was only significant for Germany, where those with higher uncertainty were less likely to intend to visit New Zealand. Ethnocentrism was not a significant predictor in any country. These findings suggest that the perception of cultural similarity, which can be influenced by marketing campaigns, has a positive influence on travel intentions. Tourism marketers should stress elements of cultural similarity in their campaigns, especially for those markets where there may be lower levels of knowledge about the destination.

Dr. Ng Siew ImmJulie Anne Lee and Geoffrey N. SoutarFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7692; siewimm@econ.upm.edu.my

The Influence of Cultural Similarity and Individual Factors on Visitation

Social Sciences

151

Keywords: Person-job fit perception, work adjustment, new academics

A blended quantitative and qualitative study has been conducted to examine the essence of person-job fit perception in work adjustment of new academics. The sample of the survey consisted of 167 new academics from three public universities in Malaysia. The Person-Job Fit Perception Scale was used to measure the person-job fit perception and the Work Adjustment Scale was used to measure work adjustment. Meanwhile 23 new academics were involved in the in-depth interviews. Descriptive analysis showed high levels of person-job fit perception and work adjustment among the subjects. Correlation analysis proved positive and significant relationship between person-job fit perception and work adjustment. This means that, new academics with higher level of person-job fit perception perceived better work adjustment process than those who possessed lower level of person-job fit perception. Partial correlation analysis highlighted the influence of work experience and other demographic factors such as age, gender, and department on the relationship. The results were supported by qualitative findings. The essence of person-job fit perception has emerged as a theme, with experience, knowledge and competencies as the sub themes. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to both new academics and university managements. Among them are to arrange attachments of new academics into industrial practices for certain duration of time, to review current induction courses, and adoption of proactive actions by new academics to develop their own job-related knowledge and skills.

Dr. Nor Wahiza Abdul WahatFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8224; norwahiza@gmail.com

The Role of Person-Job Fit Perception in Work Adjustment of New Academics in Public Universities

Keywords: Customer relationship management strategy, customer performance measures, hotels, performance, mediator

Customer relationship management (CRM) has been increasingly adopted because of its benefits of greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, which in turn, leads to enhanced financial and competitive performance. This paper reports on a study that examines the relationship between CRM strategy and performance and determines whether the use of customer performance measures plays a mediating role in the relationship between CRM strategy and performance. This study contributes to the limited literature on CRM strategy since little is known about the use of CRM strategy and customer performance measures and their relation with performance in the hotel industry in Malaysia. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of hotels in Malaysia. Hierarchical regression analyses on a sample of 95 hotels revealed that only the information technology dimension of CRM strategy has a significant and positive effect on performance. In addition, the hypothesis concerning the role of customer performance measures as a mediator was supported.

Dr. Nor Aziah Abu KasimBadriyah Minai

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7748; noraziah@econ.upm.edu.my

Linking CRM Strategy, Customer Performance Measures and Performance in the Hotel Industry

Social Sciences

152

Keywords: Addictive, addictiveness, engage, engagement, games, play consoles, multimedia, learning, measuring tools

The ME TOOL (ME - Measuring Engagement) is a tool to measure human engagement behaviour. It is developed based on indicator matrixes derived from a study to develop the NEMD Model (Norma Engagement Multimedia Design Model). The tool will enable us to measure user engagement of multimedia CDs and other engaging multimedia platforms. The tool will help designers improve their design to make things more engaging. On the other hand the tool would also proof to be useful for teaching and learning stakeholders, libraries and resource centres, amusement and theme parks to gauge engaging and addictive levels of multimedia CDs and environments design for children. It could also be used for parents to gauge level of addictiveness in game CDs and play consoles before purchasing them for their children.

Dr. Normahdiah Sheik SaidRahinah IbrahimFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8719; norma@fbmk.upm.edu.my

The ME(TM) Tool (A Tool to Measure Human Engagement Behaviour)

Keywords: Food insecurity, welfare recipient households, risk factors

Food insecurity defines whenever people are not able to access enough food at all time for an active and healthy life, as well as the availability of adequate and safe food acquired by socially acceptable ways. The study utilised the Malaysian Coping Strategy Instrument (MCSI) to determine the prevalence and the risk factors of food insecurity among urban welfare recipient households in Hulu Langat, Selangor. One hundred and three women (20-55 years old) from welfare recipient households were involved in this study. Questionnaires were used to collect demographic and socioeconomics information as well as food security status of the households. The results indicated that 26.3% of the households were food secure, while 39.8% experienced moderate food insecure and 34.0% were severe food insecure. The risk factors of food insecurity included the presence of children below 7 years old (F=3.690; P<0.05), school-going children (F=2.599; p < 0.5), disable members in the household (F=3.690; p<0.028), income rely on financial assistance and per capita income (F=4.349; P< 0.05). In conclusion, food insecurity is a major public health problem among urban welfare recipient households. Diverse risk factors contributing to food insecurity emerged in this study. Therefore, welfare recipient households with these circumstances ought to give priority in interventions programs that address food insecurity by policymakers and program implementers. Interventions should be designed to address these issue and other risk factors influencing food acquisition.

Dr. Norhasmah SulaimanZalilah, M. S., Kandiah, M., Mohd. Nasir, M. T. and Asnarulkhadi, A. S.Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7106; norhasmah@putra.upm.edu.my

Food Insecurity among Urban Welfare Recipient Households in Hulu Langat Selangor

Social Sciences

153

Keywords: ASEAN, AFTA, foreign direct investment, gravity model

The primary concern of this study is to highlight AFTA’s roles in increasing ASEAN countries’ attractiveness for FDI from members and non-members, noting that the agreement has been followed by many packages to enhance FDI flows into the region. The time period covered in this study is after the AFTA has been implemented (1995 to 2003). The gravity model is employed in this study in the analysis based on cross section and panel data analysis. There are two main effects considered in this study, namely the effects of REI on intra-regional FDI flows and on extra-regional FDI flows. The major finding of this study is that the ASEAN5 invested in each other less than they invested in the new ASEAN members. The empirical results from extra-regional-FDI revealed that the European countries increase investment in ASEAN than any other region in the sample. Moreover, further investigation also found that the USA and Japan invested more in ASEAN5 than in the new ASEAN members.

Dr. Normaz Wana IsmailFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7708; nwi@econ.upm.edu.my

The Effect of ASEAN Economic Integration on Foreign Direct Investment

Keywords: ASEAN, foreign direct investment, gravity model

This study used a semi gravity model to identify the determinants of FDI in ASEAN countries. The results revealed that besides the market size for host and source country, other criteria such as the shorter the distance, common in language and border, the extended market relative to distance also attracts more foreign investors. Other macroeconomic factors such as lower inflation rate, the slightly higher in exchange rate and good management of the government budget are among the key factors that attract more FDI. In addition to economic factors, social factors such as good telecommunication and infrastructure and non-economic factors such transparency and trade policy also encourage more investors to the ASEAN.

Dr. Normaz Wana IsmailFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7708; nwi@econ.upm.edu.my

The Determinant of Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN: A Semi-Gravity Approach

Social Sciences

154

Keywords: Religious beliefs, elderly, Malay Peninsular, Muslims, psychological adaptation

It has been identified that psychological well being is one the most important indicators of successful ageing. The present study was designed to examine the effects of belief in God on the psychological well being among elderly Malays to promote a greater awareness among social and health care providers working with older persons of the importance of religiosity for this group. This study consisted of 1415 community-dwelling Malay Muslims aged 60 years and over in Peninsular Malaysia. A multi-stage proportional stratified sampling procedure based on rural-urban dichotomy as well as the sex component was used to obtain sample population. This study employed a face-to-face household interviewing technique for data collection. Psychological well being was measured using WHO-5 Well being Index. Belief in God was measured using the single item question asking respondents to indicate their sense of Allah’s presence, with a five-point ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’ response format, derived from the Intrinsic-Extrinsic religiosity scale. The mean psychological well-being score of the respondents was found 62.3 (SD=22.54). The mean psychological well-being scores for older women and men were found 58.8 (SD=22.56) and 65.9 (SD=21.95), respectively. The findings from a two-step hierarchical regression analysis found that belief in God is significantly and positively related to psychological well being among older Malays, after controlling for age, sex, marital status, household income, and chronic medical conditions (F(1, 1406)=39.50 , p<.001). The findings from this study revealed crucial role of belief in God to psychological well being in later life, implying that counselors and other mental health professionals working with older Muslims should integrate religiosity as an important resource into their therapeutic work for the development and maintenance of psychological well being of older Muslims in adapting to changes related to ageing.

Dr. Rahimah IbrahimAbolfathi Momtaz, Y., Rahimah, I., Tengku Aizan, H. and Siti Suhailah, A.Institute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2754; imahibrahim@putra.upm.edu.my

The Effect of Belief in God on the Psychological Well-being among Elderly Malays

Keywords: Social support, elderly, health status, Malay Peninsular, caregivers

The importance of social support to the health of older people has been established, although the understanding of how this association occurs is still evolving. The purpose of the study is to explore the impact of the types of social support on self-rated health among the elderly. Secondary data were derived from a cross-sectional study entitled Patterns of Social Relationship and Psychological Well Being among Older Persons in Peninsular Malaysia (PSRPWO) 2007-2008. Sample for current analysis consists of 1880 Malaysian older persons between the age of 60 to 100 years old (M=70.3, SD=8.01). Self-rated health was assessed through a single item asking respondents to rate their overall health on a 5-point scale of 1 ‘very poor’ to 5 ‘excellent’ whereas health problems or the number of diseases present was held constant in the analysis. The Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey comprising 19 items collapsed into four domains of support (emotional or informational, physical, affectionate, and positive social interaction) was used to measure the degree of different types of social support. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that among the elderly, social support significantly contributed to self-rated health over and beyond the presence of disease [?F(4, 1864)=30.72, ?R2=5%, p<.001]. Greater self-rated health is positively related to positive social interaction (Beta=.15, p<.001) and affectionate support (Beta=.09, p<.01) but is negatively related with physical support (Beta=-.25, p<.001). Findings demonstrate that not all types of social support have beneficial impact on older persons’ health, suggesting that family caregivers and healthcare providers should exercise caution in providing physical support for the elderly. An important policy implication of this study is on increasing the awareness and developing training courses for both family (informal) and professional (formal) caregivers that emphasise on positive communications and relations to improve health and wellbeing of the elderly.

Dr. Rahimah IbrahimSiti Suhailah, A. and Abolfathi Momtaz, Y.Institute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2754; imahibrahim@putra.upm.edu.my

The Influence of Types of Social Support on Self-rated Health among Elderly Malaysians

Social Sciences

155

Keywords: Accounting education, information technology skill, grounded theory, teacher private theory

This research explores the process of IT skills development on an accounting degree course in a UK university using a grounded theory methodology. Data was collected using multiple qualitative approaches, including interviews, focus groups, observations and document reviews, focusing respondents in one traditional university in the UK and involving one Big Four accounting firm. For a more rigorous comparative analysis, data sources were extended to education and engineering programmes. However, the main focus was on the accounting programme, with information from the other programmes considered when relevant. Using grounded theory procedures (Strauss and Corbin, 1998), the research aims to generate substantive new theory on the phenomena, specifically on conception-driven IT skills development. The substantive theory proposes that IT skills development in teaching is driven by the perceptions of educators on issues primarily related to them (educators), institutional values, responsibilities for skills development, support, learning, technology and students. It is suggested that educators with a positive private theory, particularly on educator-related issues, have demonstrated effort in IT skills development for students through integrating it into their teaching practice.

Dr. Rosmila SenikMartin Broad

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7762; rosmila@econ.upm.edu.my

Understanding IT Skills Development in Accounting Degree Programme: A Core Phenomenon

Keywords: Multinational enterprise, culture, retail, Islam

This study examines the moderating effects of Islamic business practices (IBPs) on the corporate culture of foreign retail multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Malaysia. Specifically, this study focuses on the halal (permitted) and haram (forbidden) practices in Islamic consumption that have a significant impact on food retailing, while corporate culture in this context focuses on the market-oriented aspect of the retail subsidiaries’ organisational culture. This study utilises David Ralston’s convergence-divergence-crossvergence (CDC) framework to examine possibilities that may emerge relating to the impact of IBP on the retail MNE subsidiary’s organizational culture. The study obtains data on the three foreign hypermarket companies operating in Malaysia, from interviews with Carrefour and Tesco stores supplemented by archival research and observations on these two as well as GCH Retail (which operates Giant stores). Results indicated that Carrefour Malaysia has portrayed characteristics that match the ‘crossvergence’ subsidiary culture, whereby a fusion culture has emerged in the subsidiary as a result of the influence of IBPs on its parent’s (MNE) corporate culture. In the case of Tesco Malaysia and Giant Malaysia, findings have revealed characteristics which match the ‘divergence’ subsidiary culture, since both firms did their parts in adapting sufficiently to the halal and haram basic practices in Malaysia, but they did not indicate additional efforts in implementing or applying more than what was required.

Dr. Raja Nerina Raja YusofFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7659; nerina@econ.upm.edu.my

Market-orientation and Islamic Business Practices in Malaysia

Social Sciences

156

Keywords: Belia Orang Asli, ICT, jurang digital

Jurang digital merupakan satu masalah yang sering berlaku dalam pembangunan ICT. Ia menyebabkan wujudnya perbezaan besar dalam masyarakat termasuklah perbezaan kemudahan infrastruktur, pemilikan, penggunaan serta nilai terhadap ICT. Keadaan ini akan menjadikan pembangunan tidak lagi bersifat mapan dan menyeluruh terutama dalam kalangan belia Orang Asli. Hal ini sekaligus akan menolak mereka untuk terus ketinggalan dari arus pembangunan perdana negara. Kajian ini melibatkan 480 orang belia Orang Asli yang berumur 15 hingga 40 tahun. Hasil kajian ini mendapati bahawa belia Orang Asli berada dalam jurang digital, bukan kerana digital nilai, namun ia lebih kepada jurang digital pengetahuan, kemahiran dan fizikal pembangunan ICT. Faktor utama yang menyebabkan mereka berada dalam jurang digital ialah masalah ketidaksediaan kemudahan infrastruktur ICT di persekitaran mereka.

Dr. Sarjit S. GillMa’rof Redzuan, Nobaya Ahmad, Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah, Haslinda Abdullah, Wan Ahmad Amir Zal Wan Ismail and Amri JamilInstitute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7062; sarjit@putra.upm.edy.my

Pengetahuan ICT dan Pembinaan Modal Insan Komuniti Belia Orang Asli dalam Era Globalisasi

Keywords: Public sector managers, objective career success, subjective career success, moderating variables, gender, managerial level

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for measuring public sector managers’ career success. The theoretical foundation used in this study is social cognitive career theory. To conduct a literature search, several keywords were identified, i.e. career success, objective and subjective career success, managers, managerial career development and social cognitive career theory. Several electronic databases available in the university’s library, such as Emerald, EBSCOHost, SAGE, Science Direct and Blackwell Synergy were used to search for resources. Literature includes sources written in both English and Malay. The four factors that have predictive potential on managers’ career success are individual-related factors, organizational-related factors, managerial competencies-related factors, and the person-environment fit factor. Career success should be operationalised using both objective and subjective career success. The study was exploratory, based on a literature review. Empirical study is needed to examine the predictive potential of the four key factors (i.e. individual-related factors, organisational-related factors, managerial competencies-related factors, and person-environment fit factor) for public sector managers’ career success. Strengthening the HRD framework through organisational development, personnel training and development and career development may develop and unleash individual potential which leads to positive career outcomes (objective and subjective career success). The research constructs a theoretical framework which outlines the predictive potential of four key factors on public sector managers’ career success. The four key factors can be developed through HRD practices.

Dr. Roziah Mohd. RasdiMaimunah Ismail, Jegak Uli and Sidek Mohd. NoahFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7922; roziah.mr@gmail.com

A Profile of Malaysian Public Sector Managers’ Career Success

Social Sciences

157

Keywords: Konsumerisme, Orang Asli, barangan mewah

Makalah ini bertujuan mengenal pasti konsumerisme dalam kalangan masyarakat Orang Asli di daerah Hulu Langat, Selangor, khususnya dari segi pembelian barangan mewah dan pengurusan kewangan. Konsep konsumerisme merujuk kepada kecenderungan seseorang untuk mengidentifikasikan dirinya dengan barangan dan perkhidmatan, terutama berjenama komersial dan yang melambangkan status. Seramai 75 Orang Asli daripada tiga petempatan di Hulu Langat terlibat dalam kajian ini. Pengumpulan data dilakukan secara teknik tinjauan (survei) dengan menggunakan borang soal selidik. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa konsumerisme dalam kalangan Orang Asli tidak jauh bezanya dengan masyarakat Malaysia lain yang berada dalam arus perdana. Mereka menggunakan barangan mewah dan perkhidmatan mewah sama seperti yang digunakan oleh masyarakat dalam arus perdana. Namun, dari segi pengurusan kewangan, mereka berada pada tahap yang paling rendah dan sebahagian besar pendapatan mereka diperuntukkan untuk tujuan pembelian barangan mewah sehingga menafikan peruntukan kewangan untuk tujuan lain yang lebih penting. Implikasi daripada hasil kajian ini ialah pengetahuan mengenai kepenggunaan dan pengurusan kewangan wajar diserapkan ke dalam komuniti Orang Asli agar mereka tidak menjadi mangsa hedonisme kemewahan dunia moden yang dibawa oleh arus perdana.

Dr. Sarjit Singh Darshan SinghMarof Redzuan, Nobaya Ahmad, Haslinda Abdullah and Roslan Rosnon

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7062; sarjit@putra.upm.edu.my

Prof. Dr. Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope PihieChai Foong Ten, Soaib Asimiran and Rosnani Jusoh

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8217; zalp@educ.upm.edu.my

Budaya Kepenggunaan Masyarakat Orang Asli di Daerah Hulu Langat, Selangor

Relationship between Learning Style and Enterprising Competencies among University Students

Keywords: Learning style, entrepreneurial competencies, university entrepreneurship programs, teaching entrepreneurship

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between learning styles and enterprising competencies among university students in a public university. This is a descriptive study which used a questionnaire to collect the data. The sample was 270 students from Basic Entrepreneurship course conducted in second semester 2008/2009. The findings revealed that Scale Concrete Processing was the most preferred learning style among UPM students while Scale Lack of Regulation learning style was the least preferred one. This shows that students learned better by doing a task and applying subject matter, connecting it to their own experience, using what they have learned in the subject. Based on the program of study, Scale Concrete Processing was the most preferred learning style by students from Literature program but the least preferred learning style for these students was the Scale Deep Processing. However, Technical and Science students preferred most on Scale Concrete Processing style, while the least preferred learning style for them was Scale Lack of Regulation. By using the Pearson Correlation analysis, the results showed that all learning styles adopted by the respondents was significantly correlated with enterprising competencies except the Scale Lack of Regulation style. The findings confirmed that Scale Concrete Processing style was significantly correlated with management and marketing competencies and Scale Deep Processing style was significantly correlated with financial competencies.

Social Sciences

158

Keywords: Loneliness, stress, self-esteem, depression

The present study determined the relative strength of loneliness, stress and self-esteem in explaining the variation in adolescent depression. In addition, gender differences for all variables ware also examined. The respondents were 1407 male (n=679) and female (n=728) adolescents aged between 13 to 17 years old, selected using cluster-sampling technique. Data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire. Children Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1985) was used to measure adolescent depression. Stress was measured by Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1983). The Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale by Russell, Peplau, and Cutrona (1980) was used to measure loneliness. The 10-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) was used to assess global self-esteem. Data were analyzed using t-test, Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression test. Results of the study show that the differences in scores between males and females were significant for depression (t= -4.35, p?.00), stress (t=-8.69, p?.001), and self-esteem (t=-3.99, p?.001). All the independent variables were significantly correlated with depression: stress (r =.505, p?.01), loneliness (r =.476, p?.01), and self-esteem (r = -.465, p?.01). Stress emerged as the strongest predictor (Beta=.299, p? 0.001) of depression, followed by loneliness (Beta=.270, p? 0.001), and self-esteem (Beta=-.231, p? 0.001). The study concludes that depression among adolescents was associated with increased perceived social stress and loneliness, and decreased self-esteem. Perceived stress played the most significant role in depression among adolescents examined. Internal emotional deficiency may function as a personal vulnerability factor to depression, and thus significantly impinge on the well-being of adolescents. Understanding the variables that predict depression among adolescents is particularly important for the intervention and prevention of adolescent depression given that adolescent depression may not only be carried into later life stages but may also escalate over time (Kovacs, 1996).

Dr. Siti Nor YaacobRumaya Juhari, Mansor Abu Talib, Uba Ikechukwu U. and Chiong Hoe NeeFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7088; sitinor@putra.upm.edu.my

Loneliness, Stress, Self Esteem and Depression among Malaysian Adolescents

Keywords: Retailing, globalisation, hypermarkets, Malaysia

Since the mid-1990s, there has been a rapid expansion of large-scale foreign retailers in many countries across Southeast Asia, Central Europe and Latin America. This emerging trend has triggered a number of research interests on the issue of retail globalization. The research aims to consider the entry of foreign hypermarkets in Malaysia and their impact on the development and growth of domestic suppliers and manufacturers. This study uses both primary and secondary data. Secondary data were drawn from industry sources which included government departments, economic reports, retailing magazines and companies, web sites. Meanwhile, primary data are collected using mail survey questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. The findings of this study indicate that foreign hypermarkets play a very important role in the development and growth of the domestic suppliers via backward linkages. The main forms of linkages are product supply, informational linkages, assistance with inventory management, technical support and quality assurance and procurement systems. A majority of the firms indicated that they benefited substantially from the presence of foreign hypermarkets; however, they also face several challenges brought about by imposition of several unfair terms and procurement policy.

Dr. Shivee Ranjanee A/P KaliappanRokiah Alavi, Kalthom Abdullah and Muhammad Arif ZakaullahFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7741; shiveeranjanee@econ.upm.edu.my

Spillover Effects of Foreign Hypermarkets on Domestic Suppliers in Malaysia

Social Sciences

159

Keywords: Water resource management, water problems, federal constitution

Water resource management in Malaysia is governed by the Federal Constitution. However, it is divided into sectors within various government departments, both at the federal and state level. To date, there are more than a dozen of water-related laws in Malaysia; each of which governs different ministries and agencies. Despite this arrangement, water problems like flood, drought and landslide have continued and remain unsolved. Many do not realize that these problems have been contributed by the current structure of water resource management in this country. This paper discusses the complexities of the present legal framework with regard to water resource management in Malaysia. An examination has been made to the current Federal Constitution as well as the Federal legislations. The study proves that the problem related to water resource management in Malaysia is partly due to the fragmented legislation on Malaysian water.

Dr. Suhaimi Ab. RahmanRasyikah Md. Khalid

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8943 7951; suhaimi@econ.upm.edu.my

Defederalising Water Resource Management in Malaysia

Keywords: Bullying, depression, teenagers

The present study examined the relationship between bullying and depression among teenagers. The respondents were 242 teenagers (119 males and 123 females) aged between 13 and 17 years selected from daily secondary schools in Selangor, Malaysia (mean age = 14.67 years; SD = 1.27). Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Adolescent depression was measured by the Children Depression Inventory (CDI: Kovacs, 1985). Bullying was measured using the bully subscale of the Peer Relationship Questionnaire (Rigley and Slee, 1993). Pearson correlation was used to examine the association between bullying and depression. Independent sample t-test was used to examine gender differences in bullying and depression. The findings of the study revealed that there is a positive and small correlation between bullying and teenage depression (r =.296, p?.01) with high levels of bullying associated with high levels of depression. The study further discovered significant difference (t = 3.306, p ?.05) in bullying scores for males (M=10.11, SD = 3.614) and females (M = 8.75, SD = 2.712). Males were more involved in bullying in comparison to their female counterparts. This study supports earlier and more recent findings on the relationship between bullying and depression. The study contributes to the body of knowledge because it highlights the fact that bullying and victimisation can become a vicious cycle of misery for both bullies and their victims by revealing the dangers of bullying even to teenage bullies.

Dr. Siti Nor YaacobUba Ikechukwu U. and Rumaya Juhari

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7088; sitinor@putra.upm.edu.my

Bullying and Depression among Teenagers

Social Sciences

160

Keywords: Multiple intelligences, MI profile of students, learning style

The purpose of this study was to determine the profile of secondary students based on the Multiple Intelligences theory which consists of eight intelligences: visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, musical/rhythmic, logical/mathematical, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic. The study comprised of 749 Form Four students who were randomly selected. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire consisting of three parts; demographic information, types of intelligences, and preferred learning style. The findings showed that the highest rated intelligences were intrapersonal (mean=3.76, S.D= .64), musical (mean=3.64, S.D= .84), and interpersonal (mean=3.52, S.D= .66). For the students’ learning styles, the prominent learning styles were intrapersonal (mean=3.34, S.D= .79), interpersonal (mean=3.11, S.D= .77) and logical-mathematics (mean=3.37, S.D= .74). These findings also indicate that the Multiple Intelligences profiles of Form Four students were significantly and positively correlated with their learning style. The highest significance and positive correlation were between the linguistic profile and linguistic learning style (r=.521, p<.01), naturalistic profile and naturalistic learning style (r=.517, p<.01), logic mathematic profile and logic-mathematic learning style (r=.552, p<.01), and musical profile and musical learning style (r=.489, p<.01). These findings conclude that the students’ intelligence profiles lean towards intrapersonal, interpersonal and musical, but their learning styles in the classroom lean towards intrapersonal, interpersonal and logic-mathematical. The positive correlation between the students’ multiple intelligence and learning style indicates to teachers that they should adopt teaching and learning strategies which are suitable with their students’ intelligence profiles.

Dr. Tajularipin SulaimanAminuddin Hassan and Roselan BakiFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8149; tajulas@putra.upm.edu.my

Profiling of Multiple Intelligences and Learning Style of Secondary School Students in Malaysia

Keywords: Persekitaran kedai, tingkah laku pembelian, pasaraya

Di Malaysia, banyak pasaraya telah muncul dengan mendadak dan ini mencetuskan senario persaingan di kalangan kedai-kedainya. Mereka cuba menarik perhatian pelanggan dengan cara mereka bentuk persekitaran kedai. Melalui pertambahan bilangan pasaraya, kunjungan dalam kalangan remaja juga telah bertambah dengan nyata di mana remaja dilihat sebagai golongan pengguna yang semakin ramai membeli belah di pasaraya. Ini kerana remaja masa kini mempunyai lebih banyak wang untuk berbelanja di pasaraya dan sekaligus menjadikan mereka sebagai sasaran pasaran yang penting, oleh pengusaha pasaraya dan pemasar. Oleh itu, kajian ini memfokuskan kepada tingkah laku pembelian remaja dan kecenderungan mereka terhadap elemen persekitaran kedai dalam usaha untuk lebih memahami tentang perlakuan mereka di dalam pasaraya. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa remaja mempunyai pola tingkah laku pembelian di pasaraya yang tersendiri dan mempunyai kecenderungan yang tertentu bagi pelbagai elemen persekitaran yang digunakan oleh pemasar. Kajian ini memberikan beberapa implikasi kepada pengurus pemasaran dan penjual berkaitan dengan kepentingan faktor-faktor persekitaran kedai dalam usaha untuk menarik lebih ramai pelanggan supaya mengunjungi kedai mereka, dengan rasa selesa dan rasa berminat serta mendapat pengalaman yang memuaskan.

Dr. Syuhaily OsmanFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7094; syuly@putra.upm.edu.my

Tingkah Laku Pembelian Remaja di Pasaraya dan Pengaruh Persekitaran

Social Sciences

161

Keywords: Bakhtin’s dialogism, culture, dialogical self, identity, Margaret Atwood, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Thoreau

One of the significant discussions in literature and philosophy is the extent of the interaction between self and society. Self and society are interwoven concepts since one cannot deny the role of psychological elements and the individual’s background in the context of the society and the communication of self with society. In this research, poems, a novel and non-fiction works are examined using Bakhtin’s dialogism and Herman’s dialogical self, and some of the findings are: (a) in Margaret Atwood novel Cat’s Eye the developing self of a female protagonist is seen through the representation of her childhood memories in the language and painting. In the realist context of the selected novel, the relationship between self and its surrounding in different levels is vividly depicted; (b) in Muhammad Haji Salleh’s poetic images, readers are given an insight to his nostalgia that roots in his past colonial experience. His double-consciousness between his past and present is of key importance in identifying the individual and cultural background through his poetry; (c) in Thoreau’s non-fiction work Walden, his internal dialogues and meditations reveal to us his “self” as embodied in his literary work. While in this selected work there is a close analogy between self and the text, which both are a series of inner voices juxtaposed with and often contradicting one another, in order to decipher the artist’s persona.

Dr. Wan Roselezam Wan YahyaArbaayah Ali Termizi

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8738; roselezam@gmail.com

Exploring the Dialogical Self and the Society in Literary Works by Malaysian, American and Canadian Writers

Keywords: Asimilasi, penggunaan bahasa, nilai-nilai kemelayu, masyarakat Baba dan Nyonya

Malaysia merupakan negara yang mempunyai pelbagai kaum etnik yang kaya dengan bahasa dan budaya yang tersendiri. Walaupun masyarakat Malaysia hidup dalam percampuran budaya, akan tetapi mereka saling hormat-menghormati antara satu sama lain terutamanya dalam aspek penggunaan bahasa, budaya, dan agama. Penyelidikan ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti unsur bahasa dan meneliti kekuatan asimilasi bahasa Melayu yang masih digunakan oleh masyarakat Baba dan Nyonya di Melaka. Tumpuan penyelidikan diberikan kepada aspek bahasa yang merangkumi tahap penggunaan, sebutan, ejaan, dan pinjaman kosa kata. Manakala aspek budaya juga menjadi aspek penting dalam penyelidikan ini. Penyelidikan ini juga difokuskan terhadap kekuatan nilai-nilai budaya Melayu yang masih wujud dalam masyarakat Baba dan Nyonya. Antaranya, cara berpakaian, adat perkahwinan, menyambut kelahiran bayi, dan proses berpantang. Penyelidik juga memperlihatkan unsur pegangan dan amalan kemelayuan yang masih digunakan dan diamalkan oleh masyarakat Baba dan Nyonya sehingga kini. Unsur pegangan dan amalan kemelayuan merangkumi aspek kepercayaan, pantang larang, peralatan rumah, perkakasan memasak, makanan, muzik, dan permainan tradisional. Seramai 65 orang masyarakat Baba dan Nyonya diambil secara rawak untuk dijadikan responden.Data diperoleh dengan menggunakan borang soal selidik dan juga temu bual secara bersemuka dijalankan serentak dan seterusnya dianalisis menggunakan program SPSS. Hasil dapatan juga dipersembahkan dalam bentuk kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Analisis kekerapan, peratusan, min, sisihan piawai, kolerasi Pearson dan kolerasi Spearman menjadi penganalisisan data yang utama dalam penyelidikan ini. Teori Evolusi Perubahan Sosial yang dipelopori oleh Auguste Comte telah digunakan dalam penyelidikan ini. Teori ini memperlihatkan tahap perkembangan pemikiran manusia yang terbahagi kepada 3 tahap. Tahap ini dikenali sebagai Law of Three Stages, iaitu Tahap Teologis, Tahap Metafisis, dan Tahap Positif. Konklusinya, masyarakat akan berubah mengikut tahap perkembangan semasa. Jati diri yang teguh akan mempertahankan kebudayaan yang sedia ada yang diturunkan daripada generasi ke generasi sehingga kini.

Dr. Vijayaletchumy A/P SubramaniamNoor Aina Dani and Wan Muna Ruzanna Wan Mohammad

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8769; letchumy@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Kecondongan Asimilasi Bahasa dan Nilai Budaya Melayu dalam Kalangan Masyarakat Baba dan Nyonya di Melaka

Social Sciences

162

Keywords: Unconscionability, unethical business practices, business-to-business contract, consumer contract

The study is to examine broadly the doctrine of unconscionability and to analyze to what extent business as well as consumer contracts in Malaysia do not preclude the possibility of unconscionability and unethical bargains. The commercial or business to business contracts look into the relationship in agency and franchising while the consumer contracts specifically relates to the sales of goods, consumer credit as well as sales and purchase of housing. These commercial and consumer contracts are commonly adhesion in nature and are getting more complex in the modern world. This paper would also suggest the statutory requirement of conscionable conduct in all its variation in both the formation as well as performance of commercial and consumer contracts generally. The variation of conscionable conduct refers to conducts that are fair and made in good faith or without undue influence, gross inequality or dishonesty.

Dr. Zahira Mohd. IshanShaik Mohd. Noor Alam S.M. HussainFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7779; mizahira@econ.upm.edu.my

Unconscionability - Statutory Prevention of Unethical Business Practices

Keywords: Franchising, judicial oversight, specific law

Franchising in Malaysia is governed mainly by the FA. The FA however, is not the sole legislation for franchising because section 3(3) of the FA apparently acknowledges reference to the provisions of other written laws that are not in conflict with the FA. This paper examines the approaches of the judiciary in Malaysia to franchising relationship disputes through the cases of Rangkaian Hotel Seri Malaysia Sdn Bhd v. Husni Hussain [2007] 3 CLJ 446 and Neeta’s Herbal (M) Sdn. Bhd. v. Lim Bak Hiang [2000] 6 MLJ 321. Both cases are critically analyzed in order to identify whether franchising law is acknowledged and recognized by the courts. Husni Hussain case was a clear case involving franchising relationship dispute whereas the facts of Neeta’s Herbal had vaguely described the defendant as a franchisee of the plaintiff. It is found that franchising law was not being referred to at all in both cases although the dispute was related to that area of law. This paper also briefly examines the bindingness of the FA to franchising in Malaysia. The FA regulates and provides substantive rules on franchising in Malaysia. Section 58 of the FA provides that all parties to a franchise agreement are bound by the FA unless the exemption is granted by the Minister. In addition to that, the maxim generalibus specialia derogant provides that when there is inconsistency between the special law and general law, the special law shall prevail. The question of primacy between specific law and general law has been resolved through this maxim, which is reflected in a long list of cases on this particular issue at common law and Malaysia.

Dr. Zahira Mohd. IshanShaik Mohd. Noor Alam S. M. HussainFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7779; mizahira@econ.upm.edu.my

Franchise Act 1998 or the Common Law: A Question of Primacy

Social Sciences

163

Keywords: Sustainable forest management, sawntimber supply, cointegration analysis

This paper examines the dynamic effects of sustainable forest management (SFM) policy on the West Malaysian sawntimber supply. Both short run and long run effects on sawntimber supply are studied using a multivariate cointegration analysis. The proxy of SFM variable is permanent forest reserve. It is expected as an exogenous negative shock in the sawntimber supply. In general, given the fact that West Malaysian sawntimber supply is decreasing since 1990s, the results show that sawntimber supply is statistically influenced by SFM practices. Furthermore, reducing of harvested area of forest has significant effect on sawntimber supply decreases. While in the short run, the results suggest that there are negative impacts of SFM practices on sawntimber supply at 10 percent significant level, in the long run, the result is significant at 1 percent level. This may to some extent pull down the West Malaysian sawntimber supply together by bringing the forest harvests to sustainable level. In addition, as sawntimber supply has affected due to SFM practices, the green premium tagged to prices of sawntimber that produced from this policy is highly recommended. Consequently, it would dig into the profit margin of licensees and government revenue. On the other hand, in the context of SFM, the national benefits would be the reduction of externality effects by minimising damage to residual stocks and decreasing levels of erosion and sedimentation from timber harvesting.

Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul SamadMohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7630; abrahim@econ.upm.edu.my

West Malaysian Sawntimber Supply Analysis: Incorporating Sustainable Forest Management Policy

Keywords: Identity, image, reputation, international and cultural diversity

This paper seeks to build a theoretical approach to international reputation management from the perspective of strategic management and multiculturalism. Collective ideas and arguments are undertaken based on literature reviews of public relations, corporate communication, strategic management and cultural diversity. This paper has proposed an adaptive model of international reputation management based on realistic communication practice in an Asian country. This model seems unique in terms of localisation and is focused to reiterate an international perspective beyond western philosophy. In the 21st century, the world has changed tremendously and so has the way global corporations operate their business. Image alone is not enough to build a favorable reputation of corporations. Reputation management, a new and emerging function of corporate communication, has a strategic tactical and managerial role within an organisation. This paper may benefit global corporations operating in a transitional country in how they may foster and maintain their business by focusing on ‘glocalisation’ instead of infusing their pure western philosophy.

Dr. Zulhamri AbdullahFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8525; zulhamri@fbmk.upm.edu.my

Projecting (New) International Reputation Management in an Asian Country

Social Sciences

164

Keywords: Palm oil prices, natural rubber prices, world crude oil prices, autoregressive distribution lag (ARDL), long run relationship

With regard to the increase of world crude oil prices, it is time to examine more carefully the claim that the increase in world crude oil prices tends to increase commodity prices. Hence, we examine the major commodity prices in Malaysia namely palm oil prices and natural rubber prices. We will analyse the relationship of both commodities prices with world crude oil prices using the autoregressive distribution lag (ARDL) approach. Beside the analysis of bound testing approaches to see the level of relationships, short run and long run effects also are carried out in order to investigate which period has been significantly effected by the increase of world crude oil prices. The result reveals that long run relationship between world crude oil prices and both commodities prices are exists. Fortunately the world crude oil coefficient in the long run for both models of this policy variables are statistically significant with positive impact and it is possible to relate these impacts of government programmes for future domestic and international market in the perspective of palm oil and natural rubber. With the expected increase in the world crude oil prices which tends to increase both commodities prices, manufacturers would have to serious look into their strategy seriously to promote more on export market compared to domestic market.

Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul SamadZariyawati Mohd. Ashhari and Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. OthmanFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7630; abrahim@econ.upm.edu.my

Short Run and Long Run Effects of the World Crude Oil Prices on the Malaysian Natural Rubber and Palm Oil Export Prices

Keywords: Cointegration analysis, price of logs, timber products, conservation, design strategies

The Malaysian log supply is facing deficit since 1995; thereafter major timber products have moved from resource surplus to one of deficit. It seems obvious that without planted forest in the future, the timber industries have almost reached the limit for growth. The log supply model for West Malaysia is based on an equation of domestic log supply from natural and planted forests as a function of weighted price of log, annual logging area and royalty of logs. The results showed that the bounds test of log supply model was cointegrated at 10% significance. The short-run analysis revealed that log supply would increase as the price of logs increased. However, in the long run, it would lead to substantial reduction in the log supply. This is because when the price of logs increases, the log supply tends to decrease. It is believed that this is due to controlled production and the stringent harvesting regulation to achieve sustainable forest management. Furthermore, an increase in domestic price of logs would help to compensate for the lost volumes in the long run.

Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul SamadMohd. Shahwahid Hj. OthmanInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7630; abrahim@econ.upm.edu.my

Short- and Long-run Effects of Sustainable Forest Management Practices on West Malaysian Log Supply: An ARDL Approach

Social Sciences

165

Keywords: Deforestation, short-run, long-run, autoregressive distributed lag

The forested land in Malaysia is slowly giving way to agriculture especially oil palm and other forms of land use, creating a conflict between agriculture production and forest management. Land use for agriculture has changed over the years. While the land use for oil palm has been increasing steadily since the late 1980s, the relatively more drastic increment has been observed in the late 1990s. On the other hand, land use for other crops such as rubber and cocoa has been declining. This paper highlights the empirical evidence on tropical deforestation in Peninsular Malaysia. The economic factors and short-run and long-run effects of its determinants were examined in an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ADRL) approach. The results suggest that in the long run, there are no determinants that have significant impact on deforestation. Instead, the price of oil palm is significant at 10 percent level and has positive impact on forest area. This may suggest that in the long run, there is no conversion of forest to other land uses in Peninsular Malaysia. In the short run, the results show that the weighted price of logs and the price of oil palm are negative and statistically significant at 10 and 1 percent level respectively. These results indicate that, the determinants of deforestation in the short run do exist. Finally, the results presented in this paper have important implication for Peninsular Malaysia’s forest policy and private sector investment. For example, the results of not significant of deforestation determinations in the long run will help the developer, both public and private to take this information into account when conducting benefit-cost analyses and economic impact studies.

Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul SamadMohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7630; abrahim@econ.upm.edu.my

Determinants of Deforestation in Peninsular Malaysia: An ARDL Approach

Keywords: ‘Logfisher Practice’ (LP), conventional practice (CP), ‘Logfisher’, net present value (NPV)

This paper examines the various committed new technology and improve logging activities ascribed in the ‘Logfisher’ Practice (LP) rather than Conventional Practice (CP). The result of cost analysis shows that the cost constitutes under LP is higher than under CP. Incremental average per ha total cost rose by 46.86% to RM13,576/ha. While the incremental average per m3 total cost increased by 57.41% to RM267.80/m3. Hence, CP is slightly more profitable and exceeded the Net Present Value (NPV) of LP. Similarly, the Benefit-Cost Ration (BCR) for CP is better than LP. On the other hand, the result of the economic analysis of 40-year period showed that the LP system (NPV = RM9302/ha) provided a higher level of overalls benefits and welfare to the society as a whole as opposed to CP (NPV = RM8497/ha).

Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul SamadMohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman and Zariyawati Mohd. Ashhari

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7630; abrahim@econ.upm.edu.my

Financial and Economics Analyses of Conventional and Reduced Impact Logging Practices

Social Sciences

166

Keywords: Teori Holland, personaliti, investigatif, artistik, realistik, conventional, enterprising, berkemahiran tinggi, usahawan, keusahawanan

Aspirasi keusahawanan pelajar berkemahiran tinggi terhadap pemupukan budaya keusahawanan ini diteliti untuk memastikan mereka dapat mencapai tahap kehidupan yang diperlukan. Kajian ini melibatkan lima buah institusi yang berkaitan dengan latihan belia. Lima institusi tersebut terdiri daripada; Malaysian France Institute (MFI), German Malaysian Institute (GMI), British Malaysian Institute (BMI), Malaysian Spanish Institute (MSI) dan Japan Malaysian Technology Institute (JMTI). Seramai 1,052 pelajar terlibat dalam kajian ini yang terdiri daripada 74.2 % pelajar lelaki dan 25.8 % pelajar wanita. Kajian ini bermatlamat untuk mengenal pasti aspirasi kerjaya dalam kalangan pelajar di MFI, GMI, BMI, MSI dan JMTI dalam bidang keusahawanan selepas tamat pengajian. Sikap, amalan dan minat terhadap kerjaya keusahawanan juga diambil kira. Minat terhadap kerjaya keusahawanan ini diteliti untuk memastikan minat, kecekapan dan pekerjaan dapat memupuk aspirasi keusahawanan pelajar berkemahiran tinggi terhadap budaya keusahawanan. Analisis maklumat bagi inventori minat kerjaya adalah berdasarkan Teori Holland iaitu menggunakan Konsep Hexagonal bagi menerangkan hubungkait enam personaliti ini dan menggunakan tiga skor tinggi bagi memerihalkan personaliti responden. Teori ini juga menghubungkaitkan personaliti dengan persekitaran. Terdapat enam jenis personaliti yang membentuk tipologi Holland iaitu, Realistik (R), Investigatif (I), Artistik (A), Sosial (S), Enterprising (I) dan Conventional (C). Jumlah pelajar yang mempunyai personaliti investigatif adalah seramai 187 pelajar (17.8%), personaliti artistik seramai 172 pelajar (16.3%), personaliti realistik seramai 176 pelajar (16.7%), personaliti conventional seramai 69 pelajar (6.6%), personaliti enterprising seramai 45 pelajar (4.3%) dan personaliti sosial seramai 74 pelajar (7.0%). Dalam erti kata lain sikap, amalan dan minat dalam kerjaya keusahawanan juga memainkan peranan yang penting dalam pembentukan usahawan dari golongan belia pada masa kini.

Mr. Bukryman SabriNurizan Yahaya and Muhamad Yawasi ShahuddinFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7100; bukryman@putra.upm.edu.my

Teori Pemilihan Kerjaya Holland: Analisis Kerjaya Keusahawanan Pelajar Berkemahiran Tinggi

Keywords: MDF exports, panel data, pooled OLS, fixed effects, random effects

Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) exporting countries have experienced difficulty in declining of raw material supply. This urged MDF industry to search for a new fibre sources in order to sustain their operations in future. Conversely, some countries reveal that their MDF exports have keep on increasing despite facing shortage of raw material. This study analysed the factors influencing the exports of MDF with the aid of the panel data approach procedures. The analysis was carried out with the data collected on MDF exports over 10 years (1996-2005) across twenty eight exporting countries all over the world with various factors. LM test for OLS vs fixed/random effects indicates that the p-value is significant at 1 percent level, which means that fixed/random effects is more appropriate than OLS (pooled model). On the other hand, Hausman test for random and fixed effects specification provide evidence that the random effects specification is preferable in this model. The result shows that changes in export quantities of MDF are significantly determined by export price and average world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 1 percent level. However, exchange rate is not significant in influencing exports demand of MDF.

Mr. Abdul Rahim Abdul SamadZariyawati Mohd. Ashhari and Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. OthmanFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7630; abrahim@econ.upm.edu.my

Export of Medium Density Fibreboard: Evidence from Panel Data

Social Sciences

167

Keywords: Pengetahuan, sikap, amalan, modal insan, usahawan, keusahawanan, pembangunan

Aspirasi keusahawanan pelajar berkemahiran tinggi terhadap pemupukan budaya keusahawanan ini diteliti untuk memastikan mereka dapat mencapai tahap kehidupan yang diperlukan. Kajian ini melibatkan lima buah institusi yang berkaitan dengan latihan belia. Lima institusi tersebut terdiri daripada; Malaysian France Institute (MFI), German Malaysian Institute (GMI), British Malaysian Institute (BMI), Malaysian Spanish Institute (MSI) dan Japan Malaysian Technology Institute (JMTI). Seramai 1,052 pelajar terlibat dalam kajian ini yang terdiri daripada 74.2 % pelajar lelaki dan 25.8 % pelajar wanita. Daripada segi etnik, majoriti pelajar adalah Melayu (89.6%). Diikuti dengan Cina (7.9%), India (1%) dan lain-lain (1.5%). Kajian ini bermatlamat untuk mengenal pasti aspirasi kerjaya dalam kalangan pelajar di MFI, GMI, BMI, MSI dan JMTI dalam bidang keusahawanan selepas tamat pengajian. Sikap, amalan dan minat terhadap kerjaya keusahawanan juga diambil kira. Minat terhadap kerjaya keusahawanan ini diteliti untuk memastikan minat, kecekapan dan pekerjaan dapat memupuk aspirasi keusahawanan pelajar berkemahiran tinggi terhadap budaya keusahawanan. Kajian terhadap amalan terhadap kerjaya keusahawanan dalam kalangan pelajar berkemahiran tinggi menunjukkan pelajar dari MFI (18.8%), GMI (20.9%), BMI (20.2%), MSI (20.4%) dan JMTI (19.7%) mempunyai amalan yang tinggi terhadap kerjaya keusahawanan. Semua pelajar dari institusi MFI, BMI, GMI, MSI dan JMTI menunjukkan minat yang tinggi terhadap kerjaya keusahawanan ini iaitu masing-masing seramai 64.6 peratus, 64.2 peratus, 55.9 peratus, 60.9 peratus dan 63.8 peratus. Dari segi sikap pula, dapatan kajian menunjukkan majoriti responden dari MFI, BMI, GMI, MSI dan JMTI menunjukkan sikap yang tinggi terhadap kerjaya keusahawanan iaitu masing-masing sebanyak 80.3 peratus, 89.9 peratus, 70 peratus, 84 peratus dan 72.5 peratus. Kesimpulannya, pelajar dari BMI (89.9%) menunjukan minat yang tinggi untuk menjadi pelajar usahawan berbanding dengan pelajar dari GMI (70.0%) dan JMTI (72.5%). Dalam erti kata lain sikap, amalan dan minat dalam kerjaya keusahawanan juga memainkan peranan yang penting dalam pembentukan usahawan dari golongan belia pada masa kini.

Mr. Bukryman SabriNurizan Yahaya and Muhamat Yawasi Shahuddin

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7100; bukryman@putra.upm.edu.my

Pembangunan Modal Insan: Pendekatan dan Aspirasi Keusahawanan Belia

Keywords: Kitar semula, pengetahuan, sikap, amalan, penggunaan, penggunaan lestari

Rakyat Malaysia menghasilkan 15,000 tan sampah sarap sehari. Jika dihitung dari segi fizikal, lama-kelamaan Malaysia sudah pastinya tiada ruang untuk menempatkan sampah-sampah tersebut. Dengan amalan kitar semula, kita dapat membantu mengurangkan sisa-sisa buangan dan sekaligus mengurangkan penggunaan ruang untuk menempatkan sampah-sampah itu dan untuk melupuskannya. Kitar semula juga mampu mengurangkan kadar pencemaran disamping dapat menjimatkan tenaga. Penghasilan barangan yang menggunakan bahan mentah akan melibatkan pencemaran dan meningkatkan kadar guna tenaga. Dari perspektif jangka masa panjang, kos untuk laksanakan kitar semula adalah lebih murah jika dibandingkan kos untuk mengekalkan keadaan alam sekitar. Apabila program kitar semula ini dapat dijalankan dengan lebih efisyen, jumlah sampah yang dibuang akan berkurangan. Jika dibandingkan dengan pengurusan pembuangan sampah, program kitar semula ini dapat menyediakan lima kali lebih banyak peluang pekerjaan. Sehubungan dengan itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk untuk mengenalpasti tahap pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan penduduk bandar dan luar bandar dalam pengurusan kitar semula bahan buangan. Sampel ini terdiri daripada 400 orang suri rumah meliputi negeri Kedah, Kelantan, Selangor dan Johor di mana 100 orang bagi setiap negeri dipilih. Sampel terdiri daripada suri rumah bekerja dan tidak bekerja yang berbangsa Melayu, Cina dan India. Sampel kajian telah dipilih secara rawak mudah dan data dikumpul menggunakan borang soal selidik. Hasil kajian menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan antara pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan kitar semula isirumah bandar dan luar bandar (p<0.05). Kesimpulannya, kajian menunjukkan pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan penduduk bandar dan luar bandar dalam pengurusan kitar semula bahan buangan berada pada tahap rendah dan membimbangkan. Ini dapat dirumuskan bahawa tahap pengetahuan yang rendah akan mempengaruhi amalan pengguna terhadap pengurusan kitar semula. Namun begitu, aspek ini boleh diperbaiki dalam usaha meningkatkan lagi pengetahuan, sikap dan amalan suri rumah khususnya dan pengguna amnya.

Mr. Bukryman SabriZuroni Md. Jusoh and Laily Paim

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7100; bukryman@putra.upm.edu.my

Perbezaan Pengetahuan, Sikap dan Amalan Kitar Semula Isirumah Bandar dan Luar Bandar

Social Sciences

168

Keywords: Older drivers, barriers, driving

Driving is important among older persons for mobility, self autonomy, independence and ensuring their quality of life and well being. The purpose of this analysis is to discuss findings on perceived barriers to driving among older drivers. Data was obtained through face-to-face interview with 400 older road users aged 50 years and over in a cross-sectional study entitled “Perception of Needs and Barriers of Older Drivers in Malaysia” (2008).The cross-sectional survey was conducted in the states of Perak and Selangor which have the highest accident rates involving older persons. The age of the respondents was ranging from 50 to 86 years (M=60, SD=7). Majority (84.0%) of them are married with monthly median income of RM1000. The respondents drive about eight times a week with an average range of less than 50 km (56.8%). Most of them (92.8%) are confident with their driving ability. Attitude of other road users (63.3%), unclear signage (61.0%) and traffic jam (54.8%) are among the common barriers in driving. Result showed that some financial (17.8%) and health problems (23.3%) were also considered as barrier to them. ANOVA test indicated that there were significant differences between education level (F=4.131, df=3, p=0.007), marital status (F=3.262, df=2, p=0.039), perceived driving confident (F=10.033, df=2, p<0.001), weekly driving frequency (F=9.993, df=4, p<0.001) and weekly driving range (F=2.713, df=3, p=0.045) with barriers to drive. In conclusion, barriers face by older drivers in this study is not limited to infrastructure and traffic condition but related to factors such as attitudes, health and financial situation. Their perceived barriers were determined by socio-demographic background and driving experience. The invaluable information from this study provides input towards improving the road system in Malaysia in building an aged friendly environment. This will indeed encourage the older persons to be more mobile and independent in later life.

Mr. Mohamad Fazdillah BagatSharifah Norazizan Syed Abdul RashidInstitute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 2742; fadilbagat@yahoo.com

Barriers to Driving among Older Drivers

Keywords: Social support, reliability, validity, elderly, factor analysis

The Social Support Survey was developed by Sherbourne and Stewart in 1991 for the RAND and Medical Outcome Study (MOS) to measure social support. The scale consisted of 19 functional support items on five-point answer scales. This paper aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the MOS Social Support Survey among the older population (60 years or over) in Malaysia. Data from the “Patterns of Social Relationship and Psychological Well Being among Older Persons in Peninsular Malaysia” survey in 2008 were used. A back-translated and modified version of instrument was included in the interviewer-administered questionnaire. Internal consistency for the MOS Social Support Survey in the older Malaysian sample was high (n = 1,870, Alpha = 0.955), and reliability values for the four original subscales (Emotional or informational support, Tangible support, Affectionate and Positive social interaction) ranged from 0.934 to 0.971. Guttman split-half reliability coefficient for the scale is adequate at 0.814. Exploratory factor analyses using the principal components extraction method with varimax rotation found that three (3) factors accounted for 80.9% of the variance in the scale scores. The psychometric performance of the MOS Social Support Survey instrument in the study was similar to Rushidi, Amir and Mahmood’s (2002) findings among Malay post-partum women in Kedah where a dominant factor 1 is made up of emotional or informational support items. The affectionate and positive social interaction sub-scales are combined into factor 2 and factor 3 is tangible support. Criterion validity was established when the MOS Social Support Survey showed significant positive correlations with psychological well being (r = 0.395, p < 0.001) and morale (r = 0.358, p < 0.001) in later life. The instrument has demonstrated sound psychometrically properties for a short, multidimensional measure for social support to be used among older Malaysians living in the community.

Mr. Chai Sen TyngNurizan Yahaya and Tengku Aizan HamidInstitute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+03-8947 2740; chez1978@gmail.com

Psychometric Properties of the Medical Outcome Study (MOS) Social Support Survey among Older Persons in Peninsular Malaysia

Social Sciences

169

Keywords: Johansen cointegration test, forestry trade, VECM

This study was undertaken to explore the relationship between export and import, in the category of Forestry domain for Malaysia, which includes sub domains of (1) industrial roundwood; (2) wood pulp; (3) wood fuel; (4) paper and paper board; (5) sawn wood; (6) recovered paper and (7) wood base panel. Johansen (1991) cointegration method was employed and the period of the study covers annual data from 1961 to 2007. The results clearly show that the export and import of forestry domain is highly cointegrated. This shows that trade is indeed sustainable in the domain of forestry and a sign of good trade policies adapted and implemented by the relevant authorities Bi-directional granger causality could also be detected based on VECM (vector-error correction model) method. Imports seem to positively and significantly affect exports, both in the long run and short run, vice versa.

Mrs. Emmy Farha AliasA.H. Baharom, Alias Radam and Illisriyani Ismail

Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 1073; emmyfarha@gmail.com

Trade Sustainability in the Forestry Domain: The Case of Malaysia

Keywords: Real exchange rate misalignment, volatility, Asian financial crisis, ARDL bounds test

This paper investigates the effect of real exchange rate misalignment and volatility on Malaysian import flows during 1991:Q1 to 2003:Q4. A measure of the quantitative proxy of the real exchange rate misalignment is constructed using the Natural Real Exchange Rate (NATREX) equilibrium model, whereas the volatility of real exchange rate is generated from the GARCH model. This paper differs from existing literature as the effects of exchange rate misalignment significantly hastened the level of Malaysian imports for period of the study. The empirical results also show that the exchange rate volatility has merely promoted the Malaysian imports during the crisis period. This suggests that the exchange rate misalignment and volatility are important determinants in inspiring Malaysian import flows, especially during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Mr. Mohd. Naseem Niaz AhmadTan Hui Boon and Siti Hamizah Mohd.

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7785; naseemniaz@econ.upm.edu.my

Exchange Rate Misalignment, Volatility and Import Flows in Malaysia

Social Sciences

170

Keywords: Self-worth, financial management practices, financial well-being, moderator

The effects of financial management practices on financial well-being may vary depending on personality factor, namely self-worth. To what extend does self-worth influence the prediction by financial management practices on financial well-being were determined in this study, hence ascertaining the moderating role of self-worth. Quota sampling based on ethnicity ratio was employed to obtain data from 800 family financial managers in Peninsular Malaysia using self-administered questionnaire forms. Dimensions of financial management practices were used and financial well-being was measured by integrating perceived financial well-being and financial ratios. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that self-worth significantly and positively moderated the prediction by budgeting and financial planning on financial well-being. However self-worth was found to moderate significantly and negatively with the prediction by record-keeping on financial well-being. Thus, for a family having a higher self-worth family financial manager, this would increase the likelihood to be financially stable by performing budgeting and financial planning. On the other hand, a family having a higher self-worth family financial manager would decrease the likelihood to be financially stable by doing record-keeping, hence more likely to be financially instable. Self-worth acted as the more influential moderator in the prediction by budgeting as compared to financial planning and record-keeping. Having a higher self-worth family financial manager would increase the degree of prediction by budgeting on financial well-being higher than by financial planning or record-keeping. These findings provided evidence that this personality factor did have an impact on the prediction by financial management practices on financial well-being. Hence, enhancing self-worth of family financial managers through training or workshops by motivators would result in more financially stable families. In addition, families should be doing financial planning and budgeting for the family expenses to be financially stable. Future research may focus on other personality factors to determine their influence in these predictions.

Mrs. Husniyah Abd. Rahim @ Abdul WahabM. Fazilah Abdul SamadFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7101; husniyah@putra.upm.edu.my

Moderating Role of Self-worth between Financial Management Practices and Financial Well-being

Keywords: Investment in risky assets, personality, financial management practices, financially stable

Investment was one strategy to enhance financial well-being. However to gain higher return, individuals have to absorb higher risks. This study focused on the effects of personality and financial management practices of families on their investment decision in risky assets. Financial management practices and personality factors that predict investment in risky assets were identified in this study. A total of 800 respondents were involved that was sampled using quota sampling based on ethnicity. These were the reported family financial managers from families residing in Peninsular Malaysia. Investment in risky assets is based on the investment in stocks. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed financial risk tolerance, self-worth, record-keeping, credit, savings and risk management as significant predictors of investment in risky assets. Those who were more risk tolerant with high self-worth tend to invest in risky assets. Furthermore, those doing record-keeping, manage credit wisely, regularly saves and perform risk management were also more likely to invest in risky assets. The most influential factor was savings followed by self-worth. The findings provided evidence that specific personality factors and financial management practices did predict investment in risky assets. Knowing these factors enabled financial planners to identify those potential to invest in this type of asset and encourage them to invest in risky assets in order to gain more return from their investment. Families on the other hand would realise their capability in such investment. However those who did not possess the above criteria could be trained in order for them to be capable to invest in risky assets. More families would then be investing in risky assets, thus more families would be financially stable in the long run. Concurrently, this will also contribute to the economic growth of the country.

Mrs. Husniyah Abd. Rahim @ Abdul WahabM. Fazilah Abdul SamadFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7101; husniyah@putra.upm.edu.my

Personality and Behavioural Factors as Predictors of Investment in Risky Assets among Families

Social Sciences

171

Keywords: Living arrangements, poverty, elderly, Malay Peninsular

Previous studies have revealed the relationship between poverty in later life and household size that usually depends on living arrangements among older person. This study aims to examine the trend of poverty among older persons with different types of living arrangements. Three data sets used in this analysis are: (i) Problems and Needs of the Older Population 1999 (n=1726) (ii) Economic and Financial Aspects of Ageing 2004 (n=1320) and (iii) Patterns of Social Relationships 2008 (n=1880). All three studies employed multistage sampling techniques to represent older persons in Malaysia. National Poverty Line Income (PLI) threshold for Peninsula Malaysia was used to determine the incidence of poverty (1999=RM510, 2004=RM529, and 2007=RM720) among older persons. Descriptive findings for the three study periods showed that the most common type of living arrangement reported by older persons is living with family members, which were 63%, 71% and 69% respectively. Elderly living alone comprised of 16% in 1999, 7.6% in 2004 and increased to 9.1% in 2008. Mean elderly income in absolute figure increased from RM84 (1999) to RM451 (2004) and to RM786 (2008). However, the mean income of elderly living alone was almost half of the other kind of living arrangements in 2004 and 2008. There were also high incidence of hardcore poor and poor in the two study years. ANOVA-test revealed that there were significant differences between income and living arrangements in 1999 (F(3,1772)=3.632,p=0.012) and 2004 (F(3,1316)=3.277,p=0.020) but not in 2008. In conclusion, the high incidences of poverty among elderly living alone should be of concern since they were found to be living below the poverty line in 2004 and 2008. These findings also imply that even though the national poverty eradication strategies may have been successful in increasing the PLI, there still exist income disparities with respect to the living arrangement of the older persons.

Mrs. Norisma Aiza IsmailJariah Masud, Tengku Aizan Hamid and Rahimah Ibrahim

Institute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2747; Norisma@putra.upm.edu.my

Living Arrangements and Poverty Trends among Elderly in Peninsular Malaysia

Keywords: Anthropometry, children, foot, shoe

Foot anthropometry is statistical data about the distribution of foot dimension in the population are used to optimise products. Foot anthropometry plays an important role to design good fitting footwear. Changes in life styles, nutrition and ethnic composition of populations led to changes in the distribution of foot dimension and require regular updating of foot anthropometry data collection. This study examined foot anthropometry data of preschool children in Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to develop fit size to shoe design. Data were collected from twelve pre-schools in Selangor Malaysia. Three-hundred and three pre-school children (129 boys and 174 girls) were randomly selected for this study. A standard anthropometric technique and tool was used. The respondents’ foot lengths (left and right), foot widths (left and right), ankle circumference and foot heights were measured and then analysed using SPSS program. The result showed that there were significant relationships among all foot anthropometry measurements. The result also showed there that was no difference in foot anthropometry among urban and rural pre-school children. The study found that there was significant difference between right foot length and left foot length. The study also revealed that there was significance difference between right foot width and left foot width. Data from this study can further be used to develop footwear sizing system.

Mrs. Naimah Mohd. SallehSiti Balkis Bari and Mumtazah Othman

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7105; naimahms@putra.upm.edu.my

Foot Anthropometry for Design Shoes among Preschool Children in Malaysia

Social Sciences

172

Keywords: Working capital management, cash conversion cycle, liquidity, profitability, panel analysis

Working capital is always being disregarded in financial decision making since it involves investment and financing in short term period. However, it is an important component in firm financial management decision. An optimal working capital management is expected to contribute positively to the creation of firm value. To reach optimal working capital management firm manager should control the trade off between profitability and liquidity accurately. The intention of this study is to examine the relationship between working capital management and firm profitability. Cash conversion cycle is used as measure of working capital management. This study used panel data of 1628 firm-year for the period of 1996-2006 that consist of six different economic sectors which are listed in Bursa Malaysia. The coefficient results of Pooled OLS regression analysis provide a strong negative significant relationship between cash conversion cycle and firm profitability. This reveals that reducing cash conversion period results to profitability increase. Thus, in the purpose of creating shareholder value, firm manager should concern on shorten of cash conversion cycle till optimal level is achieved.

Mrs. Zariyawati Mohd. AshhariFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7630; zariyawati@econ.upm.edu.my

Working Capital Management and Corporate Performance: Case of Malaysia

Keywords: Family strength, marital quality, parental nurturance, economic strain

The study explores how socio-demographic and family characteristics of parents are related to family strength. Sample comprises 200 parents who at least have one child between 7 and 12 years old living in rural areas of Malaysia. Marital quality, parental nurturance, economic strain and number of children were found to be significant predictors of family strength. Findings imply that the factors available within the family ecosystems play important roles in influencing the level of family strength. As very few studies in Malaysia have delved into factors associated with family strength, the current results could be useful in formulating comprehensive programmes to build up strong families.

Mrs. Zarinah ArshatRozumah BaharudinFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7139; zarinaharshat@yahoo.com

Correlates of Family Strength in Malaysia

Social Sciences

173

Keywords: Level of knowledge, attitude, perception, practices, solid waste recycling

The main purpose of this study is to examine housewives’ level of knowledge, attitude and perception towards their waste recycling practices. The sample comprised 400 working and non working housewives among three ethnic groups, Malays, Chinese and Indian. Respondents were chosen using a random sampling. A self-administered questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection. All of the data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings from the hypotheses testing revealed that there are no significant relationships between level of knowledge with solid waste recycling practices (r = - 0.144, p>0.05) but there are significant relationship between attitude with solid waste recycling practices (r=0.247, p<0.05) and perception with solid waste recycling practices (r = - 0.301, p<0.05). Therefore, this study can be used by government and private organisations or individuals to determine programs that are more effective in order to make people more aware of the importance of solid waste recycling and will increase recycling practices among Malaysian households.

Mrs. Zuroni Md. JusohBukryman Sabri and Laily Paim

Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7111; zuroni@putra.upm.edu.my

Level of Knowledge, Attitude and Perception among Working and Non-working Housewives towards Solid Waste Recycling Practices in Malaysia

Keywords: Green home, attributes, choice modelling

This study aims to reveal and compute non-market values of green home options in Malaysia. The employment of any option implies trade-off between one of the alternatives (sustainable house and green house) and base (terrace house), will influence the changes in the public welfare (utility). Five attributes (energy usage, rainwater harvesting system, comfortable staying in home, greeneries areas and current house price) have been identified through focus group discussion (FGD) in the observed public utility while making a choice on green home options. The marginal rate of substitution or implicit prices of each non-monetary attributes reveal the non-market values of yearning for additional units of these attributes. Results will provide information on the implicit prices (WTP/MRS) of the non-monetary attributes. These implicit prices can be ranked to inform the policy agencies on the importance of those attributes to the public. Factor affecting the WTP can be identified through the model. Policy implication implies that policy makers shall integrate sustainability and can identify a green home plan that yields the greatest net benefit to the Malaysian society.

Mrs. Zuroni Md. JusohJamal Othman, Abdul Hamid Jaafar and Tamat SarmidiFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7111; zuroni@putra.upm.edu.my

Green Home Attributes in Environmental Choice Modelling

Social Sciences

174

Keywords: Portfolio optimisation, equity mutual fund, fuzzy risk management

In this study we focus on the equity mutual funds offered by three Malaysian banks, namely Public Bank Berhad, CIMB, and Malayan Banking Berhad. The equity mutual funds or equity trust is grouped into four clusters based on their characteristics and categorized as inferior, stable, good performing, and aggressive funds based on their return rates, variance and treynor index. Based on the cluster analysis, the return rates and variance of clusters are represented as triangular fuzzy numbers in order to reflect the uncertainty of financial market. To find the optimal asset allocation in each cluster, we develop a hybrid model of optimisation and fuzzy based on return rates, variance. This was done by maximising the fuzzy return for a tolerable fuzzy risk and minimising the fuzzy risk for a desirable fuzzy return separately at different confidence levels.

Prof. Dr. Adem KilicmanJaisree SivalingamFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6813; akilicman@putra.upm.edu.my

Portfolio Optimisation of Equity Mutual Funds - A Case Study of Malaysia

Keywords: Social skills, work values, work ethics, medical education

The medical field is an important service provider to the nation. Every year, institutions of higher learning produce an increasing number of medical professionals. The work of these professional doctors requires them to interact with people from all walks of life. Therefore, medical graduates now not only need to acquire the knowledge and skills to practice medicine, but also the ability to communicate well with patients and colleagues, and develop appropriate professional attitudes and ethical principles. It is thus important that in facilitating the education of the medical students pertaining to the affective domain, the medical faculties must establish the current state of their students in terms of their social skills, work ethics and work values. This makes it easier for the medical faculties to monitor and plan for intervention programmes. This study identified the social skills, work ethics and work values that medical trainees must have and rank them based on the order agreed by experts and stakeholders. An instrument to measure these affective domains among medical trainees and their current levels as compared to the benchmark set was developed by this study. The validity and reliability of the instrument were computed to ensure that the instrument adhere to acceptable psychometric standards.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman Md. AroffSamsilah RoslanFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 1241; samsilah@gmail.com

Social Skill, Work Ethics, Spiritual Quotient and Work Values in Medical Education

Social Sciences

175

Keywords: Role overload, work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, junior doctors

The use of a mediation model for understanding the mediating impact of work-family conflict on the relationship between role overload and emotional exhaustion as well as parental functioning has not been given much attention. This study tested a mediation model consisting of emotional exhaustion and parental functioning as dependent variables and role overload as the independent variable, with work-family conflict as its mediator. Data were gathered from a sample of 220 female junior doctors aged 40 years and below, having at least one child as well as working full-time in 14 public hospitals in Malaysia, using self-administered questionnaires. The data were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression analyses. Results of correlation analyses revealed that role overload was significantly related to work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion and parental functioning, and work-family conflict was significantly related to emotional exhaustion and parental functioning. Results of a series of multiple regression analyses indicated that work-family conflict partially mediated the relationship between role overload and emotional exhaustion, as well as the relationship between role overload and parental functioning. Junior doctors who experience role overload seem to be more emotionally drained and the role overload had an impact on the quality of parental functioning, and they seem to experience greater conflict between work and family roles. There is a need to reduce the role overload that doctors experience by reviewing the ratio between doctors and patients and re-assessing the number of work hours and the weekly frequency of on-calls. Limiting on-call frequency and hours may be more likely to reduce work-family conflict as well as emotional exhaustion.

Prof. Dr. Aminah AhmadMaznah Baba

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8225; aminah@ace.upm.edu.my

Emotional Exhaustion and Parental Functioning of Junior Medical Doctors

Keywords: Work-family conflict, dispositional factors, job factors, organisational factors, single mother employees

Researchers have identified work-family conflict as one of the major stressors in the workplace leading to various negative outcomes, including impaired well-being. Although many studies have been conducted on the experience of work-family conflict on dual-earner couples, only a few were conducted on single parent employees. The aim of this study was to determine the level of work-family conflict experienced by single mother employees and its antecedents including dispositional (locus of control, perfectionism and gender role orientation), job (role overload and role conflict) and organisational (supervisor support and job flexibility) factors. Data were gathered from 159 Malaysian single mother employees using self-administered questionnaires, and through the drop and collect method. Single mother employees meeting the following criteria were identified: (a) aged 45 and below; (b) working full-time, and (c) has at least one child. Seven scales were used to measure the variables, namely work-family conflict (8 items), locus of control (9 items), perfectionism (23 items), role conflict (7 items), role overload (10 items), supervisor support (8 items), and job flexibility (7 items) scales. Descriptive statistics, as well as correlation and regression coefficients were calculated. The findings of the study indicated that 66% of the single mother employees experienced moderate to high levels of work-family conflict. The factors that characterise employee disposition, job factors as well as organisational factors contributed 51% to work-family conflict, with job factors contributing the most. The experience of work-family conflict among single mother employees can be explained by dispositional and job factors. The findings imply the need for measures to be taken by employees, human resource managers and organisations to help reduce the level of work-family conflict. Future research needs to focus on the adoption of family-friendly employment policies that could further help reduce such conflict.

Prof. Dr. Aminah AhmadMaznah Baba and Siti Aishah Hassan

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8225; aminah@ace.upm.edu.my

Work-family Conflict among Single Mother Employees

Social Sciences

176

Keywords: Exchange rate, cointegration, granger causality, Asian

As the economies of Asian have moved towards closer economies ties and trade integration in recent years, the establishment of regional exchange rate arrangement is becoming an important regional policy concern, particularly in the wake of the Asian currency crises of 1997. Financial integration in ASEAN+3 is assessed in this paper by examining the time-series stochastic behaviour and cointegration in a set of eight ASEAN+3 currencies in pre-crises, crises and post-crises periods. Significant non-stationarity, and the presence of unit roots were documented for each currency in each sample period. The results of cointegration analysis showed that each currency is not cointegrated during the pre-crises period. Evidence of cointegration was found among few Asian currencies in the crises and post-crisis periods. These findings have important implications for understanding the potential of developing a common currency area.

Prof. Dr. Azali MohamedFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7626; azali@putra.upm.edu.my

Asian Financial Integration During the Pre and Post Crisis Periods

Keywords: Exchange rate, Japanese Yen, currency, cointegration

Member of Asian countries have been thinking about using another currency instead of the US dollar for regional trade. Hence, there is a strong case to study the Japanese yen as an alternative hard currency in this region for trade transaction. This paper investigates the long run cointegration to determine the possibility and feasibility to used yen as a future vehicle currency in the Asian region namely Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia Philippines, China, Korea and India by examining their daily exchange rate movements denominated in yen. Empirical evidence shows that four out of eight countries, namely, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Korea are the countries that support the hypothesis.

Prof. Dr. Azali MohamedFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7626; azali@putra.upm.edu.my

Japanese Yen as an Alternative Vehicle Currency in Asian Countries

Social Sciences

177

Keywords: Cost accounting system, organisational performance, oil palm enterprises, Malaysia

Turbulence in the marketplace necessitates adaptation of the cost system design to meet the changing information needs of managers (Johnson, 1990; Mia and Chenhall, 1994). Despite the assumed causal link between cost-system functionality and performance, the empirical evidence that support such a relationship is lacking and prior studies on efficacy of cost system sophistication is inconclusive and mixed. This study investigates the relationship between cost-system functionality and the performance of oil palm enterprises in Malaysia, as well as whether manager’s perceived usefulness of cost information mediates the cost-system functionality-performance relationship. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from oil palm enterprises located only in Sarawak to avoid the confounding effects of weather and soil conditions on performance. The results indicate that the cost relevance/timeliness dimension of cost-system functionality significantly enhances the performance of oil palm enterprises. However, manager’s perceived usefulness of cost information only partially mediates the cost-system functionality-non-financial performance relationship, and this is likely due to the centralised control exercised by the head office over its estate operations. This study indicates that the efficacy of cost system is contingent on environmental uncertainty. High-functional cost system is cost efficient and beneficial only when environment is highly uncertain. The oil palm enterprises are operating in a highly turbulent economic environment due to serious external challenges, such as rising costs of production inputs, stagnating yield, labor shortage and massive subsidies for production of competing crops. By selecting only oil palm enterprises for this study to ensure the operational homogeneity, the effects of cost-system functionality on performance could be examined in a more controlled setting, and this differs from prior cross-sectional studies based on firms from diverse industries. By analysing the attributes of cost-system functionality into two major dimensions, this study also shows that only relevant and timely cost information could enhance performance.

Prof. Dr. Foong Soon YauNeilson Anak Teruki

Graduate School of Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7438; syfoong@putra.upm.edu.my

Cost-system Functionality and the Performance of the Malaysian Palm Oil Industry

Keywords: Social activism, campus youth, Sri Lanka

Youths are constantly searching for a social identity and citizenry to express their inner concerns, and realize their national development. Within this context, this study identifies social activism as a means for building youths’ identity and citizenry. Numerous studies have indicated that the search for identity and citizenry is greatly influenced by both contextual and demographic factors. This paper aims to discuss the findings of a study pertaining to the contextual and demographic variables that influence social activism among campus youths in Sri Lanka. Corning’s measures of Social Activism Orientation were adapted for this study to measure social activism. The findings of this study suggest that youths, irrespective of rural and urban, coming from low income or high income households, belonging to different fields of studies or have parents with different levels of engagement in political activities, have equal levels of engagement in social activism in college campuses. However, significant differences were indicated between youths’ gender, war and non-war location context, and if their campuses are long established or newly established universities. The impact of universal free education policy is discussed with special reference to youth empowerment. Existing constrains and the lack of a youth-centered development approach and an existing institutional socio political culture on campus are also discussed.

Prof. Dr. Azimi HamzahShanta Abeysinghe and Sharifah Md. Nor

Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8230; azimi@putra.upm.edu.my

Factors Influencing Social Activism among Campus Youth in Sri Lanka

Social Sciences

178

Keywords: Complexity theory, information communications technology, knowledge for understanding and action, critical theory, structuration theory

The Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC Malaysia) has been the key engine for knowledge and information communications technology (K+ICT) development in Malaysia. Given the increasingly dynamic and complex national and international environment which the MSC Malaysia has been undergoing, major changes to its approaches, policies and practices have occurred over the past decade. Academicians, consultants and the press have been advocating and debating about the impacts and contributions of the national project. But what is required is a more sophisticated lens for seeing and explaining what had happened and prescribing positively what should happen. We apply a combination of concepts from complexity, critical and structuration theories, to provide a better description of the complex organisational, social and technological realities of the MSC Malaysia. Next, we develop critical accounts on policy and practice. Finally we elucidate on the potential to inform and improve practice, and conclude positively that the MSC Malaysia and the government could apply and fruitfully translate the complexity advantage to greatly enhance the next level of successes and impacts of MSC Malaysia in driving the transformation to a developed nation.

Prof. Dr. Han Chun KwongFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7717; han@putra.upm.edu.my

Complexity Advantage of MSC Malaysia for Transformation

Keywords: Psychosocial profile, achievement motivation, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, academic achievement, adjustment

Psychosocial profiling can help deduce an individual’s profile. It can include various behaviours, preferences, personal traits and special talents. Profiles deduced from background information have the potential to surpass conventional psychological testing methods as they consider more factors than what people say. Based on this premise, this study aims to identify levels of achievement motivation, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and self-efficacy among students in local and private universities. The study examines the number of items that reflects Malaysian university students’ behaviour profile based on psychosocial variables such as adjustment, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and academic adjustment. By looking for patterns in the available data and inferring possible outcomes, educators and the authorities concerned will be able to determine the relationship between the psychosocial variables mentioned with university students’ academic achievement. In addition, findings of the study will help to determine the relationship between the psychosocial variables mentioned with university students’ level of adjustment. The implications are discussed in terms of teaching and learning in tertiary education.

Prof. Dr. Habibah EliasRahil Mahyuddin and Nooreen NoordinFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8208; hbe@educ.upm.edu

Understanding Psychosocial Behavioural Patterns: Factors and Problems in School to University Transition

Social Sciences

179

Keywords: Teras hati budi, 26 teras hati budi Melayu, amalan nilai murni, budi pekerti dan adat sopan, ketinggian hati budi Melayu

“How True Malays Are You? - Software Hati Budi Melayu (HB Melayu) will tell you!” adalah satu alat ujian diagnostik laman web dan perisian bagi mengukur keakuran dan penyimpangan teras hati budi Melayu. Alat ini dibina dari kajian berpandukan hipotesis bahawa terdapat beberapa sifat keperibadian asas yang dimiliki bersama oleh kebanyakan anggota satu kelompok masyarakat yang dengan itu terbentuklah sejumlah keperibadian sosial atau social characters bagi kelompok itu. Dalam masyarakat Melayu, peraturan, prinsip,falsafah dan madah hikmah itu terungkap sedara indahnya dalam bentuk puisi Melayu lama seperti pantun, gurindam, peribahasa, pepatah dan sebagainya. Bentuk-bentuk bahasa berirama demikian dicipta secara anonimus oleh bijak pandai Melayu melalui deretan sejarah pengalaman dan perkembangannya dan diwariskan generasi demi generasi. Kini, bentuk-bentuk puisi tradisional demikian telah dimaktubkan dalam khazanah persuratan Melayu. Dengan meneliti sejumlah puisi Melayu lama demikian, beberapa sifat keperibadian sosial Melayu dapat dikenal pasti yang membentuk 26 komponen teras keperibadiannya atau hati budinya. 26 komponen teras hati budi Melayu itu dibina melalui pengumpulan data berdasarkan kajian ke atas puisi Melayu tradisional, iaitu pantun,peribahasa,pepatah dan lain-lain. Kajian ini adalah lanjutan daripada dapatan tersebut bertujuan mengenal pasti darjah keakuran (degree of adherence) atau penyimpangan (deviation) daripada komponen teras itu di kalangan responden terpilih. Satu set soalan soal selidik dibina berdasarkan 26 komponen teras hati budi itu untuk menguji keakuran dan penyimpangan responden terpilih daripada 26 teras itu. Berdasarkan analisis jawapan soal selidik itu,darjah keakuran atau penyimpangan dapat dikenal pasti bagi responden-responden terpilih. Daripada dapatan itu, satu “alat pengukuran diagnostik penilaian kendiri teras hati budi Melayu berasaskan laman web dan perisian” telah dibina. Alat ini akan digunakan untuk menilai mana-mana individu atau kumpulan masyarakat Melayu demi menguji keadaan keperibadian mereka. Andaiannya ialah bahawa kini di kalangan orang Melayu keakuran kepada teras keperibadian Melayu itu semakin terjejas bahkan penyelewengannya semakin bertambah yang menyebabkan munculnya pelbagai gejala sosial kini.

Prof. Dr. Hashim MusaNormahdiah Sheik Said, Siti Sarah Ab. Karim and Rozita Che Rodi

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8937; hasyim@fbmk.upm.edu.my

How True Malays Are You? - Software Hati Budi Melayu (HB Melayu) Will Tell You!

Keywords: Critical theory, structuration theory, knowledge economy, information communications technologies, Southeast Asia

Developing countries in Southeast Asia are in the process of transitioning from a production economy to a knowledge-based and innovation-led economy. Various new knowledge and information communications technology (K+ICT) mega-projects are being designed and executed at the international, national, state and industry levels to sustain competitiveness. The structures and processes by which these so-called “knowledge super corridors” (terminology used in MyCountry and MyCountry2 - pseudonyms - for the national and government initiated mega-projects in the area of information communications technology) are developed and implemented are complex economic-social-political decisions. An in-depth understanding is illustrated and assessed using two case studies concerned with formulating and implementing a k-economy blueprint and decision making to develop a knowledge portal in emerging k-economies in Southeast Asia. From analyses based on an enhanced critical theory framework whereby in-depth insights are generated from the structurational model, practical implications are drawn on success strategies for transformation.

Prof. Dr. Han Chun KwongFaculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7177; han@putra.upm.edu.my

Being Critical for Transformation: Knowledge Super Corridors in Developing Countries

Social Sciences

180

Keywords: Competencies, delphi technique, Malaysia, occupational safety and health professionals

Competencies of occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals have become a concern due to the significance of safety management in the field of safety engineering. The purpose of this article is to identify competencies needed by OSH professionals. These competencies are required by professionals in administrating and enforcing legislations related to OSH in Malaysia. This study used Delphi technique in three rounds of data collection. The benefits of this research approach are the use of experts in gaining opinions without time and geographical restraints. The results show 25 generic competencies with combinations of cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies and 33 functional or specific competencies including knowledge and skills needed by OSH professionals. Both generic and functional competencies are also divided into threshold and differentiating competencies that would be used to differentiate average and excellent performance of OSH professionals.

Prof. Dr. Maimunah IsmailRabaayah Daud and Zoharah OmarFaculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8111; mismail@educ.upm.edu.my

Identification of Competencies for Malaysian Occupational Safety and Health Professionals using Delphi Technique

Keywords: Food attributes, food safety, willingness to pay, vegetables

In a developing economy like Malaysia with rising per capita income, there have been changes in the consumer demand for food attributes such as safety, freshness, appearance and texture. This study investigated the demand for food safety attributes for vegetables. The results suggested that food safety attributes were ranked the highest for leafy and root vegetables, and ranked second behind freshness for fruit vegetables. Consumers were also willing to pay premium prices for the safety attributes. The findings would have positive implications for the agrifood industry if it responds effectively to translate into business opportunities to these changes.

Prof. Dr. Mad Nasir ShamsudinAhmad Hanis Izani Abdul Hadi, Jinap Selamat, and Alias RadamInstitute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8947 1089; hanis.izani@gmail.com

Demand for Food Safety Attributes for Vegetables in Malaysia

Social Sciences

181

Keywords: Learners’ attitude, CD-ROM courseware

The paper seeks to explore two factors associated with learners’ attitude toward learning through CD-ROM courseware: (1) learners’ characteristic; and (2) characteristics of CD-ROM courseware. Data were administered using an instrument custom designed for the study. The respondents were 150 employees of the selected organisation who had used any CD-ROM courseware in any of the organisation’s learning centres during a specified one-month period. Results show that: (1) the majority of respondents surveyed found to have favorable attitude toward the last CD-ROM courseware they had used; (2) learners’ attitude towards computers was found to be highly correlated with learners’ attitude towards CD-ROM courseware; and (3) courseware characteristics of textology and immediate feedback were identified as two of the most highly correlated factors. In learning through CD-ROM courseware, learners’ characteristics such as learners’ attitude towards computers, their working experience and educational achievement need to be taken into consideration. In CD-ROM courseware development, characteristics such as textology and immediate feedback are important elements that facilitate positive attitude towards learning. This study is useful to CD-ROM courseware developers and training managers in developing a more appropriate training for learners.

Prof. Dr. Mazanah MuhamadAhmad Zamri Mansor and On Lily

Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2705; mazanah@ace.upm.edu.my

Learners’ Attitude towards Learning through CD-ROM Courseware: A Case Study of an Organisation

Keywords: Continuing education, working Muslim women

The forces of the knowledge-based and global economy have made it essential for every citizen to contribute towards the development of the country. In the case of Malaysia where women comprise a crucial half of the productive workforce, their contribution can have significant impact on the country’s development. Today, many Muslim women in Malaysia are educated and making important contribution to the country’s economy and monetary contribution towards better standard of living for their families. However, not many women further their education once they have joined the workforce and started their families. This article reports on research conducted among 85 Muslim women working in eight government and semi-government departments in Perak (a northern state in Malaysia) and seeks to provide information on their (a) reasons for non-participation and (b) relationship between reasons for non-participation and demographic variables. Data indicated three barriers: financial constraints, family commitment and lack of benefits which reflect situational and dispositional barriers consistent with earlier findings. The inquiries also showed that demographic characteristics together with deterrent factors do have an impact on women particularly in advancing their education.

Prof. Dr. Mazanah MuhamadFarizah Ahmad

Institute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2705; mazanah@ace.upm.edu.my

Barriers to Continuing Education among Working Muslim Women in Government and Semi-government Organisations in Malaysia

Social Sciences

182

Keywords: E-komuniti, media teknologi komunikasi, minda kelas pertama, sistem pengurusan maklumat

Perkembangan pesat teknologi komunikasi terutamanya penggunaan Internet, telah membawa kepada kewujudkan satu masyarakat baru yang berkomunikasi di alam siber iaitu masyarakat e-kommuniti. Fenomena e-komuniti ini adalah selaras dengan hasrat kerajaan untuk mewujudkan sebuah masyarakat berpengetahuan berasaskan teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi (ICT). Selaras dengan itu, usaha kerajaan mewujudkan rakyat ke arah berfikiran ‘minda kelas pertama’ telah menjadi kunci utama dalam Rancangan Malaysia ke Sembilan (RM9). Kerajaan telah membina infrastruktur dan kemudahan prasarana teknologi yang bertaraf kelas pertama bagi membolehkan masyarakat menggunakan ICT bagi pembangunan negara. Portal e-komuniti juga turut bertambah di alam siber. Namun sejauhmanakah ciri portal e-komuniti minda kelas pertama yang diperlukan? Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk mengenalpasti ciri-ciri portal e-komuniti minda kelas pertama yang diperlukan. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah kuantitatif dengan menggunakan borang soal-selidik yang telah diedarkan secara on-line melalui portal e-komuniti dan juga melalui bersemuka. Sebanyak 651 borang soal-selidik telah dikembalikan. Ciri-ciri portal berkonsepkan minda kelas pertama telah ditanya berdasarkan kepada ciri-ciri fizikal, kandungan dan pentadbiran. Hasil kajian menunjukan bahawa ciri-ciri fizikal portal yang berkonsepkan minda kelas pertama adalah mudah digunakan (96%), menarik perhatian pengguna (89%) dan mempunyai enjin pencarian yang lain (82%). Sementara dari segi aspek kandungan pula, maklumat dan fakta yang tepat (91%) amatlah diperlukan serta mempunyai topik pelbagai (90%), adalah merupakan ciri-ciri yang berkonsepkan minda kelas pertama. Ciri-ciri pentadbiran portal e-komuniti juga mestilah mempunyai ruang maklumbalas (95%), tarikh kemaskini (94%), dan jaminan keselamatan (94%). Dalam hal ini bagi mewujudkan portal e-komuniti berkonsep minda kelas pertama perkara di atas perlulah diambil kira. Ini selaras dengan keperluan masyarakat kini yang mempunyai masa yang terhad dan melihat e-komuniti sebagai salah satu komuniti untuk bersosialisasi. Ia telah mengubah cara mereka bersosialisasi iaitu dari kaedah tradisional bersemuka kepada melalui perantaraan media teknologi. Hasil kajian ini juga boleh menyumbang kepada pembinaan model e-komuniti yang memenuhi konsep minda kelas pertama.

Prof. Dr. Musa Abu HassanSiti Zobidah Omar, Rusli Abdullah, Jusang Bolong and Narimah IsmailFaculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6992; musa@putra.upm.edu.my

Keperluan Ciri-ciri Portal E-komuniti Berkonsepkan Minda Kelas Pertama

Keywords: Komunikasi berkualiti, komunikasi keluarga, salah laku remaja

Clark and Shields (1997) dan Klein et al. (1997) mendapati mendapati komunikasi anak dengan ibu bapa sebagai salah satu daripada pembolehubah yang berkait dengan peningkatan dan penurunan kadar salah laku dalam kalangan kanak-kanak. Hartos dan Power (2000) juga turut mendapati komunikasi antara remaja dan ibubapa mempunyai kaitan dengan tingkah laku positif dan negatif seseorang remaja. Manakala Barberet (2004) menjelaskan hubungan yang rapat antara ibu bapa dengan anak-anak dapat menjadi penghalang kepada salah laku remaja. Kajian oleh Siti Noor Diana Juhari (2007) menyatakan antara faktor lain yang mempengaruhi amalan komunikasi berkualiti adalah persekitaran yang kondusif iaitu dari segi persekitaran fizikal dan juga sosial. Dapatan oleh Salleh et. al. (2009) menggariskan kriteria yang membentuk komunikasi berkualiti adalah keterbukaan, telus, kejujuran, jelas, berkomunikasi seperti rakan, membuat aktiviti dan meluangkan masa bersama. Menyedari akan peri pentingnya komunikasi berkualiti dalam membentuk sahsiah diri seorang remaja dan akan masalah sosial remaja yang semakin membimbangkan kebelakangan ini, maka kajian ini diharap dapat menguraikan isu tersebut dan memberikan alternatif penyelesaian yang lebih berkesan dalam membantu mengatasi masalah sosial remaja hari ini. Kajian ini telah dijalankan ke atas 641 orang pelajar sekolah menengah harian biasa di sekitar Kuala Lumpur. Sampel dipilih secara rawak berperingkat. Peringkat pertama dipilih berdasarkan gred sekolah dengan jumlah pelajar melebihi 1500 orang dan terdiri daripada lelaki dan perempuan. Seterusnya pemilihan dibuat berdasarkan nisbah pelajar mengikut kaum iaitu 5Melayu: 4Cina: 1India. Kajian mendapati bahawa secara keseluruhan tahap salahlaku remaja berada pada tahap yang rendah dengan jenis salahlaku tertinggi dilakukan ialah ponteng sekolah. Majoriti remaja (62.9%) merasakan tahap amalan komunikasi mereka adalah sederhana. Didapati pembolehubah kaum dan masa yang diperuntukkan untuk berkomunikasi mempunyai kaitan terhadap amalan komunikasi seseorang remaja. Manakala analisis perkaitan (korelasi) mendapati terdapat perkaitan yang signifikan tetapi songsang (r = -.172; p = .000) antara amalan komunikasi dengan salah laku.

Prof. Dr. Md. Salleh Hj. HassanInstitute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8571; mdsalleh@putra.upm.edu.my

Amalan Komunikasi Berkualiti dalam Keluarga: Strategi Menangani Salahlaku Remaja

Social Sciences

183

Keywords: Entrepreneurial leadership development, entrepreneurial learning, experience, social interaction, university students

Recent developments in entrepreneurial leadership raised many questions about how to develop entrepreneurial leadership capabilities specifically, on university students. This qualitative research is to answer some of the questions through an entrepreneurial learning approach. Six undergraduate students who are actively involved in leading entrepreneurial projects of university entrepreneurship programs were purposefully selected as the participants. The semi-structured interviews were conducted on how the participants developed their entrepreneurial leadership. Findings emphasise the importance of entrepreneurial learning in the process of entrepreneurial leadership development. Furthermore, students’ entrepreneurial leadership develops through a dynamic and continuous process of experiential and social interactive learning.

Prof. Dr. Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope PihieAfsaneh Bagheri

Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8217; zalp@educ.upm.edu.my

Entrepreneurial Leadership Competencies Development: The Pervasive Role of Experience and Social Interaction Learning

Keywords: Organisational learning, organisational commitment, job satisfaction, work performance, public sector, Malaysia

The literature review reveals that there is a relationship between organisational learning, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and work performance. However, it is apparent that the integrated relationships between these variables have not been found to be reported. Hence, we examine the relationship among these variables using a sample of public service managers in Malaysia. Organisational learning was found positively related to organisational commitment, job satisfaction, and work performance. Organisational commitment and job satisfaction are also positively related with work performance and these variables partially mediate the relationship between organisational learning and work performance. Implication of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed in this paper.

Prof. Dr. Raduan Che RoseNaresh Kumar and Ong Gua Pak

Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7787; rcr@putra.upm.edu.my

The Effect of Organisational Learning on Organisational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Work Performance

Social Sciences

184

Keywords: Honeycomb housing, alternative concept, kampong in the city

In the 21st century where quality is the measurer of all, developers are competing with each other in providing better living environment to attract home buyers. Therefore, modern developers are willing to try out new concepts to provide varieties for potential buyers. The concept of Honeycomb housing which is introduced in the year 2004 is seen as a new alternative for the housing development of the nation. Honeycomb housing is a new Malaysian innovation and offers an affordable and environmentally friendly alternative to terrace house. In conventional schemes, houses are laid out in rows in the familiar, ubiquitous terraces, but in the Honeycomb layout the houses are placed in circular fashion around a central space to form a small neighbourhood of between 5 to 16 houses. The central spaces are linked to each other and to the main distribution roads by short connecting service roads. The central space - a kind of an open courtyard - consists of a cul-de-sac looping around a communal garden. In conclusion, Honeycomb cul-de-sac housing is a new Malaysian town planning concept where cluster houses surround neighbourhood parks with large shady trees in secure child-friendly communities. It is a scientific recreation of the Malay kampong in urban areas and resembles the bees honeycomb.

Mr. Bukryman SabriNurizan Yahaya, Mazlin Ghazali, Mohd. Peter Davis, Anniz Fazli Ibrahim Bajunid and Muhamat Yawasi ShahuddinFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7100; bukryman@putra.upm.edu.my

Social and Psychological Analysis on Honeycomb Housing

Keywords: belia, masalah sosial, sosialisasi, psikologi

Golongan belia merupakan tunggak utama dan aset penting dalam menerajui tampuk kepimpinan negara pada masa hadapan. Namun, sejak kebelakangan ini, masalah sosial dan keruntuhan akhlak terutamanya di kalangan golongan belia di negara ini semakin jelas dan parah sehingga ke tahap yang amat membimbangkan semua pihak. Justeru, kajian ini akan membincangkan mengenai isu sosial yang sering dikaitkan dengan dengan penglibatan golongan belia sehingga menjadi isu polemik. Kajian akan memfokus kepada persoalan latarbelakang sosio-psikologi belia berisiko dan memahami faktor-faktor sosial dan psikologi yang menyumbang kepada masalah sosial di kalangan belia menggunakan pendekatan psikososial. Kajian ini akan menggunakan pendekatan temu bual peribadi berstruktur secara mendalam, pemerhatian tidak turut serta dan tinjauan sosial menggunakan borang soal selidik. Seramai 270 orang responden yang terdiri daripada mereka yang berisiko terlibat dengan masalah sosial akan dipilih sebagai responden berdasarkan kaedah persampelan rawak mudah. Borang soal selidik akan memfokus kepada latar belakang psikologi belia yang terlibat untuk mengukur personaliti, kendiri dan ciri psikologi belia dan proses sosialisasi mereka dengan rakan sebaya dan keluarga. Statistik diskriptif dalam bentuk peratus, mod dan min digunakan untuk menjelaskan maklumat latar belakang responden dan memberi gambaran kepada angkubah yang diukur. Selain itu, statistik inferensi juga digunakan untuk melihat perkaitan di antara angkubah iaitu dengan menggunakan ujian korelasi Pearson dan juga regresi. Dapatan kajian akan membentuk sebuah model sosio-psikologikal di mana melalui pembentukan satu model sosio-psikologi dengan data empirikal, ia dapat digunakan sebagai langkah intervensi untuk menghalang masalah ini dari menular dan menjadi gejala sosial di kalangan belia.

Dr. Haslinda AbdullahNorbaya Ahmad, Zaid Ahmad and Sarjit SinghInstitute of Social Science Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7876; lynn@putra.edu.my

Kajian Pembentukan Model-psikologikal dalam Memahami Isu Sosial Belia di Lembah Klang

Social Sciences

185

Keywords: Honeycomb housing, alternative concept, kampong in the city

Honeycomb cul-de-sac housing is a new Malaysian town planning concept. This ‘Consumer Impact Survey’ offers a way of pre-testing the commercial viability of any ‘Honeycomb’ housing project at the early design stage. This study determines the affordability, preference and number of potential buyers for the ‘Honeycomb Housing’ concept versus equivalent conventional housing that would normally be built on the same site. The acceptance amongst civil servants and the general public was overwhelming in consumer surveys using site models and architectural drawings. In five surveys involving 1385 respondents, 54% were ‘passionate’ (strongly liked) for Honeycomb housing compared to only 3% for equivalent conventional Malaysian housing. Thus, 94% of 1385 respondents preferred Honeycomb houses and apartments compared to 6% for the same priced normal apartments and terrace houses. Honeycomb housing priced between RM40,000 to RM160,000 was affordable to the lower 85% of respondents. Honeycomb can supersede terrace housing. Surprisingly, the self selected housing affordability of the lower 80% of potential home buyers (those who wanted to buy a new home in 1 to 5 years) was at least RM40K up to around RM160K. This new finding contradicts the Government mandate that 30% of new housing must be in the RM25K to RM45K range and explains why they are increasingly difficult to sell. Husband and wife are now both working and combining their incomes for housing loans. Government low-cost housing has outlived its usefulness and is becoming socially unacceptable. Honeycomb housing has created a new market. Even though the large majority of respondents have already owned their own home, 72% wanted to buy the new Honeycomb housing compared to only 5% for terrace housing and conventional apartments. By measuring consumer preferences at a very early stage of housing project, the affordability, cultural acceptability and many other factors of new houses and their surroundings can be forecasted amongst different sections of the house buying public.

Mr. Bukryman SabriNurizan Yahaya, Mazlin Ghazali, Mohd. Peter Davis, Anniz Fazli Ibrahim Bajunid and Muhamat Yawasi

ShahuddinFaculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7100; bukryman@putra.upm.edu.my

Quality of Life (QoL): Comparison between Honeycomb Housing and Terrace Houses

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Science, Technology & Engineering

187

Keywords: Generator, mobile generator, permanent magnet generator

The invention relates to a generator and more particularly relates to a permanent magnet generator (PMG). This invention is named Mobile Generator due to its advantages of small size, light weight and high power compared to conventional generator. The Mobile Generator converts mechanical energy supplied by a petrol engine to an electrical energy. This type of Mobile Generator used permanent magnets which are embedded inside the rotor whereas the conventional generator available in the market only used excitation coil. The Mobile Generator can be applied to power outdoor electrical equipment such as electrical cutter, electrical lamps, search and rescue equipment, military weapons, life and support system for critical patients.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norhisam MisronNorafiza Masruni, Ishak Aris, Raja Nor Firdaus Kashfi Raja Othman and Suhairi Rizuan Che Ahmad

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6299; norhisam@eng.upm.edu.my

Mobile Electrical Generator

Keywords: Site selection, model builder, GIS

Schools which are located in a strategic, healthy and safe area play an important role in improving students’ performance and excellence. To ensure both success and long-term sustainability of the school planning, the search for suitable sites for school is important and challenging. This study developed systematic geoprocessing workflow model using Model Builder in ArcGIS 9.2 software to determine the most suitable school location. The model divided into four categories; demography model, safety model, constraint model and suitability analysis model. The demography, safety and constraint model were combined (overlay) using Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) technique and Map Algebra for final result of potential school site selection in suitability analysis model. The importance relatives (weight) of each criterion in the model were obtained from AHP and pair-wise approach. Decision makers evaluation has been used for developing a set of school siting criteria which was used to design a number of potential sites using spatial analysis model. The study also suggested a conceptual framework for school site selection. All the development models were integrated in one system which was carried through the use of geographic information system (GIS) software and Object Oriented language to determine the most suitable school location. The development of the system will be able to be used by relevant authority in trying to identify the best site of school location.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Rodzi MahmudZubaidah Bukhari

Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7543; armcorp@gmail.com

Development of School Site Selection Model

Science, Technology & Engineering

188

Keywords: Heavy metal detector, colorimetric

The invention is about development of a new rapid, portable, inexpensive detection heavy metal detector based on color detection system. The detection scheme is based on the color changes of the chromogenic reagent that reacts with toxic metals. The color changes will be detected by a photodiode or phototransistor sensor. The photodiode or phototransistor sensor will produce electrical signal which will be processed by a microcontroller. The microcontroller will display the level of quantity of toxic metal that reflects the safety of that liquid samples.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Azah YusofNorhisam Misron and Raja Nor Firdaus Kashfi Raja OthmanFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6782; azah@science.upm.edu.my

Portable Heavy Metal Detector

Keywords: Xylopia species, antimicrobial activity, in vitro cytotoxicity, leaf essential oils

The essential oils from the leaves of three local Xylopia species (Xylopia malayana, X. fusca and X. elliptica) were analysed for their antimicrobial properties, cytotoxic effects and chemical compositions. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by using the broth dilution method against eleven strains of microorganism while the cytotoxic effects were evaluated by the MTT assay. Our data showed that the oils possess moderate to high degrees of antibacterial and antifungal activities towards all the microorganisms tested, particularly against the multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and dermatophytes fungi. Cytotoxicity test on two human skin-derived cell lines - Chang liver and CRL-1177, proved that the oils were not toxic to human cells. Using the GC-MS method, we have identified more than fifty different chemical constituents in the leaf oils, representing 78.8%-94.4% of the total oil. ?-pinene (42.0%), ?-pinene (15.2%), elemol (11.6%) and bicyclogermacrene (5.2%) were abundant in Xylopia malayana; germacrene D (17.0%), bicyclogermacrene (12.0%), ?-elemene (11.5%) and ?-pinene (10.1%) were major constituents in X. fusca; whereas, bicyclogermacrene (11.5%), sabinene (10.6%), ?-pinene (9.0%), elemol (8.1%) and ?-pinene (5.4%) made the main components of X. elliptica oil. Subject to further pharmacodynamic and safety evaluations, our findings support the possible use of Xylopia leaf oils as a safer alternative to synthetic active ingredient for personal care products. In addition, the unique chemical constituents of the individual oil can be used as a chemotaxonomic guide for the identification of the genus Xylopia.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Puad AbdullahSiti Humeirah Ab Ghani, Nor Azah Mohd. Ali, Mailina Jamil, Mastura Mokhtar and Muhajir HamidFaculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7478; puad@biotech.upm.edu.my

Xylopia Leaf Oil - A Potential Care Product Ingredient

Science, Technology & Engineering

189

Keywords: Grading system, oil palm fruit bunch, external features, real time, FFB

This research deals with the ripeness grading of oil palm fruit bunches of different ripeness category for different types of oil palm. The current practice in the oil palm mills is to grade the oil palm bunches manually using human graders. This method is subjective and subject to disputes. The grading systems in general utilise improved engineering designs in image processing for product grading. In this research, a real time oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) scanner was designed based on external properties of the FFB. An image processing technique was developed to automate the grading for oil palm fruit bunches. This grading system was developed to separate between the different types of oil palm fruit bunches and then distinguish between the different ripeness categories. The real time grading system can differentiate between different ripeness categories of oil palm fruit bunches based on the combination of different parameters of fruit surface. This system will be useful to the oil palm plantations in Malaysia and in the rest of the world. It will benefit oil palm engineers, oil palm mills, oil palm managers, oil palm small holders and oil palm enforcement agencies.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed ShariffMeftah Salem M. Alfatni, Osama Mohammed Ben Saeed, Mohd. Zaid Abdullah, Mohd. Hamiruce Marhaban,

Suhaidi Shafie and Mohd. Din AmiruddinInstitute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7543; rashidpls3@gmail.com

Real Time Oil Palm Fruit Grading System

Keywords: SOAP, interoperability, intelligent building

Managing heterogeneous subsystems in an intelligent building has always been elusive due to lack of interoperability factor. This is due to the nature of heterogeneous systems in an intelligent building as a distributed entity that needs a certain degree of interoperability and joint execution of tasks for managing heterogeneous systems that consist of different platforms and protocols. There is a need for interoperability in an intelligent building with a bespoke solution that could make the heterogeneous subsystems talk with each other and interoperate regardless of the operating platform. To solve the interoperability problem, Web Services technology is seen as a potential solution that could deal with the dynamic environment of an intelligent building. In this invention, we describe a SOAP-based proactive architecture for managing heterogeneous subsystems in an intelligent building. The invented architecture solution utilises the SOAP technology together with ECA rule mechanism in managing subsystems interoperation in a federated manner. Experiments and performance evaluation of the architecture had been carried out to justify the performance requirement of heterogeneous systems in an intelligent building.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abd. Rahman RamliThinagaran Perumal, Chui Yew Leong, Rosiah Osman, Khairulmizam Samsudin and Shattri Mansor

Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7532; arr@eng.upm.edu.my

A Proactive Architecture for Heterogeneous Subsystems Interoperability in Intelligent Building

Science, Technology & Engineering

190

Keywords: Spatial relations, macro language, natural language, robot behaviours, semantic

The deployment of robotics technologies in various fields has seen rapid growing during the last several years in the world. In this context, cognition of behavioural robots to bring the benefits and potential of Artificial Intelligence that has so far been lacking connectivity to the behaviour control in real world phenomena. Several languages used earlier for different level of control structure of robots. These languages are very complex for most users and need high skill to work. Real-world complexity combined with the complexity of robotic behaviours and programming results in a situation that is difficult to understand. These complexities can be abridged by developing macro languages with natural semantics and reserved words. This thesis aims to develop macro language for robotics behaviour which could represent the spatial relationships. This will be done using natural English level language as in describing tasks to another person. The macro languages will be developed based on identified and verified 9-intersection model.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed ShariffMd. Roshidul Hasan, Abdul Rahman Ramli and Ishak IrisInstitute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7543; rashidpls3@gmail.com

Development of Macro Language for Robotics Behaviour Representing Spatial Relationships in Natural Language

Keywords: Hyperspectral, grading system, maturity, illumination system, classification, oil palm, FFB

This research deals with the determination of the ripeness of the oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB) using the hyperspectral method. As the FFB have a convex surface, the conventional hyperspectral scanner is not suitable to be used to determine the ripeness characteristics of the FFB. This research carried out modification to make the conventional hyperspectral scanner suitable for maturity detection of FFB. This is achieved through improvements to the illumination system of the hyperspectral scanner. The strategic positioning of the lamps helps provide shadow free illumination. Data collected by this system is subjected to computer vision technique for purposes of FFB classification. The resulting network is then integrated back into the system. Application software developed in the Matlab 7.0 environment is used to classify the FFB. The classification mechanism categorises the ripeness of oil palm fruit bunches into three different classes of oil palm fruit. The results are then confirmed by a trained human grader. Our system helps to increase the quality of grading of fresh fruit bunches (FFB). It will be useful to the oil palm industry, oil palm engineers, mill operators, plantation managers, small holders and to the research community.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed ShariffOsama Mohamed Ben Saeed, Ahmad Rodzi Mahmud, Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd., Mohd. Din Amiruddin and Meftah Salem AlfatniInstitute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7543; rashidpls3@gmail.com

Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) Hyperspectral Scanner

Science, Technology & Engineering

191

Keywords: Enzyme-based biosensor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde dehydrogenase, fish, nafion polymer

Formaldehyde (FA) is often used in fishery industry as preservative to maintain its freshness and prevent microbial spoilage. However, it is harmful for human consumption when used in excess as the residues retained in the fish muscles although it has been cooked, roasted or boiled. Several methods such as Nash method, HPLC, GC-MS, bio-sniffer and electronic nose have been used for determination of formaldehyde. Nevertheless, these methods involved long hours, toxic reagents and maybe interrupted by interferences, resulted biases in analysis and not suitable for real-time measurements. Thus, an enzyme-based biosensor was developed for formaldehyde determination comprising three electrodes; working electrode, reference electrode and counter electrode, wherein formaldehyde dehydrogenase immobilised in Nafion polymer through entrapment technique by drop coating method on the surface of the working electrode. A method for formaldehyde determination is conducted by applying samples which contain formaldehyde in the biosensor and the results are obtained by measuring the current changes as the output signal at the constant voltage, referring the presence of formaldehyde.The enzyme solution is prepared by dissolving the appropriate amount in 0.1 M of phosphate buffer at different pH ranging from 6.5 to 8.5, with optimum pH of 8. Immobilization of the enzyme is done by mixing the solution with Nafion polymer at different ratio (1:10,1:20, 1:30, 1:40 and 1:50) by retaining the amount of the enzyme volume as the enzyme is expensive to be used in bulk. The optimum ratio is at 1:20. The mixture is then sonicated for 15 min to homogenise and to make sure the immobilisation of enzyme in the polymer to occur completely. The mixture is then stored at 4oC after or before being used to avoid the denaturation of the enzyme. The system can detect 0.01 to 20ppm formaldehyde and is stable for up to six months and retains 90% of response.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatimah Abu BakarNur Indang Marzuki, Abu Bakar Salleh, Nor Azah Yusof and Lee Yoke Heng

Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8375; fatim@putra.upm.edu.my

An Enzyme-based Biosensor for Determination of Formaldehyde in Fish and Fish Products

Keywords: Optimal route, web-based GIS, student bus transportation, network analysis, bus route networking

Nowadays, web-based GIS application plays a significant role to carry out a lot of services for public users and become increasingly popular for solving problems and making decisions. This project outlines the development of web-based application to serve a student’s needs. Some of students’ needs are to find out a particular location especially in a big area such as UPM University, and getting the optimal route between two addresses to minimise the time and effort. In addition, to obtain the best and alternative solutions in bus system decision making. Using ArcGIS Server for Microsoft .NET framework with its capability in network analysis and ASP.NET, the web-based has the ability to determine the optimal route and build custom interface for UPM bus services to interact with students easily and effectively. This is of great help for improvement in transit services for students.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Mohamed ShariffMubarak Abdul Fattah Abdul Munim, Nik Norasma Che’ya, and Ebrahim Jahanshiri

Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7543; rashidpls@gmail.com

Web-based GIS Application for Selecting Optimal Road and Bus Modelling for UPM

Science, Technology & Engineering

192

Keywords: Differential game, control, strategy, evasion, Hilbert space

We study an evasion differential game problem described by an infinite system of differential equations with countably many Pursuers in a Hilbert space. Integral constraints are imposed on the control functions of players. We mention that evasion is possible if the position of the evader does not coincide with the position of any Pursuer. We assume that the total resource of controls of the Pursuers is less than that of the Evaders. In this paper, we prove a theorem on evasion. The important point in the proof of the theorem is that the set of all octants in the Hilbert space is continuum. We construct explicitly the strategy of the Evader also.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gafurjan IbragimovRisman Mat Hasim and Idham Arif Hj. AliasFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6818; gafur@science.upm.edu.my

An Evasion Differential Game in Hilbert Space

Keywords: Runge-Kutta, linear, error norm

A new fourth order four-stage Diagonally Implicit Runge-Kutta (DIRK) method which is specially designed for the integration of Linear Ordinary Differential Equations (LODEs) is constructed. In the derivation, Butcher’s error equations are used where one of them can be eliminated due to the property of the LODE itself. To ensure the method is of high order, the free parameters used to solve the order equations are obtained by minimising the error norm of the fifth order method. The stability aspect of the method is investigated and it is found to have a bigger region of stability compared to the explicit Runge-Kutta (ERK) method of the same type (designed for the integration of LODE). A set of test problems which are used to validate the method and numerical results show that the method produced smaller global error compared to the ERK method.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fudziah IsmailNur Izzati Che Jawias, Mohamed Suleiman and Azmi JaafarFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6811; fudziah@math.upm.edu.my

Diagonally Implicit Runge-Kutta Fourth Order Four-stage Method with Minimised Error Norm for Solving Ordinary Differential Equations

Science, Technology & Engineering

193

Keywords: Contamination, control charting, statistical process control, in-control, out-of-control, outlier, robust estimation, Shewhart chart

Control charts are one of the most powerful tools used to detect aberrant behaviour in industrial process. In addition to their uses in the context of statistical process control, control charts are also used as an exploratory tool in the context of exploratory data analysis. In view of monitoring a process that has contaminated data with traditional control charts such as Shewhart chart and Range chart, results in excessive number of false alarms. Robust control chart is a better alternative to traditional charts for a process with contaminated data as the effects of the outlying data values are eliminated. In this article, we develop a control charting procedure that meets the needs of exploratory analysis and has its purpose of detection the assignable causes of variation by revealing evidence of variation sources. The proposed methodology is demonstrated with a real-life example. A numerical example was given and a simulation study was conducted to illustrate the performance of the proposed method.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah MidiNg Kooi Huat

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6876; habshahmidi@gmail.com

Robust Individuals Control Chart using a Change Point Formulation

Keywords: Differential equation, infinite system, Hilbert space, solution

Some of the control problems for parabolic and hyperbolic partial differential equations can be reduced to the control problems described by infinite systems of ordinary differential equations by using the decomposition method. It is natural that the solution space of this infinite system is closely connected with the differential operator in the parabolic or hyperbolic equation. In this paper, we study an infinite system of differential equations of second order in one frame separately from the partial differential equations mentioned above. At the same time, the system we considered largely extends the system obtained from partial differential equation. We prove the existence and uniqueness theorem in a Hilbert space. In addition, we establish continuity of the solution in the norm of that space. The proved theorem enables the investigation of an optimal control and differential game problems described by such a system.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gafurjan Ibragimov Fateh Abdo Ali Allahabi

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6818; gafur@science.upm.edu.my

Solution of an Infinite System of Differential Equations

Science, Technology & Engineering

194

Keywords: HTML web pages, information extraction

Extraction of information from the web pages becomes very important because the massive and increasing amount of diverse semi-structured information sources in the Internet that are available to users, and the variety of web pages that make the process of information extraction from the web a challenging problem and the ever-growing large area of research. Many researchers work on extraction of information from web pages in different domains such as business intelligence and products. Most of the previous works are limited due to the facts that their approaches are not able to handle (i) web pages with the genuine and non genuine web tables and (ii) the attributes that appear under different names but refer to the same entity (i.e., synonym). In this project, we proposed a strategy for extracting and analysing information from semi-structured web data source which consists of two approaches. An approach for extracting and classifying information from various web pages and an approach for analysing and simplifying the extracted and classified information. Two analyses have been conducted on four different domains. From the first analysis, the following can be concluded: during the process of extracting information from various web pages, it is important to handle the genuine and non genuine web tables as well as the synonyms as ignoring them might cause one to miss the information that is relevant to the user. While in the second analysis, for the Nokia products, our proposed approaches achieved increment in F and P as well as decrement in R as compared to that of Ashraf et al (2008). These analyses show that the proposed strategy which includes two approaches is able to extract and analyse information from various web pages with the genuine and non genuine web tables as well as handling the issue of synonyms.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hamidah IbrahimMahmoud Sh. Al-Hassan, Ali Amer Alwan, Lili Nurliyana Abdullah and Aida MustaphaFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8943 6510; hamidah@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Extracting Information from Semi-structured Web Pages

Keywords: Coefficient determination, generalised M-estimators, high leverage points, variance inflation factor

In this study, we propose the Robust Variance Inflation Factors (RVIFs) in the detection of multicollinearity due to high leverage points or extreme outliers in the X-direction. The computation of RVIFs is based on robust coefficient determinations which we called RR2 (MM) and RR2 (GM (DRGP)). RR2 (MM) is coefficient determination of high breakdown point and efficient MM-estimators whereas RR2 (GM (DRGP)) has been defined through an improved GM-estimators. GM (DRGP) is a GM-estimator with the main aim as downweighting high leverage points with large residuals. It has been introduced by employing S-estimators as initial values, Diagnostic Robust Generalized Potential based on MVE [DRGP (MVE)] as initial weight function and an Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares (IRLS) has been utilised as a convergence method. The numerical results and Monte Carlo simulation study indicate that the proposed RVIFs are very resistant to the high leverage points and unable to detect the multicollinearity in the data especially RR2 [GM (DRGP)]. Hence, this indicates that the high leverage points are the source of multicollinearity.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah MidiArezoo BagheriInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6876; habshahmidi@gmail.com

Robust Multicollinearity Diagnostic Measures based on Robust Coefficient Determination

Science, Technology & Engineering

195

Keywords: Filifform leibniz algebra, invariant, isomorphism

There is a subclass of Leibniz algebra called filiform Leibniz algebras. The classification of this class can be obtained from two sources. First is the naturally graded non Lie filiform Leibniz algebras and the second is the naturally graded non Lie filiform Lie algebras. Here, we suggest an approach classifying a subclass of nilpotent Leibniz algebras called filiform Leibniz algebras. The approach is based on algebraic invariant. The condition of being isomorphic is given in terms of invariant functions. This method classifies all filiform Leibniz algebras in the given finite dimensional case. Moreover, the result can be used for geometric classification (the description of orbit closures)of such algebra. In 2001s Goze and Omirov introduced theorem which is split into three subclasses and they gave isomorphism cretirion only for the first and second classes. In 2006, Bekbaev and Rakhimov suggested an approach to solve the isomorphism problem for these two classes based on algebraic invariants. According to this method, the cretirion for two algebras to be isomorphic is given in terms of invariants function. By using BR-method, we find the isomorphism classes. For the third class of filiform Leibniz algebras during (2009-2009) Omirov et. al. give almost all of the details for this class, in addition classification up to dimension 9.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Isamiddin S. RakhimovMunther A.Hassan and Sharifah Kartini Said Husain

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6831; risamiddin@gmail.com

An Invariant Approach to the Classification Problem of Finite-dimensional Filiform Leibniz Algebras

Keywords: Distributed database, integrity constraint, checking integrity constraint, integrity test, ranking integrity test

Most of the previous studies concerning checking the integrity constraints in distributed database derive simplified forms of the initial integrity constraints with the sufficiency property, since the sufficient test is known to be cheaper than the complete test and its initial integrity constraint as it involves less data to be transferred across the network and can always be evaluated at the target site (single site). Their studies are limited as they depend strictly on the assumption that an update operation will be executed at a site where the relation specified in the update operation is located, which is not always true. Hence, the sufficient test, which is proven to be a local test by previous study, is no longer appropriate. This project proposes an approach to check integrity constraints in a distributed database by utilising as much as possible the local information stored at the target site. The proposed approach derives support tests as an alternative to the existing complete and sufficient tests proposed by previous researchers with the intention to increase the number of local checking regardless the location of the submitted update operation. Having these alternatives of tests, then selecting the most suitable test becomes an issue that needs to be tackled. Thus, we proposed a model to rank and select the suitable test to be evaluated given several alternative tests. Several analyses have been performed to evaluate the proposed strategy, and the results show that support tests can benefit the distributed database, where local constraint checking can be achieved.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hamidah IbrahimAli Amer Alwan, Nur Izura Udzir and Fatimah Sidi

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8943 6510; hamidah@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Localising Integrity Constraints Checking in Distributed Databases

Science, Technology & Engineering

196

Keywords: Malaysian cultivated kenaf; Soda-AQ pulp; OCC; unbleached softwood kraft pulp; linerboard

This study examines the soda-anthraquinone (soda-AQ) pulp of kenaf fibres versus old corrugated board (OCC) and unbleached softwood kraft pulps as the main sources for linerboard production. The result showed significant differences among the pulp properties. The unbleached kraft pulp with very high freeness required high beating to reach optimised freeness and produced paper with highest strength properties except for tear resistance. The OCC gave paper with lowest strength properties. In the case of kenaf fractions, bast pulp with high freeness needs less beating than softwood and produced paper with high tear resistance. Core fibre had the lowest freeness and highest drainage time, led to paper with high strength but very low tear resistance. Kenaf whole stem pulp showed intermediate properties between core and bast and close to unbleached softwood pulp, but with very low beating requirement. Finally kenaf whole stem due to strength properties and free of very high separation cost and simple pulping process is more suitable for commercialisation for linerboard production in Malaysia.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalaluddin HarunAhmad Azizi Mossello, Rushdan Ibrahim, Hossein Resalati, Sayeed Rashid Fallah Shamsi, Paridah Md. Tahir and Mohd. Nor Mohad Yusoff Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6977; aziziahmad99@yahoo.com

Evaluation Linerboard Properties from Malaysian Cultivated Kenaf Soda-anthraquinone Pulp Versus Commercial Pulps

Keywords: Recycled fibre, virgin pulp, beating, kenaf whole stem, blending

Recycled paper fibres are important sources for paperboard industry in Malaysia. About 18 to 20 paper mills in the Malaysia utilise 95% waste paper as main raw material. The papermaking properties of recycled paper deteriorate with time due to reduction, conformability and swelling. Recycle paper mills in Malaysia use two methods to restore strength to recycled fibres i.e. blending certain amount of imported virgin pulp or mechanical treatment (beating). Beating makes pulp show to drain in the forming section of paper machine. On the other hand, the imported virgin pulp is expensive and government policy is to reduce importing virgin pulp. The main goals of this study were to assess the potential of kenaf whole stem soda-anthraquinone (soda-AQ) pulp versus mechanical treatment (beating) or imported virgin pulp (unbleached softwood kraft pulp) to enhance strength properties of old corrugated board (OCC) pulp. Blending with kenaf whole stem soda-AQ pulps can enhance the strength of OCC considerably. Also, fractionated pulp had better effect to improve OCC than corresponding beaten pulps. With addition of 5-10% RKLK, 10-15% RKHK or BKLK, or 15-20% BKHK at optimum freeness (300 mL, CSF) has improved OCC same as addition of 5-10% BSWK at freeness of 400 mL, CSF or beaten OCC with 2000 PFI revolutions to freeness of 300 mL, CSF. Moreover beaten OCC pulp showed lower tear index and higher drainage time. The blending experiments led to the conclusion that locally planted kenaf whole stem pulp can be used as reinforcement instead of softwood pulp to improve OCC.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalaluddin HarunAhmad Azizi Mossello, Jalaluddin Harun, Paridah Md. Tahir, Rushdan Ibrahim, Sayeed Rashid Fallah Shamsi, Hossein Resalati, Ainun Zuriyati Mohmamed and Harmaen Ahmad SaffianInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6977; aziziahmad99@yahoo.com

Comparison Kenaf Whole Pulp versus Softwood Pulp and Mechanical Treatment (Beating) to Improve Old Corrugated Board (OCC)

Science, Technology & Engineering

197

Keywords: Micropropagation, strawberry cv. camarosa, in vitro shoot tip, TDZ, BAP, IBA

An efficient micropropagation system for strawberry cv. Camarosa was developed. Sterilised runner tips were cultured on hormone free MS medium with 3% sucrose, 1ml L-1 Plant Preservative Mixture and solidified using 0.25% phytagel to produce in vitro stock plants. Shoot tips derived from the in vitro stock plants were cultured on MS media containing 0, 2, 4 and 8µM TDZ and 0, 4, 9, 18 and 27µM BAP for shoot induction. Shoots produced on the best shoot induction medium were rooted on MS media containing 1, 2, 3 and 5µM of either IBA or NAA. Results showed that MS medium with 2µM TDZ and 4µM BAP was optimum for shoot multiplication from the shoot tips. The most suitable media for inducing the highest number of roots per explant, the highest percentage of explant with roots and the highest mean root length were 1µM NAA, 1µM IBA and hormone free MS medium, respectively. Plantlets were transplanted into potting medium consisting of perlite + vermiculite + cocopeat (2:1:2 v/v/v) resulting in 90% survival. After one month plants were irrigated using Hoagland’s solution and runners were produced after three months.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maheran Abd. AzizFatemeh Haddadi, Ghizan Saleh and Azmi Abd. Rashid

Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4115; maheran@agri.upm.edu.my

Micropropagation of Strawberry cv. Camarosa: Prolific Shoot Regeneration from In Vitro Shoot Tips using Thidiazuron with N6-benzylamino-purine

Keywords: Finite element, three dimensional, reinforced concrete, interface elements

Numerical simulation of RC structures has been well established for the last three decades. However, this area still needs more investigation, due to difficulty of modelling concrete in finite element analysis. The aim of this study is to develop a numerical approach based on the finite element formulation of three dimensional reinforced and prestressed concrete members. Three dimensional finite element code was developed with a large ability to analyse RC and prestressed concrete structures. A few new elements are included in this code such as a) Truss-linkage element to model the bars and slip between bar and concrete; and b) three dimensional interface element between plate and brick element with the ability to transfer the translation and rotation to be used in the area. Concrete can be modelled using a few brick elements in program library like 8,12,16,20 and 27 node brick elements. The validity of the model is well established using comparison of the results with several well-known tests and other numerical methods from the literature. Application of the 3D finite element through the developed cod, well applied to the real structures.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jamaloddin NoorzaeiOmid Kohnehpooshi, Mohd. Saleh Jafaar, and Raizal Saifulnaz Muhammad Rashid

Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6371; jamal@eng.upm.edu.my

Development of Numerical 3D Finite Element Code F to Slimulate Structural Response of Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete Bridges

Science, Technology & Engineering

198

Keywords: Iterated function system, fractal, cryptosystem, encryption, decryption

With the rapid development in the communications and information transmissions, there is a growing demand for new approaches that increases the security of cryptographic systems. Therefore some emerging theories, such as fractals, can be adopted to provide a contribution towards this goal. In this study, we proposed a new cryptographic system utilising fractal theories; this approach exploited the main feature of fractals generated by IFS techniques. Double enciphering and double deciphering methods performed to enhance the security of the system. The encrypted data represented the attractor generated by the IFS transformation, collage theorem was used to find the IFSM for decrypting data. The proposed method gave the possibility to hide maximum amount of data in an image that represents the attractor of the IFS without degrading its quality and to make the hidden data robust enough to withstand known cryptographic attacks and image processing techniques which did not change the appearance of image.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Rushdan Md. SaidNadia Al-SaidiInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6841; mrushdan@putra.upm.edu.my

A New Approach in Cryptographic Systems using Fractal Image Coding

Keywords: Indian mackerel, fish waste, omega 3/6 fish oil, supercritical fluid extraction, pressure swing technique

Fish industry discarded a great amount of fish wastes from processing leftovers every year. Fish wastes have a huge unexploited potential for value adding. Fish oil especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are highly demanded by food and pharmaceutical industries due to their potential health benefits. The techniques currently practiced for extraction/fractionation of fish oil are fractional crystallisation, urea complexation, countercurrent distribution, adsorption or absorption chromatography, and molecular distillation. All these techniques are more or less cumbersome, expensive, time consuming, used organic solvents and involved high temperature which causes loss of desired products. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is a potential alternative to the customary methods of producing fish oil. It offers the advantages of rapid, nontoxic, environmental-friendly, residue-free and easily manipulated conditions. The objectives of this study were to optimise the operating conditions of different technique of SFE, to extract the highest yield with least amount of CO2 and to make the product cheaper. The results showed that pressure swing is the best technique for highest oil recovery using least amount of carbon dioxide. The process uses CO2 as an extraction solvent and operates at 35 MPa and 60oC with a flow rate of 2 ml min-1. Total oil was extracted in seven successive holding-extraction steps and the yield of each step is defined as fraction. During the holding period, liquid CO2 penetrated the sample matrix and dissolved the more readily soluble fatty acid portion which was eluted during subsequent extraction steps. In this way seven fractions were collected separately among which the first three fractions contained mainly saturated fatty acid (SFA) fish oil and the next four fractions predominant in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) especially EPA and DHA. The last four fractions can be pooled together for use as value added foods or nutraceuticals.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Md. Zaidul Islam SarkerSahena Ferdosh and Jinap SelamatFaculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8536; zaidul@food.upm.edu.my

Separation of Omega-3/6 Fish Oil from Fish Waste using Pressure Swing Technique of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Science, Technology & Engineering

199

Keywords: Reproductive number, disease-free equilibrium, homotopy perturbation method, spectral radius

We formulate a disease transmission model, MSEIR model, for a population with individuals travelling between patches i and i+1. We derive an explicit formula for the basic reproductive number employing the spectral radius of the next generation operator. We show that a system of ordinary differential equations for this model has a unique disease-free equilibrium and it is locally asymptotically stable if reproductive number is less than 1.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Rizam Abu BakarSarkhosh Seddighi Chaharborj

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6824; rizam@math.upm.edu.my

Disease Transmission MSEIR Model with Individuals Travelling between Patches i and i+1

Keywords: Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), point addition, doubling, binary representation, binary method, cryptographic system

Addition chain techniques are constructed to support scalar multiplication operation in Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC).In securing the efficiency of ECC point operation, the combination of the two basic operations: point addition and doubling are mostly implemented. Using binary method, the operation of doubling depends solely on the length of binary representation itself, so the most probable way to reduce the total number of the whole operation is by reducing the number of addition operation. In this study we proposed an improved binary method which reads input in a block by block basis. It requires precomputations for all possible combination of input blocks. The new method showed a significant reduction in the number of required additions and the magnitude of improvement varies according to the key size. The algorithm is suitable to be adapted into the cryptographic system especially as the need for bigger key size is growing rapidly.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Rushdan Md. SaidMohamad Afendee Mohamed, Kamel Ariffin Mohd. Atan and Zuriati Ahmad Zukarnain

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6841; mrushdan@putra.upm.edu.my

An Improved Binary Method for Scalar Multiplication in Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Science, Technology & Engineering

200

Keywords: Maximal oxygen uptake, VO2max, body fat percentage

Cardiovascular, muscular, cardio respiratory fitness with normal/suitable body composition are the main factors to improve in athletic performance. The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) and body fat percentage among international students in Universiti Putra Malaysia. VO2max and body fat percent are two key factors for health and sport research. Twenty six male students (26 +/- 5 years old in age and 168 +/- 5 cm in high and 73 +/- 5 kg in weight) were selected. Oxygen Uptake and body fat percent were measured by the routine protocols. Skin fold thickness measurements were done from standard anthropometrical reference points (Jackson Pollock method) as well as the Chest, Abdomen and Thigh. Body fat Percent value was estimated by applying the standard equation. To measure the maximum oxygen uptake, Bruce protocol were employed on the treadmill with a gas analyser. The Bruce treadmill protocol is a standardised procedure used to evaluate the aerobic capacity and cardiovascular fitness of athletes or non athletes. Results revealed that there is a significant and negative correlation (-0.042) between the VO2max and body fat percent. Results of this investigation show that there is a negative correlation between maximum oxygen uptake and body fat percent. Increase the VO2max parameter has been shown to improve on body composition.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nazrul Hakim AbdullahAli Reza Amani, Yunus Adam, Azhar Yaacob, Mohd. Hafiz Rosli, Noor Idwan Naim and Mohd. Majid KontingSports Academy, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4277; nazrul.hakim@gmail.com

Relationship between Percentage of Body Fat and Maximal Oxygen Uptake Among Adults

Keywords: Antifungal, ardisia crispa, antimicrobial, fluconazole, griseofulvin, disc diffusion

Athlete’s foot is a skin fungal infection that causes scaling, flaking and itching of the affected skin. Blisters and cracked skin may also occur, leading to exposed raw tissue, pain, swelling and inflammation. Secondary bacterial infection can accompany the fungal infection. This work examined the anti-fungal activity of Ardisia crispa (AC) against common fungi that cause Athlete’s foot and several other pathogenic fungi. The antimicrobial activity of water, ethanol and chloroform extracts of AC was tested against fungal strains using the disc diffusion and microdilution methods. This antimicrobial activity was compared to standard anti-fungal drugs (griseofulvin, fluconazole and itraconazole). Results revealed that chloroform extract of AC had potent anti-fungal activity against Trichophyton rubrum ATCC 40051 and Trichophyton mentagrophytes ATCC 40004 which are the two most commonly cause of Athlete’s foot. Moderate activity was observed against Candida albicans ATCC 14053, Candida tropicalis ATCC 14056, Microsporum canis (Clinical isolates and identified at the Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Universiti Putra Malaysia) and Aspergillus fumigatus ATCC 14109. The ethanol extract only had mild activity against the Candidia spp and the water extract was devoid of any activity. The anti-fungal activity of chloroform extract was statistically more potent than griseofulvin and fluconazole but less potent than itraconazole. Findings from current study support the use of AC in traditional medicine for the treatment of various fungal infections and may potentially use in the treatment of Athlete’s foot.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nazrul Hakim AbdullahYunus Adam, Zuraini Ahmad, Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman and Zainul Amiruddin ZakariaSports Academy, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4277; nazrul.hakim@gmail.com

Potential Anti-fungal Agent from Ardisia crispa for the Treatment of Athlete’s Foot

Science, Technology & Engineering

201

Keywords: Semiparametric equation, longitudinal ordinal data, generalised estimating equation, smoothing spline, property of estimator

This research considers semiparametric model for longitudinal ordinal data. The model consists of two components, parametric and nonparametric components. We propose GEE-Smoothing spline to estimate both components by extending parametric generaliszed estimating equation (GEE) to semiparametric GEE. The nonparametric component is estimated using smoothing spline while the association parameter is estimated through another set of estimating equation. We use profile algorithm in the estimation of both components. In this algorithm, the components are treated in different manner. The properties of the parametric and nonparametric components of the proposed model are evaluated through simulation study. Both components are consistent regardless of misspecification of the working correlation. The bias of the parametric component is small and negligible whereas the nonparametric component is bias. The most efficient estimate for the parametric component is obtained if the true correlation structure is used and assumed independence results in a less efficient estimate. The efficiency behaviour of the nonparametric component is different from parametric where the most efficient estimate is obtained when independence is assumed.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Akma IbrahimSuliadi Isa Daud and Isthrinayagy S. Krishnarajah

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6873; nakma@putra.upm.edu.my

Semiparametric Modelling of Longitudinal Ordinal Data

Keywords: Geometric approach, risk box, bankrupcty, genetic programming, robust logistic regression

Recently, geometrics are more frequently used in business, finance, scientific, and engineering applications. The increasing popularity of geometry is due to its adaptability and simplicity. In this research, a new geometric methodology for forecasting were developed and implemented. Our new static (Risk Box, RB) and dynamic (Dynamic Risk Space, DRS) geometric methodology and our new copy righted software (Dynamic Geometric Risk Space Software, DGRSS) can be used to solve the most important factors when errors are engaged in financial forecastings. This methodology takes into account every related component of financial predictions. Our algorithm combined the powerful search of geometric approach and its capability to learn about the relationship patterns of past data in order to forecast future values. This new geometric forecasting method consists of two steps: forecasting and learning steps. We used our new geometric indexes in the forecasting step to estimate parameters of the problem domain. Patterns learning are taken into account in the software algorithm to capture the patterns relationship of learning data. Then the effectiveness of the methodology is examined by applying them in bankruptcy prediction field of finance.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Akma IbrahimAlireza Bahiraie, AKM Azhar and Ismail Mohd.

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6873; nakma@putra.upm.edu.my

New Geometric Approach to Static and Dynamic Measurements of Risk, Bankruptcy and Market Ranking

Science, Technology & Engineering

202

Keywords: WSN, cluster head, mobility, LEACH, LEACH-mobile

Mobility of sensor nodes in wireless sensor network (WSN) has posed new challenges particularly in packet delivery ratio and energy consumption. Some real applications impose combined environments of fixed and mobile sensor nodes in the same network, while others demand a complete mobile sensors environment. Packet loss that occurs due to mobility of the sensor nodes is one of the main challenges which come in parallel with energy consumption. In this invention, we use cross layer design between medium access control (MAC) and network layers to overcome these challenges. Thus, a cluster based routing protocol for mobile sensor nodes (CBR-Mobile) is proposed. The CBR-Mobile is mobility and traffic adaptive protocol. The timeslots assigned to the mobile sensor nodes that had moved out of the cluster or have no data to send will be reassigned to incoming sensor nodes within the cluster region. The protocol introduces two simple databases to achieve the mobility and traffic adaptively. The proposed protocol sends data to cluster heads in an efficient manner based on received signal strength. In the CBR-Mobile protocol, cluster based routing collaborates with the hybrid MAC protocol supports mobility of sensor nodes. Schedule timeslots are used to send the data message while the contention timeslots are used to send join registration messages. The performance of proposed CBR-Mobile protocol is evaluated and observed where the proposed protocol improves the packet delivery ratio, energy consumption, delay and fairness in mobility environment compared to the LEACH-Mobile and AODV protocols.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Kamariah NoordinNg Chee Kyun, Mohd. Fadlee A. Rasid and Samer A. B. AwwadFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6181; nknordin@eng.upm.edu.my

Cluster Based Routing Protocol for Mobile Nodes in Wireless Sensor Network

Keywords: Buffer, noise reduction, hedges, plant characteristics

Many environmental designers are currently searching for better solution in reducing noise levels with the usage of a grass trimmer in housing estates. Planting hedges as buffer is common in the hope to serve the purpose. Nevertheless, the actual answer to the problem will not be solved unless a study to determine the effectiveness of the plantings is done. A study to detect noise reduction from commonly planted hedges in residential areas of Putrajaya was carried out using a sound level meter. A statistical analysis revealed that hedges such as Ixora ‘sunkist’ with sufficient height is promising and has good potential in controlling sound levels, due to the characteristics such as small leaves and dense branching system.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noorizan MohamedIna KrisantiaFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4073; noorizan16@hotmail.com

Performance of Hedges and their Characteristics for Buffering Noise in Urban Residential Areas

Science, Technology & Engineering

203

Keywords: sign, recognition, appliances, smart home, DSP

In this invention, a simple sign based automating controller for various household appliances is presented. The household appliances that can be automated by using this controller ranged from simple lightings to complex electronic devices. The invented system consists of three main components: the sign based data glove system, the household appliances sensing system, and the sign based recognition management system for data collection and processing. The developed data glove has the capability to measure the finger sign postures using specific sensor attached to each finger. Theoretically, the five fingers per hand can create many different signs due to the many possibilities of performing various sign posture. Each sign posture can be used as a command for the controller. The attached microcontroller in the data glove receives the sensors’ signal data associated to a given sign. These data are diagnosed and translated by using digital signal processing (DSP). The analysed data are then transmitted to the data center using communication transceiver module. The recognition management system data center matches the received glove data with associated command data using matching algorithm. When the data are matched, the command data will be sent to the related household appliance device to execute the given commands through communication transceiver module. This invention has been proven to be suitable for disabled and elderly people due to its flexible properties and ease of usage. This flexibility allows user to change the command of the system based on the user’s capability of performing the sign posture.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Kamariah NoordinBorhanuddin Mohd. Ali, Ng Chee Kyun and Ng Wei Lun

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6181; nknordin@eng.upm.edu.my

Sign Based Automating Electrical Household Appliances

Keywords: UEP, SIC, superposition coding, overloaded CDMA

The overloaded CDMA techniques are used in CDMA systems in order to accommodate the number of users more than the spreading factor N. In this invention, the superposition coding CDMA (SPC-CDMA) is proposed as one of the overloaded CDMA techniques. In this proposed technique, the users in the system are divided into N groups and each group consists of K users. The possibility of the power control in the base station (BS) is used to provide unequal error protection (UEP) to the K users. The signals of the same group are spread by using a distinct spreading sequence and transmitted across AWGN channel. At the received side, a UEP adapted of ordered successive interference cancellation (O-SIC) technique is used to extract the desired data from the K users’ signals in the same group. The theoretical and simulation analysis show the proposed technique has better performances in AWGN channel compared to other overloaded CDMA techniques. The proposed SPC-CDMA technique maximises the user capacity by K-fold without exploiting more resources (frequency, time or code) with only 1 dB cost of SNR degradation at BER of 10-3, which related to conventional DS-CDMA system. At the same power constraint, SPC-CDMA provides the same user capacity of other overloaded CDMA with only 0.7 dB gain in SNR. It also affords twofold of user rate with the same values of N and K.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Kamariah NoordinBorhanuddin Mohd. Ali, Ng Chee Kyun and Yaseen H. Tahir

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6181; nknordin@eng.upm.edu.my

Superposition Coding with Unequal Error Protection for the Overloaded CDMA System

Science, Technology & Engineering

204

Keywords: Unsteady flow, boundary layer, stretching surface

The problem of unsteady uniform flow across a stretching surface in an arbitrary direction is studied theoretically, where the unsteadiness is caused by the impulsive motion of the stretching surface. Numerical results of the governing partial differential equations are obtained using an implicit finite difference scheme for the whole transient from the early or initial unsteady-state flow to the final steady-state flow. The early unsteady-state flow is solved analytically. The numerical solution obtained for the reduced skin friction coefficient is compared with previously reported results and the results for velocity profiles, h and g profiles are also presented in this paper. It is found that there is a smooth transition from the small-time solution (initial unsteady flow) to the large-time solution (final steady-state flow).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norihan Md. ArifinFadzilah Md. Ali, Roslinda Nazar, Norihan Md. Arifin, Anuar Ishak and Ioan PopInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6850; norihan@math.upm.edu.my

Unsteady Flow Across a Stretching Surface

Keywords: Spectrum efficiency, LAS CDMA, IFW, smart antenna, code reuse, duty ratio, beamwidth

In cellular mobile communication systems using coded modulations, the spectrum efficiency of the system is related to the number of available codes. Recently, large area synchronous (LAS) CDMA codes, which exhibit a region called interference free window (IFW) within some delay-spread, have been accepted as one of fourth-generation (4G) wireless communication systems. However, the number of synthesized LAS codes is very low due to the low duty ratio of the sequence. In this invention, a dynamic space coded multiple access (DSCMA) scheme which utilises the spatial diversity from smart antenna system is proposed to overcome the low spectrum efficiency in LAS CDMA system. In the DSCMA, a modified version of LAS codes called LAS where even ternary (LAS-ET) codes is proposed. These codes are used together with a novel algorithm called dynamic space code (DSC), which will decrease the code length so that the spectrum efficiency can be increased. By taking advantage of dynamic code reuse assignment in spatial diversity, the spectrum efficiency of the DSCMA can be further increased significantly.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Kamariah NoordinBorhanuddin Mohd. Ali and Ng Chee KyunFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6181; nknordin@eng.upm.edu.my

Spectrum Efficiency Enhancement in Dynamic Space Coded Multiple Access (DSCMA) System

Science, Technology & Engineering

205

Keywords: 3D reconstruction, angiograms, vessel extraction, vessel centerline extraction, clustering

Dynamic variations of coronary arterial curvilinearity have been very difficult to study in the current 2D format. 3D model of coronary arteries is a robust help for scientific studies, diagnostic of the possible diseases, and surgery planning. Biplane angiography is the way to get 3D model since it is easier to reconstruct them using two views but it also suffers from the high cost of these devices. We propose in this invention a way to reconstruct a 3D coronary artery tree using single-view cineangiogram. Splitting the cineangiograms into non-sequenced and different angles views was the way to supply our method with its input angiograms. Each single view can be used to construct a 3D robust model of the coronary artery from that angle of view. The developed approach consisted of three stages where the first stage was the vessel extraction and labeling for each view for the purpose of constructing the 3D model. Meanwhile in second stage, the vessels information will be saved in data files to be used in the next stage. Finally, the last stage of this approach, we transformed the x, y, and z values to a Graphics Library and used programming language VC++ to construct the executional file for display purposes. By applying these three stages, a 3D modelling of coronary artery tree can be performed from just a single segmented projection. Results showed that our proposed approach has high robustness to variety of image resolution and voxel anisotropy. From this result we can conclude that our approach is robust, simple and a helpful tool in surgery management.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rahmita Wirza O.K. RahmatNorwati Mustapha, Ramlan Mahmod and Mohd. Zamrin Dimon

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6513; rahmita@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Automated Generated 3D Reconstruction of Coronary Artery Tree in Angiogram Images

Keywords: Timber framing system, industrialised building system (IBS), architectonic design, modular system

The spacer architectonic building system (SABSystem) is a complete prefabricated assembly system that allows design flexibility in an industrialised building system. The engineering advantageous in using IBS in construction include elimination of waste, precision and quality control in production, optimisation of time and sustaining and protecting the environment during construction. Unfortunately, designers still have problem to creatively experiment with IBS components during a building project’s design phase and prefabrication. The invention of this study focused on the design assembly for an industrialised building system in which degree of flexibility in design form can be rejuvenated. The invention relates to physical building components design assembly principle for industrialised building system. This system uses various geometrical shapes of spacer such as rectangle, square, triangular or polygon in shape for construction of flexible design form. There can be various possible geometrical shapes of spacer and interlocking spacer used in architectonic spacer building system. The space can be of, but not limited to rectangular, square, triangular or polygonal in shape either as a single part or two separate interlocking parts, depending on the use of the spacer. The spacer works as key accessories in physical building components such as bracing of adjoining wall panel, dowel connector and also composite key roof connector. The spacers are used as bracing for adjoining wall panel, grid modular floor joist assembly whereby the spacers are used as anchored dowel connector at upper and lower layers of modular floor joist assembly. Spacers are used to create a corner or wall junction assembly in a prefabricated wall panel. The spacers are used as composite key roof connector.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rahinah IbrahimRosli Ismail, Siva Jaganathan and Rohani Hussin

Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4001; rahinah@putra.upm.edu.my

Spacer Architectonic Building System

Science, Technology & Engineering

206

Keywords: Mathematical beliefs, self-regulated learning, mathematics ability, survey data

The Malaysian history shows that the first wheel of science and mathematics education began to turn in 1823, when the scientific department was established to teach astronomy, mechanics and botany in Malaya. Today, Malaysia can boast as an industrialised country which has emphasised on quality science and mathematics education in order to ensure that the Malaysian society is well prepared to face the challenges of being a developed nation. Mathematics has been accepted as an instrumental body of knowledge in the development of science and technology. Concurrently, the nation’s science, technology and mathematics education has undergone complex and comprehensive changes considering the aspirations and challenges of Vision 2020 and the National Education Philosophy. This study was conducted to investigate the impact of students’ mathematical beliefs, self-regulated learning (SRL) and thinking skills on mathematics ability of Malaysian undergraduate mathematics students using prediction models. A self-reported questionnaire was used to assess students’ mathematical beliefs, SRL and thinking skills. Logistic regression was performed to assess the impact of students’ mathematical beliefs, SRL and thinking skills on the likelihood that respondents have high or low mathematics ability. The complete model containing all predictors was statistically significant, chi-square (15, N= 473) = 287.55, p = .000 indicating that the model was able to distinguish between respondents of high or low mathematical ability. The model as a whole explained between 45.6% (Cox and Snell R square) and 64.5% (Nagelkerke R squared) of the variance in undergraduate students’ mathematical ability. This model also correctly classified 85.4% of the cases. Overall analysis indicated that eight independent variables made a unique statistically significant contribution to the model at 5% level of significance. The strongest predictor of mathematical ability was critical thinking, recording an odd ratio of 5.91.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rohani Ahmad TarmiziVelo Suthar, Habshah Midi and Mohd. Bakri AdamInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6889; rht@educ.upm.edu.my

Models of Students’ Mathematical Beliefs, Self-regulated Learning and Thinking Skills on Mathematics Ability of Malaysian University Students

Keywords: Onion type of carbon nanoparticles graphitic carbon nanospheres

A low cost method of producing graphitic carbon nanosphere (GCNS) in large quantities and low temperature is revealed. The present invention illustrates the improved synthesis of carbon nanostructure by a fixed bed CVD procedure. From the typical concentrations of gaseous species in the stainless steel vertical reactor, hydrocarbon circumstance including C2H2 and nanoparticle of iron oxide can be the precursors for the formation of GCNS in the CVD chamber.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Robiah YunusMahta Sadegh Vishkaei, Mohamad Amran Mohd. Salleh and Dayang Radhiah Awang BiakFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6266; robiah@eng.upm.edu.my

A Method for Mass Producing of High-purity Graphitic Carbon NanoSphere

Science, Technology & Engineering

207

Keywords: Portable PCR

This invention describes the detection of porcine DNA in food and non-food products using portable PCR. The system comprises of cartridge and portable PCR machine. The cartridge and portable PCR machine perform the DNA extraction, PCR reaction and detection at one go with very minimum training required for the operator as opposed to conventional PCR and Real time PCR which required highly skilled operators. The developed system requires only one step-one button-one hour to complete the detection of porcine DNA in food and non-food products.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shuhaimi MustafaYaakob Che Man and Farihah Liyana Khalid

Institute of Products Halal Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8941 6541; shuhaimi@biotech.upm.edu.my

Porcine DNA Test Kit

Keywords: MCDM, personnel performance appraisal, aggregation, fuzzy delphi, group decision

Personnel performance appraisal is a tool towards achieving organisation goals, its main focus is to increase the abilities, merits and growth of personnel. We looked at the personnel performance appraisal as an element of group decision making model in which personnel are evaluated from different points of view. A fuzzy Delphi method and linguistic terms represented by triangular fuzzy numbers were applied to bring out qualitative and quantitative attributes and assess attributes weights and relative importance of evaluation group’s viewpoints. We developed MCDM models for group personnel performance appraisal. All the known MCDM methods have their own advantages and drawbacks which therefore yield different results based on their various techniques. As a consequence we presented a model for aggregation of the results of the MCDM models.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosnah Mohd. YusuffMohammad Anisseh and Alireza Shakarami

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6342; rosnah@eng.upm.edu.my

Aggregating Group MCDM Problems using a Fuzzy Delphi Model for Personnel Performance Appraisal

Science, Technology & Engineering

208

Keywords: Mesoporous, activated carbon, polymer, monolith

The preparation and optimisation of mesoporous activated carbon monolith using the dipcoating method is reported. The materials required are a carbon source (furfuryl alcohol), a pore former agent (poly ethylene glycol), a binder (pyrrole), and polymerisation catalyst (nitric acid). Furfuryl alcohol (FA) is first polymerised, followed by the impregnation of monolithic structure, carbonisation, and activation. The effect of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) on the structure of carbon monolith is first investigated. The carbon coated monoliths are characterised by thermo gravimetrical analysis (TGA), elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and textural analysis. The carbon monolith prepared without the addition of pore former agent (only FA) exhibits adsorption Type I which is a characteristic of microporous material, whilst the carbon monolith prepared with the addition of pore former agent (FA + PEG) is of Type IV indicating mesoporous material. Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) surface areas measured by N2 adsorption are 264 and 431 m2 g-1 for sample FA and sample (FA + PEG), respectively. Total pore volume of the samples FA and FA + PEG are 0.13 and 0.38 cm3 g-1, respectively. The PEG is completely decomposed during carbonization to create new mesoporosity.The optimisation of pore volume and surface area of carbon coated monolith is studied. The carbonisation temperature, concentration of PEG, and molecular weight of PEG are identified as the dominant parameters in controlling the pore size distribution, pore volume, and surface area. The maximum pore volume found is 173 mm3 g-1 at carbonisation temperature of 680 oC and concentration of PEG of 38% vol. with molecular weight of PEG of 1000 g mol-1, whilst maximum surface area is 585 m2 g-1 at carbonisation temperature of 660 oC and concentration of PEG of 31% vol. with molecular weight of PEG of 1000 g mol-1.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thomas Choong Shean YawMuhammad Darmadi, Soraya Hossinie, Luqman Chuah, Robiah Yunus and Taufiq YapFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8942 5913; tsyc2@eng.upm.edu.my

Mesoporous Polymer Derived Activated Carbon Monolith

Keywords: Grafted polymer, gamma irradiation, polystyrene, acrylonitrile

Polystyrene grafted with acrylonitrile using gamma-irradiation technique was successfully synthesised. The new grafted polymer was characterised and its properties were investigated. The results indicate that best grafting percentage ratio could be revealed when the concentration of the catalyst Ferrous ammonium sulphate (FAS) is about 2% and the monomer concentration is 90%, at 1.25 Mrad dose. The new grafted polymer was characterized by FTIR, TGA and Viscosity techniques. A mechanism of the grafting process is proposed. An application of GP was demonstrated by its usage as an electrode material with good sensitivity response.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Wee TeeMuhammed Mizher Radhi, Mohamad Zaki Abd. Rahman and Anuar KassimFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6807; wttan@science.upm.edu.my

Synthesis and Characterisation of Grafted Polystyrene with Acrylonitrile using Gamma-irradiation

Science, Technology & Engineering

209

Keywords: Exact method, lining, metaheuristic, optimisation, space allocation

This paper presents an investigation on application of metaheuristic approaches to handle the optimisation of planting areas with regard to Lining Layout Planning (LLP). Metaheuristic is approximate solution that sacrifices the guarantee of finding an optimal solution. However, it is an appropriate approach to be employed in two basic situations:1. a problem may not have an exact method because of ambiguities in the problem statement, 2. a problem may have an exact solution but computational cost of finding it may be prohibitive. The optimisation startegy in LLP is to optimise aplanting area by looking for the best line direction to be assigned into determining blocks with attention to minimise unused space and maximise number of trees. However, there are many possible solutions to be analysed which will eventually spend high time is a challenge. Therefore, the applicability of approaches to overcome this problem was investigated and simulated result was reported. We found that the exact solution methods are suitable for LLP with one block but many blocks with weighted consideration which will increase time exponentially and metaheuristic approaches are considered as the appropriate technique.

Dr. Abu Bakar Md. SultanIsmadi Md Badarudin, Md. Nasir Sulaiman, Ali Mamat and Mahmud Tengku Muda Mohamed

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6525; abakar@fsktm.upm.edu.my

A Study on Designing Optimal Layout by Metaheuristic Approaches for Optimising Planting Areas

Keywords: Conductivity, dielectric properties, relaxation, phosphates, short-range order

Phosphate glasses have several advantages over conventional silicate and borate glasses due to their superior physical properties and structural versatility to accept several cation and/or anion exchanges. These features allow the reengineering of glass formulation, which leads to advances in their physical properties and optimising of processing parameters. BeO - P2O5, MgO - P2O5, and ZnO - P2O5 glasses as are classified as anomalous glass because they exhibits unusual behaviour in the evolution of their physical properties (mass density, refraction index) at the metaphosphate composition. Not many literatures can be found discussing the dielectric properties in detail for the binary MgO - P2O5, and ZnO - P2O5 glasses. In addition, it is of interest to investigate the physical, refractive and dielectric properties of the simultaneous admixture of MgO and ZnO into the phosphate compositions. To investigate the transition of these properties into the ultraphosphate composition, a series of ternary glasses with O/P<3 has been synthesised. In addition, other properties such as complex permittivity and electrical conduction have also been examined. The present study reports the dielectric properties and conductivity performed on (ZnO)30(MgO)x(P2O5)70-x glasses over a wide range of compositions, temperatures and frequencies. From the thorough analysis of the experimental data, dc conduction loss dominates at low frequencies and dipolar type relaxation occurs at high frequency regions as observed in the dielectric loss factor plot. Dielectric permittivity, dielectric strength and dc conductivity decreases with an increase in MgO concentration. Such a behaviour is attributed to the dual role played by magnesium ions that participated in the glass-forming positions in addition to modifier. The dielectric responses of all glasses studied were able to be represented by two Havriliak-Negami relaxation processes superimposed with a conductivity term. From the spectra curve-fitting, values of the parameters ?o,? and ? were extracted.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin TalibKhor Shing Fhan, W. Mohd. Daud W. Yusoff and Sidek Ab. Aziz

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6606; zainalat@science.upm.edu.my

Effects of MgO on Dielectric Properties and Electrical Conductivity of Ternary Zinc Magnesium Phosphate Glasses

Science, Technology & Engineering

210

Keywords: Hyperspectral, wavelet transform, support vector machine

This system was developed specifically for urban features identification and classification from hyperspectral data. Urban environment is highly complex and heterogeneous, thus the use of multispectral data is not sufficent. Alternatively, hyperspectral data might offer better options in mapping urban features more accurately due to higher spectral and spatial resolutions. However, the use of hyperspectral data is not straightforward and advanced processing techniques are required. For this reason, a simple system is designed in this research in order to facilitate advanced processing of hyperspectral data via the use of transformation methods and robust classification algorithms. This system will facilitate the use of selected methods that are optimised for urban mapping from hyperspectral data.

Dr. Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd. ShafriMuhamad Afizzul Misman and Raja M. Kamil Raja AhmadInstitute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6459; hzms04@gmail.com

Hyperspectral Urban Feature Detection System

Keywords: Bio-based, electronic, dielectric, antenna

In recent years, the use of natural fibre material in composites has increased and attracted some interest for use in several industry applications such as automotive as well as building industry. The potential for future applications as dielectric in microchips and circuit boards is yet to be discovered. Composites made from plant sources are an attractive option due to their relative cheapness, their ability to recycle, biodegradability and low environmental concerns. Compared to synthetic fibres made from glass, carbon and steel, natural fibres have a high aspect ratio, high strength to weight ratio, relatively low in energy conversion and have good insulation properties. Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L) fibre is an important source of natural fibre. Extensive research has been conducted in discovering the advantages of kenaf fibre in structural application, textile and other potential uses. With this reason, kenaf has been identified as a bast fibre with great market potential. This is where their application in electronic industries is demonstrated through this invention. Therefore, this invention demonstrates the use of natural fibre-synthetic polymer bio-composite as a novel substrate for electronic application, as well as at high frequency range. The natural fibre is Kenaf bast fibre, whereby the polymer used is common plastic, polypropylene. The invention is demonstrated by designing the first ever Wi-Fi antenna built on the Kenaf-polypropylene dielectric substrate, where the results show promising potential of its application in electronic industries. This invention is not limited to Kenaf and can be applied to any kinds of natural plant fibres. Polypropylene resin is used, which is cheap. The bio-based composites materials described here offer dielectric constant within the range of common fossil-based and woven glass dielectric materials (permittivity around 2.2) commercially used for high frequency application. The new materials can be used to construct electronic devices, whether active or passive.

Dr. Alyani IsmailNuraida Mohamad, Nor’aini Ahmad Zawawi, Khalina Abdan and Mohd. Adzir MahdiFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4352; alyani@eng.upm.edu.my

Bio-based Kenaf Fibre Dielectric Composite: Electronic Goes Green

Science, Technology & Engineering

211

Keywords: Runge-kutta-nystrom methods, phase-lag, oscillatory problems

An explicit Runge-Kutta-Nystrom method is developed for solving second-order differential equations of the form q”= f(t,q) where the solutions are oscillatory. The method has zero-dissipation with minimal phase-lag at a cost of three function evaluations per step of integration. Numerical comparisons with RKN3HS, RKN3V, RKN4G and RKN4C methods, show the preciseness and effectiveness of the method developed.

Dr. Norazak SenuMohamed Suleiman, Fudziah Ismail and Mohamed Othman

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6848; razak@math.upm.edu.my

A Zero-dissipative Runge-Kutta-Nystrom Method with Minimal Phase-lag

Keywords: Acutaxylines, triterpene, chrotacumines, chromone alkaloid, dysoxylum

Acutaxylines A (1) and B (2) are a new class of triterpenes consisting of a cyclopentenone side chain at C-17 and an oxepan-2-ol, and chrotacumines A (3)-D (6), chromone alkaloids which consist of a 5, 7-dihydroxy-2-methylchromone, an N-Me piperidine ring, and an ester side chain (Figure 1). They were isolated from the ethyl acetate leaves fraction of Dysoxylum acutangulum, a species belonging to Meliaceae family. The relative stereochemistry of 1 and 2 was determined by NOESY correlations. Even though there are many triterpenes, steroids, and limonoids with a furan, a tetrahydrofuran, a pyrane, and such in a side chain at C-17, these are the first seco-apotirucallane triterpenes with a cyclopentenone ring derived from cyclization of a side chain at C-17. Chrotacumines’ structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data including 2D NMR and CD spectra, and chemical evidences. Conformations of the piperidine ring in 3-6 were elucidated by NOESY correlations and a computational analysis. Cytotoxicity on human blood premyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells showed acutaxyline B (2) having weak in vitro activity (IC50 35 ?g/ml), whereas acutaxyline A (1) and chrotacumines A-D (3-6) were not active (IC50 >50 ?g/ml).

Dr. Intan Safinar IsmailMohd. Izwan Mohd. Lazim, Hiroshi Morita, Yusuke Hirasawa, Yuta Nagakura and Takahiro Hosoya

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7492; intan@science.upm.edu.my

New Compounds of Dysoxylum acutangulum, Meliaceae

Science, Technology & Engineering

212

Keywords: Edge detection, sobel operator, license plate detection

Edge detection is a very important process for many image processing applications, especially in Car License Plate Recognition Systems (CLPRS). The need for distinguishing the desired details is a very important pre-process in order to give good results in short time processing. We proposed a new and fast Vertical Edge Detection Algorithm (VEDA) which is based on the contrast between the gray scale values. Once, input gray image was binarised by using adaptive threshold, Unwanted Lines Elimination Algorithm (ULEA) was proposed and applied for enhancing the image. After that, a VEDA was applied for experimental images. Then, implementation on the application is performed and discussed in order to confirm that VEDA is robust for highlighting license plate details easily. The results revealed accurate edge detection performance and demonstrated the great efficiency of using VEDA in order to highlight license plate details. Finally, VEDA showed that it is faster than Sobel operator by about 7-9 times.

Dr. Syamsiah MashohorAbbas Mohammed Al-Ghaili, Alyani Ismail and Abdul Rahman RamliFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4348; abbasghaili@yahoo.com

A New Vertical Edge Detection Algorithm

Keywords: Performance analysis strategies, optical networks, packet switching technique

The lack of uniformity in the choice of simulation platforms for optical WDM networks stands behind the difficulty of developing a common simulation environment. Correlating WDM unidirectional slotted ring network to Discrete Event Simulation (DES) encompassing event definition, time advancing mechanism and scheduler has yet to be developed. The study focussed on the proposed and the development of an event based discrete simulator for the WDM unidirectional slotted ring network to facilitate the reuse of the protocol modules under a common simulation environment. The proposed network architecture implemented for the developed simulator employs a separate wavelength as the control information channel. This control information enabled the nodes to monitor their access to the transmission media. Each node was equipped with a tunable transmitter and fixed receiver for data communication. Access nodes were equipped with a fixed transmitter and fixed receiver for the control information exchange. The developed simulator had derived the use of dividing the wavelength into slots. Nodes used these slots to transmit fixed size packets. Slots can be reused by the access node after receiving packets by the deployment of the spatial reuse scheme, thus enhancing the bandwidth utilisation. The developed simulator had derived the set of the parameters, events, performance metrics and other unique WDM simulator elements according to a detailed analysis of the base model. The network delay and packet loss were investigated and compared to a benchmark of the modelled domain. Successful deployment of the developed simulator was proven by the generated results. Extensive performance analysis of WDM unidirectional slotted ring network can be deployed using the developed simulator with low computational overheads. Further enhancements were to extend the developed simulator for bidirectional slotted ring supporting fairness control and considering both uniform and non-uniform traffic.

Dr. Shamala SubramaniamFua’ad Abdul Razak, Mohamed Othman and Zuriati ZulkarnainFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6512; shamala@fsktm.upm.edu.my

A Discrete Event Modelling and Simulation of Wave Division Multiplexing

Science, Technology & Engineering

213

Keywords: Predicting academic performance, data mining, attributes ranking

Accurately predicting students’ performance is useful in identifying weak students who are likely to perform poorly in their studies. Most higher learning institutions have systems to store students’ information and these databases contain useful knowledge that can be extracted. This motivates us to mine patterns from archives of the Students Information System, a real-world data set, which does not store sufficient background information of the students’ previous academic achievements. Our objective is to rank influencing factors that contribute to the prediction of students’ academic performance. In this study we used WEKA open source data mining tool to analyse attributes for predicting a higher learning institution’s Bachelor of Computer Science students’ academic performance. The data set comprised of 2427 number of student records and 396 attributes of students registered between year 2000 and 2006. Preprocessing includes attribute importance analysis. We applied the data set to different classifiers (Bayes, trees or function) and obtained the accuracy of predicting the students’ performance into either first-second-upper class or second-lower-third class. A cross-validation with 10 folds was used to evaluate the prediction accuracy. Our results showed the ranking of courses that has significant impact on predicting the students’ overall academic results. In addition, we perform experiments comparing the performance of different classifiers and the result showed that Naïve Bayes, AODE and RBFNetwork classifiers scored the highest percentage of prediction accuracy of 95.29%.

Dr. Lilly Suriani AffendeyIkmal Hisyam Mohd. Paris, Norwati Mustapha, Md. Nasir Sulaiman and Zaiton MudaFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6549; suriani@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Ranking of Influencing Factors in Predicting Students’ Academic Performance

Keywords: Fourier-laplace series, riesz means, spectral function, eigenfunction of the laplace-beltrami operator

In this paper, we study the general localisation principle for Fourier-Laplace series on unit sphere. Weak type (1, 1) property of maximal functions is used to establish the estimates of the maximal operators of Riesz means at critical index (N?1)/2. The properties Jacobi polynomials are used in estimating the maximal operators of spectral expansions in Hilbert spaces. For extending positive results on critical line ? =(N-1)(1/p-1/2), we apply interpolation theorem for the family of the linear operators of weak types. The generalised localisation principle is established by the analysis of spectral expansions in L2. We have proved the sufficient conditions for the almost everywhere convergence of Fourier-Laplace series by Riesz means on the critical line.

Dr. Anvarjon AhmedovRavshan Ashurov

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6350; anvar@eng.upm.edu.my

The Generalised Localisation Principle on the Critical Line

Science, Technology & Engineering

214

Keywords: Diagonal updating, weak secant equation, two-step gradient method, barzilai and borwein method

In this paper we propose some improvements to a new gradient-type method for solving large-scale unconstrained optimisation problems, in which we use data from two previous steps to revise the current approximate Hessian. The new method which we have considered, resembles to that of Barzilai and Borwein (BB) method. The innovation features of this approach consist in using approximation of the Hessian in diagonal matrix form based on the modified weak secant equation rather than the multiple of the identity matrix in the BB method. Using this approach, we can obtain a higher order accuracy of Hessian approximation when compares to other existing BB-type method. By incorporating a simple monotone strategy, the global convergence of the new method is achieved. Practical insights on the effectiveness of the proposed method are given by numerical comparison with the BB method and its Variant.

Dr. Mahboubeh FaridWah June Leong and Malik Abu HassanInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6677; mahboubeh@inspem.upm.edu.my

A New Two-step Gradient-type Method for Large-scale Unconstrained Optimisation

Keywords: Magnetoresistance, low-field magnetoresistance, high-field magnetoresistance, ceramic

Low and high-field magnetoresistance (LFMR, HFMR) in polycrystalline perovskite manganite of R1-XAXMnO3 (R=rare-earth element, A=divalent alkaline-earth metal) have generated many interests due to their potential technological applications in sensing device industries. Many efforts had been put in order to improve the sensitivity towards different magnetic signal strength. Previous reports shown that magnetic element doping in different site will manipulate their LFMR and HFMR effect which mainly influenced by their extrinsic or intrinsic magnetotransport properties that governed by grain formation, grain size and spin alignment corresponding to magnetic field respectively. Therefore, substitution of strong magnetic element such as cobalt (Co) into Ba site of La0.67Ba0.33MnO3 could manipulate their magnetotransport behaviour. Therefore, a series of polycrystalline perovskite manganite of La0.67(Ba1-XCoX)0.33MnO3 (x=0.00, 0.30 and 0.50) were prepared through conventional solid-state route. XRD spectrum indicated that single phase rhombohedral perovskite structure had been obtained for x=0.00 sample. When Co is introduced in the Ba site, its structure is distorted from rhombohedral to pseudo-cubic. The SEM images show that the average grain sizes were found to be in 3-8µm (x=0.30) and 2-10µm (x=0.50) with less pore between the grain. For x=0.00, the grains are in melted condition where no significant clear grain boundary can be observed. Pure sample had Curie temperature, TC of 343K. However, substitution of Co at Ba site brings down the TC below 293K. Pure sample shows LFMR effect and the effect weakens when Co is introduced. The highest LFMR value is -13.0% for sample with x=0.00 in 0.1Tesla applied external magnetic field at 90K and the highest MR value of -22.5% is given by x=0.30 sample at 1Tesla applied magnetic field at 90K. In summary, LFMR effect is observed in La0.67Ba0.33MnO3. However, introduction of Co in Ba site can destroy LFMR effect but improved its HFMR effect.

Dr. Lim Kean PahWong Jen Kuen, Abdul Halim Shaari, Chen Soo Kien and Ng Siau WeiFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6660; kplim@science.upm.edu.my

Effect of Co Substitution on Magnetic and Magnetoresistance Effect in La0.67(Ba1-xCox)0.33MnO3 System

Science, Technology & Engineering

215

Keywords: Biohydrogen, food waste, fermentation

Bioydrogen has shown a great potential of alternative energy for future energy consumption. Many substrates are available as carbon sources for biohydrogen production such as food waste, palm oil mill effluent (POME), molasses, rice straw and etc. Biohydrogen production from food waste provides inexpensive energy generation with simultaneous waste treatment since food waste production is abundant in Malaysia. In this study, food waste was used as substrate for biohydrogen production and heat-treated POME sludge was used as seed cultures. A total of 444 NmL biohydrogen can be produced from 200 mL substrate at optimised conditions (pH 5.5, temperature 55C) using 500 mL bioreactor with the yield up to 2L H2/L substrate. The gas mixture produced contained 40-60% hydrogen and no methane gas was detected. The microbes involved during the fermentation were determined and quantified using fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) technique. The results showed that 90% of the total bacteria present belonged to Clostridium sp. cluster I and XI which are specific for the main hydrogen producing bacteria species. In conclusion, food waste showed a good substrate for biohydrogen under suitable operating conditions. By converting food waste into biofuel through green technology would give a great impact for environmental sustainability.

Dr. Nor Aini Abdul RahmanNazlina Haiza Mohd. Yasin, Mohd. Zulkhairi Mohd. Yusoff, Hasfalina Che Man and Mohd. Ali Hassan

Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6699; FBBSusEr1240@prpi.mail.com

Biohydrogen Production from Food Waste Fermentation

Keywords: Thick film, gas sensor, SnO2, WO3, binder

Development of thick film resistive-gas-sensor (TFRs) even now is under progress due to its many advantages such as low cost, small size and robustness, and flexibility when small amounts of catalysts or sensitisers need to be included in the sensitive layer. Since the sensing mechanism is strongly relying on temperature, the sensor is equipped with a heater to heat-up the sensing element at desired temperature. The sensing element is normally consisted of an interdigitated transducer (IDT), comprised of two or more fingers, depending on the size and overall structure of the sensor. These two elements are printed either in one side of a substrate, separated by an insulator layer, or apart on the top and bottom surfaces of the substrate.

Dr. Mohd. Nizar HamidonMohammad Hadi Shahrokh Abadi, Rahman Wagiran, Abdul Halim Shaari, Norhafizah Abdullah and Norhisam

MisronFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6309; mnh@eng.upm.edu.my

Thick Film Sensors

Science, Technology & Engineering

216

Keywords: Polylactic acid, kenaf fibre, triacetin, green composite

New biodegradable composites or green composites have been developed by melt blending technique using polylactic acid, PLA and kenaf bast fibre, KBF to overcome the growing problem of plastic waste generating from food container and packaging. However the hydrophilic nature of kenaf bast fibre affects negatively its adhesion to hydrophobic PLA, thus modification of KBF by soaking with 4% NaOH for three hours was needed. In addition, triacetin was used as a binder and a plasticiser to improve the interaction between PLA and KBF. The mechanical properties of the composites were improved indicating good interaction between treated KBF and PLA. The ratio of 30:70 KBF/PLA with the addition of 5% by weight of triacetin produced green composites with optimum tensile, flexural and impacts strengths comparable to polypropylene that were being used to prepare food container. The SEM micrographs of the fracture surface of tensile test also indicate good adhesion between KBF and PLA. The natural micro organisms in the garden soil degraded the KBF/PLA composites faster than pure PLA.

Dr. Nor Azowa IbrahimMaizatulnisa Othman, Wan Md. Zin Wan Yunus and Khalina AbdanInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6802; norazowa@science.upm.edu.my

Plasticised PLA/Treated Kenaf Bast Fibre Bio-composites for Food Container Application

Keywords: MPI benchmarks, parallel computer, performance comparison

There are several benchmark programmes available to measure the performance of MPI on parallel computers. The most common use of MPI benchmarks softwares are SKaMPI [5], Pallas MPI Benchmark [6], MPBench [4], Mpptest [3] and MPIBench [1, 2]. It is interesting to analyse the differences between different benchmarks. Presently, there have been a few comparisons done between the different benchmarks. Thus, this paper will discuss a comparison of techniques used and functionality of each benchmark, and also a comparison of the results on a distributed memory machine and shared memory machine for point-to-point communication. All of the MPI benchmarks listed above will be compared in this analysis. It is expected that the results from difference benchmarks should be similar, however this analysis found substantial differences in the results for certain MPI communications, particularly for shared memory machines.

Dr. Nor Asilah Wati Abdul HamidFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6532; asila@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Comparison of MPI Benchmark Programs on Shared Memory and Distributed Memory Machines (Point-to-Point Communication)

Science, Technology & Engineering

217

Keywords: Privacy, pervasive computing, ubiquitous computing, privacy evaluation

The fact that pervasive systems are typically embedded and invisible, make them difficult for users to know when these devices are collecting data. Consequently privacy appears as a major issue for pervasive computing applications and several privacy models proposed for pervasive environments. The rapid growth of privacy models in pervasive environments gives rise to the need for some standard benchmarks and evaluation models to evaluate and compare these privacy models. In this paper, we review privacy evaluation models in pervasive environments and present their evaluation results. Then we propose an evaluation model that evaluates privacy models based on user control over private information, expressiveness of privacy policies, and unobtrusiveness of privacy mechanisms as well as represents the model privacy level in a matrix. Finally we evaluate several privacy models by using the proposed privacy evaluation model.

Dr. Nur Izura UdzirAli Dehghantanha, Ramlan Mahmod and Zuriati Ahmad Zukarnain

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6521; izura@fsktm.upm.edu.my

UPEM: User-centred Privacy Evaluation Model in Pervasive Computing Systems

Keywords: Text mining, stylometric, authorship attribution

Stylometric Authorship attribution is one of the new approaches in the text mining field that has recently been noticed because of its delicateness. This approach is concerned about analysing texts, e.g. novels and plays that famous authors wrote, trying to measure the authors’ style, by choosing some attributes that shows the authors’ style of writing, assuming that these writers have a special way of writing, that no other writer has. The two major problems that should be solved in this field are predictions accuracy results and human judgment dependency (i.e. expert). The techniques that manage these kinds of predictions are either using the computational statistical frequent word or the use of more sophisticated semantic techniques but they are still not completely accurate. In this research, we propose a new Stylometric algorithm that can overcome these problems with more accurate prediction and human opinion independency, without relying on the domain expert. The new algorithm is done by merging together two techniques called computational approach and Winnow algorithm. This new algorithm also uses more effective attributes than frequent words which is the most successful attribute in Stylometric prediction this far. The effective attributes have been represented by the word pair and the trio. The experiments show that the new algorithm produces superior prediction and even provides completely correct results.

Dr. Norwati MustaphaTareef Kamil Mustafa, Masrah Azrifah Azmi Murad and Md. Nasir Sulaiman

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6585; norwati@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Anonymous Author Discovery from Writing Style

Science, Technology & Engineering

218

Keywords: Evolutionary strategies, neural network, individual learning, social learning, Tic-Tac-Toe

This paper investigates an integration of individual and social learning, utilising evolutionary neural networks, in order to evolve game playing strategies. Individual learning enables players to create their own strategies. Then, we allow the use of social learning to allow poor performing players to learn from players which are playing at a higher level. The feed forward neural networks are evolved via evolution strategies. The evolved neural network players play first and compete against a nearly perfect player. At the end of each game, the evolved players receive a score based on whether they won, lost or drew. Our results demonstrate that the use of social learning helps players learn strategies, which are superior to the evolved players when social learning is not utilised.

Dr. Razali YaakobFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6523; razaliy@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Social Learning in Evolutionary Computation for Tic-Tac-Toe

Keywords: durian shell, acid phosphoric, activated carbon, toluene, removal efficiency

Durian shells are easily available agricultural by-products and their large quantities of generation make them a potential source for production of alternative low cost adsorbent. This study was performed to determine the characteristics of activated carbon prepared from durian shell and assess the removal properties on toluene vapors. The moisture content, ash content, elements analysis and thermogravimetric analysis were determined using raw durian shell. Durian shell activated carbon (DSAC) was prepared by immersing the raw samples in each 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 50% (v/v) concentration of phosphoric acid respectively, for 24 h. They were then carbonized for 20 min at 400°C, 500°C, 650°C and 800°C under nitrogen atmosphere flow. The activated carbons were sent for characterisation in terms of porosity and chemical properties. Then selected DSAC were tested for removal efficiency with toluene vapors where 10 µl of toluene solvent was injected into the gas sampling bag containing 5L of N2 gas and 0.5g of DSAC. After that, the concentration of the toluene was varied to test the effects on the removal rate of the DSAC. Results showed that various treatment conditions affected the percentage of yield, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller equation (BET) surface area, and pore structures of the activated carbons. The main surface functional groups that appeared in DSAC were hydroxyl, phosphorous groups, carbonyl groups and aromatic rings compounds. The highest BET surface area 1404 m2/g, and best removal efficiency of toluene vapors was achieved by activated carbon prepared at 30% of acid concentration, 500°C and 20 min of heating duration. The concentrations of toluene vapors do not have significant effects on the removal efficiency of toxic gas by DSAC. Therefore, durian shell can be a suitable feedstock for preparation of activated carbons for removal of toxic vapours in the air.

Dr. Puziah Abdul LatifTham Yee Jun, Shamala Devi Arumugam and Ahmad Makmom AbdullahFaculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6744; puziah@env.upm.edu.my

Characterisation of Activated Carbon Derived from Durian Shell and Evaluation on the Potential Removal of Toluene Vapour

Science, Technology & Engineering

219

Keywords: Koye @ putu kacang, Malay traditional food, powder forming

Koye Kacang Powder Forming Machine is designed to produce the Koye Kacang biscuit. Koye Kacang or Putu Kacang biscuit is a mixture of green bean, sugar and some water. This machine is simple, practical, more hygienic, saves cost of production and labour energy. The machine is developed to overcome the labour cost and efficiency problems encountered by Koye Kacang producers. The machine comprises three main processing parts which are the feeding unit, compression unit and knocking unit. The main components of the machine are pneumatic pusher, feeder tank, horizontal guide plate, pneumatic compressor, presser plate, moulding plate, side plate, connecting steel, conveyor belt, sliding plate, and collecting tank. The dimension of the machine is 1570mm (length) × 1800mm (height) × 668mm (width) and has a capacity of approximately 15kg/hr. The mixture of the powdery dough is being placed inside the feeder tank; pneumatic pusher will then push the feeder tank forward along the guiding rail for subsequent filling process. The Koye Kacang dough mixture then fills the moulding plate below the guiding rail via gravitational force. After the filling process has been done, pneumatic compressor will push the presser head downward for the compression process on the filled dough. Later, pneumatic lifter will rotate the moulding block downward, causing compressed dough to be knocked out from the moulding plate. This machine showed 100% efficiency in feeding process at full capacity. For the compression and knocking process, the efficiency of the process was 87.5%. The total efficiency of the whole machine was 91.67%. Based on the high performance of the machine, it is certainly capable to assist Koye Kacang producers to reduce the labour cost and time of processing, thus increasing the productivity considerably.

Dr. Rosnah ShamsudinMuhammad Redzuan Shah Ismail and Khalina Abdan

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6366; rosnahs@eng.upm.edu.my

Koye Kacang Powder Forming Machine

Keywords: Flight scheduler, safety-based system

Scheduler and management system that aimed to be invented as a hardware-embedded system to support scheduling, estimation and dynamic environmental safety caution alerting for flight trips from one destination to another. An intelligent agent that is able to produce decision options for unusual situations (dynamic environment, such as sudden weather changes) will be applied to the application to coupe with real-time safety precautions. It should come in a form of hardware and software together in one hardware device to increase the portability of the system. It is a plug-and-play scheduler and management system, which required no installation and minimises utilisation of CPU space.

Dr. Rodziah AtanMasrah Azrifah Azmi Murad, Mohd. Yazid Md. Saman, Bahram Zarrin and Ahmad Shahi Soozei

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6574; rodziah@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Safety-based Flight Scheduler and Management System

Science, Technology & Engineering

220

Prof. Ir. Dr. Wan Ishak Wan IsmailMohd. Hudzari Razali and Nader KavandiFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6408; wiwi@eng.upm.edu.my

New Technology to Determine Harvesting Date for the Oil Palm FFB

Keywords: Knowledge management system, open source software (OSS), OSS development

The global economy crisis reveals the advantages of Open Source Software (OSS). Software developers benefit not only from reduced cost of acquisition, but also access to source code and components. Feller and Fitzgerald (2002) raised the critical questions on what life-cycle underpins the OSS model and what is the best methodology to support the OSS as well as what toolkit support OSS methodology. Knowledge Management System (KMS) is capable to manage knowledge and the best solution for sharing knowledge among developers in terms of software development process. This study is to solve the problem and to formulate a Knowledge Management System (KMS) framework for sharing OSS knowledge in software development. The formulation of framework covers the major methodologies in software development but the development of prototype system only focusses on SDLC from the planning phase until the maintenance phase. The development of the prototype system uses a prototype approach. A survey was conducted on selected OSS developers in Malaysia to gauge the developer’s awareness of OSS and to ascertain the usage of OSS tools in software development and finally to analyse and validate the framework’s components. The results show the reliability using Rasch Method and SPSS based on Cronbach Alpha is 0.97 and the reliability for both measurement is excellent. (Fisher 2007), Based on three measurements (mean, reliability and percentage), 97.39% of the respondents agree for the framework components respectively and this gives positive feedback to OSS tools in software development. Hence, 98.13% of the respondents agree that to manage OSS tools based on knowledge ontology according to software development process can help to choose rightly and accelerate the software development. The contributions of this study are to provide a mechanism for sharing OSSD knowledge and finally to create a third generation of KM society in Malaysia.

Dr. Rusli AbdullahModi Lakulu, Mohd. Hasan Selamat and Hamidah IbrahimFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6557; rusli@fsktm.upm.edu.my

A Framework of Knowledge Management (KM) Strategies of Open Source Software Development (OSSD) with Collaborative Environment

Keywords: Prediction of day harvesting, mesocarp oil content, hue optical properties, camera vision, PDA

This study introduced the new concept of image based measurement for modelling the oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) maturity prediction which enables to determine the correct time for harvesting. The experiments procedure starts from collection of the fruitlets of FFB during unripe (black colour surface) until overripe (orange colour surface) stage. The variety of oil palm is Tenera (Elaeis guineensis). The fruitlets were plucked from FFB and analysed for oil mesocarp content by using the Soxhlet extractor machine. The calculations to determine the mesocarp oil content was developed based on ratio of oil to dry mesocarp. The images were analysed for optical properties of colour, namely hue, using the analysis software that was developed at our research laboratory. Regression analysis of polynomial 2nd order equation method showed that the optical property of oil palm fruit was significant in determining the oil from the mesocarp fruit, with respect to the degree of maturity. The triangulation method was developed to estimate the optimum days for harvesting the FFB at the highest content and quality of the oil. For commercialisation, the personal Digital Assistance (PDA) was used as a portable oil palm maturity prediction device. The above prediction equations and triangulation table were downloaded to the PDA.

Science, Technology & Engineering

221

Keywords: Automatic license plate recognition, fuzzy logic system, template matching theorem

The Road Transport Department of Malaysia has endorsed a specification for car plates that includes the font and size of characters that must be followed by car owners. However, there are cases where this specification is not followed. This research proposes a new methodology to segment and recognise Malaysian car license plates automatically. The proposed methodology solves the problem of segmenting different length licenses such as license with different number of characters and numbers. There are two main objectives for this paper: first is to develop fuzzy rules to recognise the segmented characters and numbers from the same input-sets, which is the same size without overlapping between the characters and numbers sets. Secondly, this paper proposes a method to recognise non-standard plates which is by Template Matching theorem. The hybrid method of Fuzzy and Template matching is tested on 300 samples of car images captured in outdoor environment. The results yield 90.4% recognition accuracy, the Fuzzy based required 1.7 seconds and Template matching based took 0.75 seconds to perform the recognition.

Dr. Syamsiah MashohorAbbas Mohammed Al-Ghaili

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4348; abbasghaili@yahoo.com

A New Vertical Edge Detection Algorithm

Keywords: Cosmo ball, treatment, bacteria, anaerobic, simulation, wastewater

The Cosmo ball mainly has its application as a filter media in an effluent treatment system. A very large surface area could be obtained for microbial attachment as the Cosmo ball has a design such that a surface for fluid interaction with the maximum microbial. This will greatly improve the degradation of organic matter in wastewater trough the microbial activities. Cosmo ball is a media used in wastewater treatment in view to increase the surface area of contact and provide longer contact time for biological activities. It is usually placed as a media or as packing in the aeration tank, BioFil tank or even in an activated sludge tank. It induces the growth of bacteria on its surface that will serve as a contact area for the wastewater and the microbial. The purpose of this simulation is to analyse the fluid flow pattern namely water around the Cosmo ball. By this means, the overall insights on the interaction of the fluid flow with the Cosmo ball surface can be visualised.The result shows that the fluid flows around the ball disperse inducing mixing in the overall system. There are some retention of flow observed that occurs in the ball. The retention of flow induces better microbial interaction to the fluid.

Dr. Siti Aslina HussainTan Hong Tat and Azni Idris

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6292; aslina@eng.upm.edu.my

Cosmo Ball in Wastewater Treatment

Science, Technology & Engineering

222

Keywords: Compactability, compressibility, food powders, stress relaxation, tensile strength, uniaxial die compaction

This work presents a study of uniaxial die compaction of food powders for typical food powders such as maize powder and maize grits as well as a universal binder known as microcrystalline cellulose or Avicel. The method of compaction is widely applied in the industry as it can investigate the compressibility and compactability characteristics of powders prior to handling, storage, packaging, and transportation. In the current context, a cylindrical uniaxial die of 20 mm was used to compress the powders into compact. Pressures ranging from 30 and 160 MPa were applied to the uniaxial die using a universal testing machine. It was found that Avicel powder showed the highest compactability characteristic, ability to form bonding easily. Other than that, compactability of both the coarse maize and fine maize were quite similar which may be due to the similar chemical composition. The data were then validated using an established compression equation. The asymptotic residual modulus value reduced as the ability of the food powders to form plastic junctions - assuming that they existed - increased. For the tensile strength test, Avicel compact showed the greatest tensile strength, many times that of fine maize and coarse maize compacts. However, between the fine maize and coarse maize, fine maize had higher tensile strength which may be due to its smaller particle size, as well as the fact that the contact area may be increased, and consequently may form a more coherent compact. The results indicate that this simple approach can be used to understand the compressibility and compactability characteristics of food powders which are essential for engineering and technology application.

Dr. Yus Aniza YusofFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6363; niza@eng.upm.edu.my

Uniaxial Die Compaction of Food Powders

Keywords: Bismuth, niobium, oxide ion conductor, mechanochemical, solid state reaction, impedance spectroscopy

Oxide ion conductors have attracted considerable attention due to their applications in technological devices such as solid oxide fuel cells and oxygen sensors. Materials in Bi2O3-Nb2O5 binary oxide system have been synthesized by conventional solid-state and mechanochemical methods. Powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that single phase materials were formed with a general formula of BixNbO? at 2.5 ? x ? 6 for both solid-state and mechanochemical methods. A lower synthesis temperature was found in the mechanochemical method (700oC) compared to the solid state method (800oC). Thermal analyses using differential thermal (DTA) and thermogravimetric (TGA) analyses showed that all single phase materials were thermally stable. Electrical measurements using AC impedance spectroscopy indicated that the samples prepared by mechanochemical method gave lower activation energy. Among the solid solutions prepared by the two methods, Bi5NbO10 and Bi6NbO11.5 exhibited the highest conductivity.

Dr. Tan Yen PingNg Sin Nee and Taufiq Yap Yun HinFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6789; yptan@science.upm.edu.my

Preparation and Characterisation of Bismuth Niobium Oxide Ion Conductors as New Sensor Materials

Science, Technology & Engineering

223

Keywords: Block method, variable step size, ordinary differential equations

A four-point implicit block multistep method is developed to solve first-order ordinary differential equations using variable step size. The method computes the numerical solution at four equally spaced points simultaneously. The stability of the proposed method is investigated. The Gauss Seidel approach is used for the implementation of the proposed method in the PECE mode. The method is presented in a simple form of Adams type and all coefficients are stored in the code in order to avoid the calculation of divided difference and integration coefficients. Numerical results show that the proposed method gave better results than the existence method.

Dr. Zanariah Abdul MajidSiamak Mehrkanoon Mohamed Suleiman

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7959; zanariah@science.upm.edu.my

Variable Step Implicit Block Multistep Method for Solving ODEs

Keywords: Singular integral, quadrature formula, discrete vortex method, canonical partition

The singular integral (SI) with the Cauchy kernel is considered. New quadrature formulas (QFs) based on the modification of discrete vortex method to approximate SI are constructed. Convergence of QFs and error bounds are shown in the classes of functions H(alpha) and C^1[-1,1]. Rate of convergence of the QFs is improved in the class of function C^1[-1,1]. Numerical examples are shown to validate the QFs constructed.

Dr. Zainidin K. EshkuvatovNik Mohd. Asri Nik Long and Mohammad Abdulkawi

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6855; ezaini@science.upm.edu.my

Numerical Evaluation for Cauchy Type Singular Integrals on the Interval

Science, Technology & Engineering

224

Keywords: Product design, furniture design

This project aims to design a wardrobe that can be used within a narrow space living area. Most houses have its own unused space such as wall corners, under staircase and behind doors. This space is often narrow and it is not suitable for owners to put a furniture particularly the wardrobe. Currently, there is no specific wardrobe that is purposely designed to fit within a narrow space. Existing wardrobe is normally large, bulky and requires huge space utilization within the house interior. This wardrobe design is suitable to be used at narrow places because of its flexibility and adjustable aspects. The wardrobe design can be modified into different shapes and sizes. In addition, this wardrobe is user friendly, easy to fit within narrow spaces and affordable. It is also easy to fold and convenient for storage purpose.

Mr. Ahmad Rizal Abdul RahmanShahrul Azman Shahbudin, Mohd. Azali Abdul Rahim and Asmawi AdziFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4080; rizalrahman17@gmail.com

Clothing Storage

Keywords: Congestion control, TCP, AIMD, network utilisation

As the Internet becomes increasingly heterogeneous, the issue of congestion control becomes ever more important. The link utilisation is one of the important things in terms of congestion avoidance and control mechanisms as well. With that, we can define the utilisation as simply the throughput divided by the access rate. In addition, all the developments for the congestion control and avoidance algorithms are interested about using network resources and links capacity (utilisation). In this research, we continued to study the performances of the New-Additive Increase Multiplicative Decrease (AIMD) algorithm as one of the core protocols for TCP congestion avoidance and control mechanism. We want to evaluate the effect of using the AIMD algorithm after developing it to find a new approach, as we called it the New-AIMD algorithm to measure the bottleneck link utilisation and use the NCTUns simulator to get the results after making the modification of the mechanism. We will also use the Droptail mechanism as Active Queue Management (AQM) in the bottleneck router. After the implementation of our new approach with different number of flows, we will measure the bottleneck link utilisation and we will get high utilisation (more than 94%) for bottleneck link by using this mechanism and avoid the collisions in the link. Now and after the results that show high utilisation for bottleneck link, we know the New-AIMD mechanism work as well under the giving network condition in the experiments.

Dr. Zuriati Ahmad ZukarnainHayder Natiq Jasem, Mohamed Othman and Shamala SubramaniamFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6565; zuriati@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Bottleneck Link Utilisation with New-additive Increase Multiplicative Decrease Congestion Avoidance and Control Algorithm

Science, Technology & Engineering

225

Keywords: Bivariate extreme, pickands’ dependence function, stochastics ordering

We study the characteristics of Pickands’ dependence function for bivariate extreme distribution for minima, BEVM, when considering the stochastics ordering of the two variables, X < Y. The existing Pickand’s dependence function terminologies and theories are modified to suit the dependence functions of extreme minimum cases. The main result is the introduction of the restricted logistic dependence function, ARL and the restricted exponential function, VRL(x, y).

Mohd. Bakri AdamFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6860; bakri@math.upm.edu.my

Modification of Pickands’ Dependence Function for Ordered Bivariate Extreme Distributions

Keywords: Electric vehicle, public transport, industrial design

This design project is an Electric Vehicle for people to commute within Cyberjaya City. Most significantly, Cyberjaya community is facing inefficient public transport services. It is also difficult to walk from one place to another, due to the building’s location and distance. The lack of shades and cool environment would sometimes makes the Cyberjaya City too humid and does not permit people to walk from one location to another.

Mr. Bakri Bakar@IsmailMohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Hasri Yunardi Hassan and Irfendi Mohamad

Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4096; buckrie@gmail.com

CEV: Cyberjaya Electric Vehicle

Science, Technology & Engineering

226

Keywords: Watermelon fruit maturity device, industrial design

This product is a device that can measure the ripeness of watermelon fruit. Traditionally people will sort the matured fruit by squeezing, shaking, knocking, touching, smelling and observing the fruits skins and textures. The main objective is to replace the traditional method by using a simple and portable device to measure the ripeness of watermelon fruit. It incorporates the technological concept of pendulum that could trigger the resonance and translate to determine the ripeness of the fruit.

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik AbdullahRosalam Che Me, Hassan Alli, Bakri Bakar@Ismail, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin, Mohd. Azali Abdul Rahim, Razman Ramli, Mohamizzam Mohammad and Rahinah IbrahimFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; nikaizan@yahoo.com

Watermelon Maturity Device

Keywords: Gardening product, industrial design

Grass trimming activity is normally done by men using a bulky and heavy grass trimming machine. During the trimming activities, users are exposed to risks because the machine uses sharp blades and it also produces a distracting noise. Women in particular, are reluctant to use the grass trimming machine due to its bulky size, heavy and it is too mechanical. The multipurpose grass trimmer is a device that can be used by women for gardening activities. This user friendly product enables the users to adjust the ergonomics handle according to their comfort. The use of silent motor system minimises the noise level and emissions. The external appearance of grass trimming machine features ergonomics form which enables the user, in particular women to carry it conveniently.

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik AbdullahShabudin Md. Sattar, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin, Mohd. Azali Abd. Rahim, Zulkifli Muslim, Mohamizzam Mohammad and Noorizan MohamedFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; nikaizan@yahoo.com

Multipurpose Grass Trimmer

Science, Technology & Engineering

227

Keywords: Fuzzy cognitive map, path prediction

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tang Sai HongOmid Motlagh, Napsiah Ismail, Abdul Rahman Ramli and Ang Chun Kit

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6332; saihong@eng.upm.edu.my

Research on characteristics of spatial cognition without vision is used to improve the design of indoor environments to be safer for blind and visually handicapped persons. A fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) decision mechanism is presented for modelling path planning strategies adopted by blind travelers including wall-following, and shortcutting through the environment. A statistical case based reasoning (CBR) strategy is introduced for anticipating the points of switch between the two mentioned behaviours along the path. The combination of CBR and FCM modules provided a robust model of decision making which can be used for predicting blind motions. In this research, 51 eye-masked subjects contributed for obtaining the path patterns and for validating the results obtained using the proposed path prediction approach.

A New Path Estimation Strategy for Predicting Blind Persons’ Motion in Indoor Environments

Keywords: Portable daylight reflector device, industrial design

As part of the interior needs, enhancing a room with potted plants is beneficial. Healthier plants depend on how we could take care of the plant well indoor, perhaps with water treatment and the source of lights that are required by the plants. A portable daylight reflector was designed for reflecting natural lights, redirecting them to the internal space and diffusing them to a level required for indoor plants and space at the same time. As a result, the design balances inadequate ambient daylight for room task and to help the plants grow more naturally.

Mr. Ruhaizin SulaimanHassan Alli, Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Mohammad Aiman Ahmad Fozi, Saiful Hasley Ramli, Mohd. Faiz

Yahaya and Sazrinee Zainal AbidinFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4034; ruhaizin@putra.upm.edu.my

Portable Daylight Reflector Device

Science, Technology & Engineering

228

Keywords: Multifunction, affordable design, ergonomic, aesthetic value, coffee table, decorative light

This new invention is an attempt to identify a solution for modern living space. In a typical living room for an instance, the space will be cluttered with sofas, racks, cabinets and coffee tables just to name a few. Hence, this research is focusing on space study which is becoming very limited for today’s living area. A multifunction and affordable design concept is applied in this innovation. It is ergonomically designed and optimised the aesthetical value because it can be adjusted according to the preferred height, yet it can serve both as a coffee table and as a decorative lighting. Moreover, this invention is also a cost effective product as consumers no longer need to purchase a coffee table and a decorative lighting separately.

Mr. Shahrul Azman ShahbudinPang Lee Ping, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah and Bakri BakarFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4054; shazman67@yahoo.com

EMO: The Ajustable Hanging Table

Keywords: 4 in 1 furniture, compact, minimalist, mobile and multifunctional, chair, bedding, study table, closet, recyclable

The project focuses in designing a new 4 in 1 furniture concept that is suitable for users who are living in a small size terrace house. A person who lives in a small size terrace house often faces limited space area problem. The outlook of this furniture design emphasizes on a compact, minimalist, mobile and multifunctional use. The 4 in 1 concept shall allow users to transform this furniture into four different functions which are chair, bedding, study table and closet. Its multifunctional aspect shall enable users to maximise its usage and minimise the use of home space area. This furniture design also constraints on the green design concepts by optimising the use of natural and recyclable material and reduces the use of polymer based materials.

Mr. Shahrul Azman ShahbudinRedzwan Ab. Aziz, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Bakri Bakar and Arnis AzizFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4054; shazman67@yahoo.com

FIOF: 4 in 1 Compact Portable Furniture

Science, Technology & Engineering

229

Keywords: Real time schedulling algorithm, TUF/UA scheduling paradigm, discrete event simulation

This study proposed a robust algorithm named as Backward Recovery Preemptive Utility Accrual Schedulling (BRPUAS) algorithm that implements the Backward Recovery (BR) mechanism as a fault recovery solution under the existing utility accrual schedulling environment. The problem identified in the TUF/UA schedulling domain is that the existing algorithms only consider the Abortion Recovery (AR) as their fault recovery solution in which all faulty tasks are simply aborted to nullify the erroneous effect. The decision to immediately abort the affected tasks is inefficient because aborted tasks produce zero utility causes the system to accrue lower utility. The proposed BRPUAS algorithm enabled the re-execution of the affected tasks rather than abortion to reduce the number of aborted tasks in the existing algorithm known as Abortion Recovery Preemptive Utility Accrual Scheduling (ARPUAS) algorithm that employed the AR mechanism. The BRPUAS ensures the correctness of the executed tasks in the best effort basis in such a way that the infeasible tasks are aborted and produced zero utility, while the feasible tasks are re-executed to produce positive utility and consequently maximised the total accrued utility to the system. The performances of these algorithms are measured by using discrete event simulation. The proposed BRPUAS algorithm achieved higher accrued utility compared to ARPUAS for the entire load range. Simulation results revealed that the BR mechanism is more efficient than the existing AR mechanism, producing higher accrued utility ratio and less abortion ratio making it more reliable and efficient for adaptive real time application domain.

Mrs. Idawaty AhmadShamala Subramaniam, Mohammad Othman and Zuriati Zulkarnain

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6541; idawaty@fsktm.upm.edu.my

A Backward Fault Recovery Mechanism in Preemptive Utility Accrual Real Time Scheduling Algorithm

Keywords: Nano silver, polypropylene water filter, bacteria

Advancements in nanotechnology are being applied in the water-purification industry, to keep harmful bacteria out of drinking water. Due to its bactericidal properties, nano-silver is used in many products as an antibacterial function. This study aimed to produce and investigate the effect of a nano silver-based water-treatment using polypropylene filter via the physical vapor deposition method. The production of nano silver filter used the Balzers 760 machine which was equipped with an electron beam gun ESQ 110. The Balzers machine was modified in order to enable coating of the cylindrical filters in a homogenous manner. The nano-silver particles were made by electron beam bombardment of the silver metal, which were subsequently deposited on the polypropylene filter evenly. The thicknesses of the nano layer coated on the filters were about 35.0nm, 45.0nm and 55.0nm in average, respectively and were determined by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and the X-ray diffraction technique. The inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP/MS) was used to determine amount of silver nano-particles in water sample after filtration. The results found that the count of nano silver particles which the enumeration of bacteria was done by membrane filter method in the filtered water sample was nil. At a flow rate of 3L/hr and after four hours filtration, more than 99% Escherichia coli were inactivated when the input water had a bacterial load of 103 colony-forming units (CFU) per mL. SEM photos were showed the filtered bacteria on the NSF after passing through the polluted water. This is the first report on the manufacture of nano silver cylindrical polypropylene filter using the electron beam gun technique, to the best of our knowledge. The filter system produced in this work has the potential to be used as an efficient and cost-effective water treatment method.

Mrs. Farideh HeidarpourFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8519; f.heidarpour@yahoo.com

Manufacture and Application of Nano Silver Water Treatment Filters

Science, Technology & Engineering

230

Keywords: Melting, heat transfer, steady, dual solutions, moving surface

To investigate the steady laminar boundary layer flow and heat transfer from a warm, laminar liquid flow to a melting surface moving parallel to a constant free stream. The effects of the melting parameter, moving parameter and Prandtl number on the flow and heat transfer characteristics are studied. A similarity transformation is used to reduce the governing partial differential equations to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically using the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method. There is a region of unique solutions for moving parameter, however, multiple (dual) solutions exist when the solid surface and the free stream move in the opposite directions. The solutions can be obtained up to a certain value of the moving parameter (critical value or turning point). The boundary layer separates from the plate beyond the turning point hence it is not possible to get the solution based on the boundary layer approximations after this point. To obtain further solutions, the full Navier-Stokes equations have to be solved. The flow due to a moving flat plate is relevant to several practical applications in the field of metallurgy, chemical engineering, etc. For example in magma solidification, melting of permafrost and preparation of semiconductor materials. In these cases, the properties of the final product depend to a great extent on the rate of cooling which is governed by the structure of the boundary layer near the melting surface. The present results are original and new for the boundary layer flow and heat transfer for a melting surface moving parallel to a constant free stream. Therefore this study would be important for the scientists and engineers in order to become familiar with the flow behaviour and properties of such melting surface.

Mrs. Norfifah BachokAnuar Ishak, Roslinda Nazar and Norazak SenuFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6849; norfifah@fsas.upm.edu.my

Melting Heat Transfer in Steady Laminar Flow over a Moving Surface

Keywords: MHD, mixed convection, suction/injection, dual solutions, stagnation-point

To investigate the steady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mixed convection boundary layer flow of a viscous and electrically conducting fluid near the stagnation-point on a vertical permeable surface. The effects of suction as well as magnetic parameter near the stagnation-point are studied. A similarity transformation is used to reduce the governing partial differential equations to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically using a finite-difference method. The dual solutions exist for both assisting and opposing flows. The range of the mixed convection parameter for which the solution that exists, increases with suction. The solutions can be obtained up to a certain value of the moving parameter (critical value or turning point). The boundary layer separates from the plate beyond the turning point hence it is not possible to get the solution based on the boundary layer approximations after this point. To obtain further solutions, the full Navier-Stokes equations have to be solved. The flow due to a permeable surface is relevant to several practical applications in the engineering activities such as in the design of thrust bearing and radial diffusers, and thermal oil recovery. In these cases, the properties of the final product depend to a great extent on the rate of cooling which is governed by the structure of the boundary layer near the permeable surface. The present results are original and new for the boundary layer flow of a viscous and electrically conducting fluid near the stagnation-point on a vertical permeable surface. Therefore this study would be important for the scientists and engineers in order to become familiar with the flow behaviour and properties of such permeable surface, and the way to predict the properties of this flow for the process equipments.

Mrs. Norfifah BachokAnuar Ishak, Roslinda Nazar and Norazak SenuInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6849; norfifah@fsas.upm.edu.my

MHD Mixed Convection Flow Near the Stagnation-point on a Vertical Permeable Surface

Science, Technology & Engineering

231

Keywords: Design, equipment,soft soil, stabilization, injection-vacuum technology, chemical grout

There are various methods and devices to stabilise soft soils and one method that is commonly used worldwide is grouting or injecting a liquid (cement and/or additives) into the voids within the soil, and thus displacing the gases and liquids from within these. Some examples of grouting method are hydro fracture grouting, compaction grouting, jet grouting, etc. Selecting the right method for deep soil stabilising however, depends on several conditions like the type and alternative layers of soil, load size, the situation and type of project, among others. In this research, the effect of cement and different varieties of chemical grouts on stabilization of soft soil by Deep Mixing Method (DMM) was investigated. To achieve this goal, a model scale DMM injector (injection-vacuum apparatus) was specially designed and developed in-house. Soil samples were collected from the field and were stabilised by the newly developed injection-vacuum apparatus. The design of the proposed equipment consists of an injection part, a vacuum pump and two kinds of auger for drilling the vacuum and injection wells. The injection part has two tanks for holding the cement slurry and other chemical grouts. The auger motor is mounted on a vertical steel frame which also has a mixing pump unit and a slurry outlet at its base. The slurry outlet can be moved up and down by using the auger manually. This apparatus has three main parts to operate; the injection part, the vacuum pump and the auger motor.

Prof. Dr. Bujang Kim HuatSina Kazemian and Thamer A. Mohamed

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6368; huatbbk@yahoo.com

New Designed Equipment for Soft Soil Stabilisation

Keywords: Artocarpus kemando, artosimmin, artomandin, flavonoids, xanthones, anti-cancer

Our recent study on Artocarpus odoratissimus has resulted in the purification of a new prenylated pyranoflavone derivative artosimmus (1) and traxateryl acetate (2). Artocarpus kemando on the other hand, gave a new furanodihydrobenzoxanthone, artomandin (3), together with three other flavonoid derivatives- artoindonesianin C (4), artonol B (5), artochamin A (6), and the triterpene ?-sitosterol (7). Structural elucidations of these compounds were achieved by using 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometry. Compound 2 is obtained for the first time from Artocarpus odoratissimus. All these compounds displayed very susceptible degree of inhibition effects against HL-60 & MCF-7 cancer cell lines. These compound also possess antioxidant properties towards 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH). This paper reports the two new compounds and the biological activities of the extracts and pure compounds from these two Artocarpus species.

Prof. Dr. Gwendoline Cheng Lian EeTeo Siow Hwa, Lim Chan Kiang and Mawardi Rahmani

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6785; gwen@science.upm.edu.my

Chemistry of Artocarpus kemando and Artocarpus odoratissimus

Science, Technology & Engineering

232

Keywords: Nickel-cobalt oxide, co-precipitation, phase formation, surface morphology, nanosized, supercapacitor behaviour

Supercapacitors possess remarkable characteristic that combine the energy properties of batteries with the power discharge characteristics of capacitors. This leads to the development of two well-known types of supercapacitors with different charge-storage mechanisms: the electric double layer capacitance (EDLC) from carbonaceous materials and the pseudocapacitance of redox reactions within the electroactive materials from metal oxides. Spinel nickel-cobalt oxide (NiCo2O4) originated from the solid solutions of the nickel cobaltite system, NixCo1-xOy has great potential in the applications of the electrochemistry field. This system has received a due attention for its good electrical conductivity, excellent capacitance value and rapid charge-discharge reversibility. Co-precipitation has been adopted in the preparation of nickel cobaltite system to overcome the drawbacks portrayed by conventional solid-state method such as slow reaction, high firing temperature and formation of additional undesirable phases due to partial melting of constituting solids. Besides, chemical co-precipitation technique is able to facilitate atomic scale mixing and produce nanosized material at lower calcination temperature. The formation of spinel NiCo2O4 was found to start below 400 °C based on the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The optimum composition for the formation of this nickel cobaltite system was 1 mol Ni : 2 mol Co without the presence of monoxides at the calcination temperature of 400 °C. However, none of the compositions of Ni and Co calcined at 700 °C showed the occurrence of spinel. The surface morphology of the prepared sample was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and the calcined nanocrystals at temperature 400 °C are of 34.10 nm in particle size. Cyclic voltammogram revealed that NiCo2O4 exhibits 22.4 F g-1 at the scan rate 4 mVs-1. Specific capacitance values of NiCo2O4 are retained throughout 1000 cycles with negligible degradation of capacitance. This reveals excellent electrochemical stability of this metal oxide.

Prof. Dr. Zulkarnain ZainalChang Sook Keng, Tan Kar Ban, Nor Azah Yusof, Wan Mohd Daud Wan Yusoff and S.R.S. PrabaharanFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4209; zulkar@science.upm.edu.my

Nickel-cobalt Oxide Synthesised by Coprepitation for Supercapacitor Application

Keywords: Palm olein, urea, fatty amides, lipozyme

Oleochemicals are important for many chemical industries as they are derived from renewable, biodegradable, environmental friendly, easily available and low toxicityraw materials. They are analogous to petrochemicals which are chemicals derived from petroleum. Among of important oleochemicals are fatty amides and their derivatives. Fatty amides have attracted a lot of attention due to their biological activities and industrial applications such as surfactants, lubricants, and anti-blocking agents in the plastics processing industry. Fatty amides have been successfully synthesised from palm olein and urea by a one-step lipase catalyzed reaction. The use of immobilized lipase as the catalyst for the preparation reaction provides an easy isolation of the enzyme from the products and other components in the reaction mixture. The fatty amides were characterised using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) technique and elemental analysis. The highest conversion percentage (96 %) was obtained when the process was carried out for 36 hours using urea to palm oil ratio of 5.2: 1.0 at 40 ºC. The method employed offers several advantages such as renewable and abundant of the raw material, simple reaction procedure, environmentally friendly process and high yield of the product.

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Wan Md. Zin Wan YunusEmad A. Jaffar Al-Mulla, Nor Azowa Ibrahim and Mohd. Zaki A. RahmanFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6808; wanzin@science.upm.edu.my

Enzymatic Synthesis of Fatty Amides from Palm Olein

Science, Technology & Engineering

233

Keywords: Integral transform, Sumudu transform, differential equations, system of equations

Integral transform method is widely used to solve the several differential equations with the initial values or boundary conditions which are represented by integral equations. With this purpose the Sumudu transform was introduced as a new integral transform by Watugala to solve some ordinary differential equations in control engineering. Later, it was proved that Sumudu transform has very special and useful properties. Objective of this study is to show the applicability of this interesting new transform and efficiency in solving the linear ordinary differential equations with constant and non constant coefficients as well as system of differential equations.

Prof. Dr. Adem KilicmanInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6813; akilicman@putra.upm.edu.my

Sumudu Transform and Differential Equations

Keywords: Dielectric permitivity, capacitance, ceramics

The growth in electronic device applications has driven researchers to find new materials as electronic components with better properties. This includes via doping, substitution, heat treatment, processing techniques as well as new formulations. In this project, two samples have been prepared; lanthanum barium titano-manganite (LBTM) and lanthanum calcium titano-manganite (LCTM) and their dielectric properties ?? are studied. High dielectric permittivity has been observed for sample that contained barium than that of calcium. The ?? of LBTM at 25 oC is ~ 34800 (1 kHz) with small loss factor D ~ 0.48 whilst LCTM possesses ~ 23600 (1 kHz) at 25 oC with high loss ~ 30.20. This high dielectric permittivity is originated from a thin layer separating between grains or called grain boundary. As the temperature increases, the dielectric permittivity of both samples is expanding to higher frequency. Interestingly, the dielectric permittivity for sample containing barium at 0 to 200 oC is ~ 20800 to ~ 54400 with dielectric loss D less then 0.9. The dielectric properties of LBTM sample are suitable for wide frequency and temperature range application. This high dielectric property has opened a new dimension for fabrication of new barrier layer capacitors which is suitable for long range of application from low to high frequencies and temperatures. Current capacitor based ceramic materials, e.g. BaTiO3 is widely being used since it was discovered in late 1940’s where the bulk dielectric permittivity, ?? ~ 1000 (1 kHz) at room temperature.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim ShaariWalter Charles, Zainal Abidin Talib, W. Mohd Daud W. Yusoff, Z. Zalita and Elias Saion

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6648; ahalim@science.upm.edu.my

Role of Barium and Calcium in Lanthanum Titano-manganite Ceramic for Internal Layer Capacitor

Science, Technology & Engineering

234

Keywords: Artocarpus species, antioxidant, cytotoxic, antimicrobial activity, xanthones

Artocarpus is a genus of about 55 trees of Southeast Asia origin and the Pacific, belonging to the mulberry family Moraceae. Some Artocarpus species such as breadfruit and jackfruit are cultivated widely in the tropical Southeast Asia. Several members of this genus are ethnomedicinally used in the treatment of malaria fever, dysentery, tuberculosis, hypertension and antiinflammatory. The air dried stem bark of 13 Artocarpus species were collected from Forest Research Centre, Kuching, Sarawak. The species were A. altilis, A. anisophyllus, A. dadah, A. elasticus, A. interger, A. kemando, A. melinoxylus, A. nitidus, A. obtusus, A. odoratissimus, A. rigidus, A. sarawakensis and A. tamaran. The study on Artocarpus species involved extraction in various solvent of increasing polarity (petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol) and bioassay screening of the extracts (antioxidant, cytotoxic and antimicrobial activity). In this study, A. obtusus, A. anisophyllus and A. kemando exhibited significant free radical scavenging activity towards DPPH, a stable free radical. As for cytotoxic activity, crude extracts of A. obtusus and A. anisophyllus showed strong activity against HL 60 cells line with IC50 < 9 ?g/ml. Most of the crude extracts were not toxic against MCF 7 cells line with IC50 > 30 ?g/ml. Artocarpus species were inactive against Pseudomonas aeruginosa but crude extracts of A. obtusus showed moderate activity against Bacillus subtilis and Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with diameter inhibition zone 13 mm and 12 mm respectively. This study has led to selection of some potential plants for further detail investigation in search for new compounds for drug discovery.

Prof. Dr. Mawardi RahmaniNajihah Mohd. Hashim, Abdul Manaf Ali, Noorjahan Banu Alitheen and Rusea GoFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6794; mawardi@science.upm.edu.my

New Xanthones with Promising Cytotoxic Activity and other Chemical Components from Artocarpus obtusus (Moraceae)

Keywords: Modulation, OFDM, PAPR, BER, transceiver

A concatenated multidimensional signal modulating transceiver system is provided wherein the multidimensional signal modulating transmitter system includes an outer Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) Modulator, a complex signal splitter connectable to the QAM modulator, two orthogonally split signals connectable in parallel to the complex signal splitter, two dc-offset units are each connectable to two orthogonally split signals, two inner digital modulators connectable to two dc-offset units, wherein the two inner digital modulators are connectable to a parallel to serial converter for transmission on a selected frequency band. The multidimensional signal modulating receiver system includes a serial to parallel converter, two inner digital demodulators connectable to the serial to parallel converter, two dc-offset units connectable in parallel to two inner digital demodulators, a real-to-complex valued converter connectable to two dc-offset units wherein the real-to-complex valued converter is further connectable to an outer QAM demodulator to recover the original transmitted datastream.

Prof. Dr. Borhanuddin Mohd. AliWisam F. Al Azoo, Pooria Varahram, Sabira Khatun, Syed M. Bilfagih and Nor K. NoordinFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6443; borhan@eng.upm.edu.my

Concatenated Multi-dimensional Modulating Transmitter and Receiver for Digital Communication Systems

Science, Technology & Engineering

235

Keywords: Optical multistage interconnection networks (OMINs), optical omega networks, crosstalk-free routing algorithms, zero-based algorithms

Based on the ZeroX algorithm, a fast and efficient crosstalk-free time- domain algorithm called the Fast ZeroX or shortly FastZ_X algorithm is proposed for solving optical crosstalk problem in optical Omega multistage interconnection networks. A new pre-routing technique called the inverse Conflict Matrix (iCM) is also introduced to map all possible conflicts identified between each node in the network as another representation of the standard conflict matrix commonly used in previous Zero-based algorithms. It is shown that using the new iCM, the original ZeroX algorithm is simplified, thus improved the algorithm by reducing the time to complete routing process. Through simulation modelling, the new approach yields the best performance in terms of minimal routing time in comparison to the original ZeroX algorithm as well as previous algorithms tested for comparison.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed OthmanTengku Dian Shahida and Mohamad Khazani Abdullah

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6556; mothman@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Fast ZeroX Algorithm for Routing in Optical Multistage Interconnection Networks

Keywords: Grafted, OPEFB, hydroxamic acid, heavy metal, removal

Most commercial ion exchanger resins for removal of heavy metals were petroleum-based polymers which are neither renewable nor biodegradable. Biomass which is more biodegradable could thus be an alternative and economical material. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is a cheap biomass fiber available in Malaysia. Therefore, the application of the fiber for value-added purposes such as in sorption of heavy metals is worth to be explored. However, generally most native fibres have quite low functional groups for metal chelation. Hence, the fiber has to be functionalised by appropriate chelating functional group before it can be used effectively to extract heavy metals. In this research, the OPEFB was functionalised with hydroxamic acid which is known to form complexes with various metal ions. The functionalised fibre was characterised and its sorption behaviour towards heavy metals Cu(II), Fe(III), Cr(III) and Pb(II) from aqueous solution was evaluated. OPEFB was grafted with polymethylacrylate (PMA) using H2O2/Fe2+ as initiator. The PMA grafted OPEFB (PMA-OPEFB) was treated with hydroxylammonium chloride in alkaline medium to produce hydroxamic acid grafted fiber (PHA-OPEFB). Sorption of the heavy metals by PHA-OPEFB is effective over a pH range of 4 - 6 and the sorption capacity much higher compared to untreated fiber. The sorption follows the Langmuir model with maximum capacities higher than some fibres reported by other researchers. The sorption process was exothermic as shown by the negative value of enthalpy change, ?H?. The free energy change (?G?) for the sorption was negative showing that the sorption process is spontaneous. A kinetic study showed that the metal sorption is fast and followed a second order kinetic model.

Prof. Dr. Md. Jelas HaronSoleha M. Yusuff, Mariati Tiansih, Nor Azowa Ibrahim, Anuar Kassim and W.M.Z. Wan Yunus

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6796; mdjelas@science.upm.edu.my

Hydroxamic Acid Grafted Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fibre for Heavy Metal Removal

Science, Technology & Engineering

236

Keywords: MAC, IEEE 802.11, misbehaviour, wireless LAN, hotspot

Wireless Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols such as IEEE 802.11 use distributed contention resolution mechanisms for sharing the wireless channel. In this environment, selfish hosts that fail to adhere to the MAC protocol may obtain an unfair throughput share. For example, IEEE 802.11 requires hosts competing for access to the channel to wait for a “back-off” interval, randomly selected from a specified range, before initiating a transmission. Selfish hosts may wait for smaller back-off intervals than well-behaved hosts; thereby obtaining an unfair advantage. We show in this thesis that a greedy user can substantially increase his share of bandwidth, at the expense of the other users, by slightly modifying the driver of his network adapter. This study is a complementary of DOMINO System model to enhance the detection system in the MAC layer of IEEE 802.11; our enhanced system is a piece of software to be installed in or near the Access Point. The system can detect and identify greedy stations without requiring any modification of the standard protocol. We illustrate these concepts by simulation results.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed OthmanAli Mohammed Mansoor Alsahag AlkazmiFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6535; mothman@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Enhancing Wireless Medium Access Control Layer Misbehaviour Detection System in IEEE 802.11 Network

Keywords: Circulant graphs, interconnection network, connectivity, hamiltonian cycle, asymme

The first modified structure of chordal rings fourth degree is called Modified Chordal Rings Degree Four, CHRm4. CHRm4 is unweighted and undirected circulant graph. This study presented the main properties of CHRm4. There are connectivity, Hamiltonian cycle and asymmetric. Several definitions, postulates, corollary, theorems and lemmas were obtained according to these three main properties. It is about interconnection between nodes, how the Hamiltonian cycle occurred and why CHRm4 is not symmetric. Connectivity and asymmetric are dominant properties that show that CHRm4 is different from the previous conventional chordal rings fourth degree. There are different connections for odd and even nodes that yield that CHRm4 is not symmetric. The Hamiltonian cycle property applied the same concept with conventional chordal rings fourth degree and is important especially for updating messages and reduces the delay in routing.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed OthmanR. N. FarahInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6535; mothman@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Combinatorial Properties of Modified Chordal Rings Degree Four Networks

Science, Technology & Engineering

237

Keywords: Biohydrogen, POME, biofuels, waste water treatment

Oil palm is the highest oil crop in Malaysia, making palm oil the cheapest edible oil for the world market. However, during palm oil processing, a lot of biomass produced as waste materials. The wastes have shown a great potential substrate available for further conversion. Indeed, the production of biohydrogen from palm oil mill effluent (POME) shows an innovative idea since it could couple the production of biohydrogen and partial treatment of the waste before it goes to another process, i.e methane production or organic acids production. Biohydrogen is the second generation of biofuel and it is one of alternative fuel, which can replace fossil fuel. Biohydrogen known as environmental friendly biofuel since it only produces pure water when combusted. In the present study, improved conditions of biohydrogen production have been performed using POME as a substrate and heat-treated POME sludge as seed culture. Fermentation was carried out at ambient temperature (24 - 26°C) and pH was controlled at 5.5. Total gas produced was free from methane due to heat treatment of POME sludge at 80°C, 20 min. The experiment was conducted using 150 mL serum bottle and then upgraded to a 50 L continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR). Impressive result has been shown with a maximum yield of biohydrogen at 1054 NmL/L-POME and biohydrogen content in biogas mixture is 30 - 60%. In another study, a total of 3 L biohydrogen could be produced from 1 L of POME to use culture strain as inoculum. This study successfully demonstrated the feasibility of biohydrogen production from POME as a carbon source. This findings are applicable at palm oil industries since fermentation has been conducted under non-sterile condition and POME is used as a carbon source.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Ali HassanMohd. Zulkhairi Mohd. Yusoff, Nazlina Haiza Mohd. Yasin, Nor’ Aini Abdul Rahman, Suraini Abd. Aziz and

Yoshihito ShiraiFaculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7590; alihas@biotech.upm.edu.my

The Production of Biohydrogen from Renewable Sources Towards Green Energy Development

Keywords: Access point, buffer size, congestion window, TCP, wireless LAN

The number of users using wireless Local Area Network is increasing exponentially and their behaviour is changing day after day. Nowadays, users of wireless LAN are using huge amount of bandwidth because of the explosive growth of some services and applications such as video sharing. This situation imposes massive pressure on the wireless LAN performance especially in terms of fairness among wireless stations. The limited resources are not distributed fairly in saturated conditions. One of the most important resources is the access point buffer space. This importance is a result of access point being the bottleneck between two different types of networks. These two types are wired network with relatively huge bandwidth and wireless network with much smaller bandwidth. Also the unfairness problem keeps getting worse because of the greedy nature Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). In this research, we conducted a comprehensive study on wireless LAN dynamics and proposed a new mathematical model that describes the performance and effects of its behavior. We validated the proposed model by using the simulation technique. The proposed model was able to produce very good approximation in most of the cases. It also gave us a great insight into the effective variables in the wireless LAN behavior and what are the dimensions of the unfairness problem.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed OthmanAhmed Mohamedou

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6535; mothman@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Analytical Evaluation of Unfairness Problem in Wireless LANs

Science, Technology & Engineering

238

Keywords: Mica, clay, lipase, biocatalyst, nanoreactor, immobilised enzyme

Mica is an economical carrier of clay material for immobilisation of lipase and has been potentially utilised for this purpose. Instead of its low cost, industrial application of lipase requires efficient methods to immobilise the enzyme, yielding a biocatalyst with high activity and stability compared to free lipase. Natural aluminosilicate of mica from the land area of Gua Musang, Kelantan (Malaysia) was physico-chemically characterised by performing a good crystallinity, high surface area and possess uniformity of mesoporous material. Natural mica was modified either by acid treatment, grafting with aminopropyl-, octyl-, vinyl-, mercapto- and glycidoxy-triethoxysilanes, and activation of pre-treated support with glutaraldehyde (Glu). The modified micas were used for immobilisation of lipase from Candida rugosa (CRL). Under optimal conditions, high protein loadings and specific activities of more than 8.0 mg/g-support and 90.0 U/mg, respectively, whereby their specific activities increased up to more than 2.5 fold as compared to free lipase. Activity of the lipase was determined by esterification of fatty acid sugar esters in organic media with more than 70%. Proper modification of mica improves its quality for lipase immobilisation showing promising action as bio-nanoreactor for many organic syntheses especially the production of the high value-added of chiral isomers.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul RahmanUswatun Hasanah Zaidan, Siti Salhah Othman, Mahiran Basri, Emilia Abdulmalek, Bimo Ario Tejo and Abu Bakar SallehFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6798; basya@science.upm.edu.my

Natural-based Mica Network as Nanoreactor for Enzymes in Chiral Syntheses

Keywords: palm oil mill effluent, comamonas sp., polyhydroxyalkanoates, isolation, screening

The bacterial strain EB 172, isolated from digester treating palm oil mill effluent, was investigated by polyphasic taxonomic approach. The cells were rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-pigmented, non-spore-forming and non-fermentative. Phylogenetic analyses using the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the strain was placed in the cluster of genus Comamonas; its closest neighbours were the type strains C. terrigena (96.8%), C. koreensis (93.4%), C. composti (92.9%), and C. kerstersii (91.1%). The ability of C. putranensis to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) when supplied with organic acids made this bacterium unique in the Comamonas species. The bacterial strain was clearly distinguished from all of the existing strains using phylogenetic analysis, fatty acid composition data and a range of physiological and biochemical characteristics. The DNA G+C content of the genomic DNA was 59.1 mol%. It is evident from the genotypic and phenotypic data that strain Comamonas putranensis represents a novel species in the genus Comamonas, for which the name Comamonas putranensis Sp. nov. is proposed.

Prof. Dr . Mohd. Ali HassanMohd. Rafein Zakaria, Suraini Abd. Aziz, Farinazleen Mohd. Ghazali, Wakisaka Minato and Yoshihito ShiraiFaculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7590; alihas@biotech.upm.edu.my

Comamonas putranensis Sp. nov., a Novel Bacterium Producing Polyhydroxyalkanoates from Palm Oil Mill Effluent

Science, Technology & Engineering

239

Keywords: Controlled release formulation, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate, intercalation, layered double hydroxide, nanohybrid, latex stimulant for rubber tree

Intercalation of beneficial anion into inorganic host has lead to an opportunity to synthesize various combinations of new organic-inorganic nanohybrids with various potential applications; especially, for controlled release formulation and storage purposes. Study on the release behaviour of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate (24D) intercalated into the interlayer of Zn-Al-layered double hydroxide (ZAN) has been carried out using single, binary and ternary aqueous systems of chloride, carbonate and phosphate. The release behaviour of the active agent 24D from its double-layered hydroxide nanohybrid, ZANDI was found to be of controlled manner governed by pseudo-second order kinetics. It was found that carbonate medium yielded the highest accumulated release of 24D, while phosphate in combination with carbonate and/or nitrate speeds up the release rate of 24D. These results indicate that it is possible to design and develop new delivery system of latex stimulant compound with controlled release property based on 24D which is known as a substance to increase latex production of rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir HusseinAdilah Mohammad Jaafar, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Zulkarnain Zainal

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6603; mzobir@science.upm.edu.my

Controlled Release Formulation of 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetate based on Zn-Al-Layered Double Hydroxide Nanohybrid

Keywords: Nano-emulsion, palm oil, ester, molecular dynamics, micelle

Nano-emulsions are the mixture of oil in water with a very small particle size; with normally within the size of 20-200 nm. Due to the hydrophilic and hydrophobic effect of the esters molecules, they possess the capability in transdermal drug delivery system. The amphiphilic effect plays an important role in aggregation process in the nano-emulsion formation. Palm-oil esters (POEs) and Palm-kernel oil esters (PKOEs) are unsaturated and non-ionic esters that can be prepared by enzymatic synthesis from palm oil. Their nano-emulsion properties possess great potential to act as drug carrier for transdermal drug delivery system. In order to have a better insight, molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study the behaviour of the nano-emulsion of POEs, PKOEs and nano-emulsion of PKOEs with drugs. A ratio of 75:5:20 (water/esters (+drug)/surfactant) was chosen from homogenous region in the phase diagram of our previous experimental work to undergo molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. In MD simulation studies, energy minimisation was performed to minimise the energy of the system below 50 kJmol-1nm-1. Then, the system was equilibrated for 1 ns in constant number of molecules, pressure and temperature (NPT) at pressure of 1 bar and temperature of 300 K. MD simulation was carried out under constant number of molecules, volume and temperature (NVT) and periodic boundary condition with no bond lengths constraint. The observation of the aggregation of molecules was performed visually using VMD software. The radius of gyration, number of clusters and solvent accessible surface area were calculated using a GROMACS 3.3.3. Particle size analysis was done by measuring the average diameter of the micelle at the end of the simulation using VEGAZZ visualisation programme.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul RahmanHuan Qiu Yi, Mahiran Basri, Roghayeh Abedikarjiban, Bimo Ario Tejo and Abu Bakar Salleh

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6798; basya@science.upm.edu.my

Insight of Self-assembly Formation of Palm-based Esters Nano-emulsion

Science, Technology & Engineering

240

Keywords: Thermal decomposition, zinc layered gallate nanohybrid, doped, Fe3+, Co2+ and Ni2+, mesoporous carbon material

A series of brucite-like materials, undoped and doped zinc layered hydroxide nitrate with 2% (molar) of Fe3+, Co2+ and Ni2+ were synthesised. Organic-inorganic nanohybrid material with gallate anion as a guest, and zinc hydroxide nitrate, as an inorganic layered host were prepared by ion-exchange method. The nanohybrid materials were subsequently heat-treated at various temperatures, 400-700 °C. X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis and Fourier transform infrared results show that incorporation of the doping agents within the zinc layered hydroxide salt layers has enhanced the heat-resistivity of the nanohybrid materials in the thermal decomposition pathway. Porous carbon materials were obtained by heating the nanohybrids at 600 and 700 °C. Calcination of the nanohybrids at 700 °C under nitrogen atmosphere produces high pore volume, mesoporous carbon materials.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir HusseinMohammad Yeganeh Ghotbi, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Mohd. Zaki Abd. RahmanFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6603; mzobir@science.upm.edu.my

Mesoporous Carbon Material Derived from Zinc Layered Gallate Nanohybrid

Keywords: Green synthesis, nanoparticles, ZnO, biotemplating agent, Bacillus cereus, nanobiotechnology

Currently, the development of green chemistry approach with the use of biomaterial-based activities of microbial cells in the synthesis of various nanostructures has attracted great attention. Here, we report on the use of bacterium, Bacillus cereus as a biotemplating agent for the formation of zinc oxide nanoparticles with raspberry- and plate-like structures through a simple thermal decomposition of zinc acetate by maintaining the original pH of the reaction mixtures. Possible mechanism on the formation of the nanostructures is proposed based on the surface chemistry and biochemistry processes which involved organic-inorganic interactions between zinc oxide and the microbial cells.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir HusseinWan Haizum Wan Nor Azmin, Muskhazli Mustafa and Asmah Hj. YahayaFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6603; mzobir@science.upm.edu.my

Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide with Raspberry- and Plate-like Nanostructures using Bacillus cereus as a Biotemplating Agent

Science, Technology & Engineering

241

Keywords: The pinsky phenomenon, the kahane theorem, nonspherical partial sums of fourir integrals

When $n>2$ it is well known that the spherical partial sums of $n$-fold Fourier integrals of a characteristic function of the ball $D={x:|x|^2<1}$ do not converge at the origin. In the mathematical literature this result is called “the Pinsky phenomenon”. In 1993, Pinsky established necessary and sufficient conditions for piecewise smooth function $f$, supported on $D$, which guaranteed the convergence at the origin its spherical partial sums. For example, if the dimension $n=3$ then the Pinsky condition is $int_{partial D}f,dsigma=0$, $partial D={x:|x|^2=1}$. In case of partial sums, associated with say the elliptic polynomial $A(x)=x_1^2/a^2+x_2^2/b^2+x_3^2/c^2$ it may be suggested that the possible candidate instead of the ball $D$ in the above condition is the domain ${x:A(x)<1}$. But the correct answer is not this. In this paper we prove the general result which particularly shows that for the above example the ball $D$ in the Pinsky theorem should be substituted by the domain ${x:a^2x_1^2+b^2x_2^2+c^2x_3^2<1}$.

Prof. Dr. Ravshan AshurovAlmaz Butaev

Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7835; ravshan@putra.upm.edu.my

On the Pinsky Phenomenon

Keywords: Bacillus subtilis strain rand, thermostable protease, organic solvent tolerant, physical factors

A thermostable organic solvent-tolerant protease producer had been identified as Bacillus subtilis strain and, based on the 16S rRNA analysis conducted, as well as the morphological characteristics and biochemical properties. The Bacillus subtilis strain Rand was isolated from the contaminated soil found in Port Dickson, Malaysia. The production of the thermostable organic solventtolerant protease was optimised by varying various physical culture conditions. Inoculation with 5.0% (v/v) of (AB600 = 0.5) inoculum size, in a culture medium (pH 7.0) and incubated for 24 h at 37°C with 200 rpm shaking, was the best culture condition which resulted in the maximum growth and production of protease. The Rand protease was not only stable in the presence of organic solvents, but it also exhibited a higher activity than in the absence of organic solvent, except for pyridine which inhibited the protease activity. The enzyme retained 100, 99 and 80% of its initial activity, after the heat treatment for 30 min at 50, 55, and 60°C, respectively. Strain Rand has been found to be able to secrete extra-cellular thermostable organic solvent-tolerant protease into the culture medium. The protease exhibited a remarkable stability towards temperature and organic solvent. This unique property makes it attractive and useful to be used in industrial applications.

Prof. Dr. Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd. RahmanRanda Abdel Kareem Husein Abusham, Abu Bakar Salleh and Mahiran Basri

Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7592; FBBSusEr6382@prpi.mail.com

Optimisation of Physical Factors Affecting the Production of Thermo-stable Organic Solvent-tolerant Protease from a Newly Isolated Bacillus subtilis Strain Rand

Science, Technology & Engineering

242

Keywords: Engineering education, outcome based education

The Outcome Based Education (OBE) approach is the accreditation requirement made by the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) for all engineering programs. On top of that, the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) also emphasised on the implementation of this kind of approach in all programs offered by Institute of Higher Learning (IHLs). Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia has innovated and implemented a management system to help the running of the OBE in teaching, known as MyOBE. This system is targeted to make the implementation of OBE at the faculty easier, comprehensible, understandable and practical. The project proposed a complete management system that includes the whole process needed in the implementation of Outcome Based Education (OBE). The findings show that a management system is needed to help the understanding as well as the implementation of OBE by lecturers in their teaching activity.

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd. Saleh JaafarFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6262; msj@eng.upm.edu.my

MyOBE - Outcome Based Education Management System

Keywords: Imaging system, colour sensor, image processing, RGB algorithm, soil

Soil organic matter (SOM) represents an accumulation of partially decayed and partially synthesized plant and animal residues, continually being broken down by microorganisms. Its influence on soil properties and plant growth is as a major source of phosphorus and sulfur, and essentially the sole source of nitrogen. SOM increases the amount of water and nutrient ions a soil can hold and available to the plants. It is also the main source of energy for soil microorganisms. The SOM content of a mineral soil is small, from a trace to 20% of organic matter, but commonly account for at least half the cation exchange capacity of soils. Hence its determination using an inexpensive and fast technique is extremely important for crop production. SOMIS is a system and technique that can retrieve and display the organic matter content in soil based on image colour interpretation in a real time basis using a scanner. The system comprised of a colour sensor (Canon scanner LiDE 25) with contact image sensor in near direct contact with the object to be scanned in contrast to using mirrors to bounce light to a stationary sensor. SOMIS consists of a linear array of detectors, covered by a focusing lens and flanked by red, green, and blue LEDs for illumination, image processing software (Matlab Software), and a computer installed with a computer program known as Organic Matter content Imaging System (OMIS). This allows the communication between the color sensor, image processing software, and the computer. OMIS allows the organic matter data to be displayed as a percent value with respect to the RGB algorithm according to the soil sample color. The user interface in OMIS will give all the necessary details of the image and value of each property of RGB and the percentage organic matter content.

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd. Amin Mohd. SoomAimrun Wayayok and Siti Khadijah AbuInstitute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6427; amin@eng.upm.edu.my

Soil Organic Matter Content Imaging System (SOMIS V1.0)

Science, Technology & Engineering

243

Keywords: Assembly line balancing, parallel assembly lines, mixed-model product, metaheuristic, Tabu search

The single-model assembly line is not efficient for today’s competitive industry because to respond the customer’s expectation, companies need to produce mixed-model products. On the other hand, using the mixed-model products increases the assembly complexity and makes it difficult to assign tasks to workstations because of the variety in model characteristics. As a result, the mixed-model products suffer from delays, limitations in the line workflow and longer lines. Parallel assembly lines as a production system in ALBPs which consists of a number of assembly lines in a parallel status, which by considering the cycle time of each line, certain products are manufactured. This research takes advantages of the parallel assembly lines to produce mixed-model in order to assemble more than one model in each parallel assembly line and allocating tasks of models to workstations and balancing each parallel line to reduce the cycle times. To solve these problems, two heuristic algorithms were developed and coded in MATLAB®. The first allocates each model to only one parallel assembly line and achieves the initial arrangement of tasks with the minimum number of workstations for each line. The second is called Tabu Search Mixed-Model Parallel Assembly Line Balancing (TMMPALB), calculates final balancing tasks of different model in parallel lines with optimum cycle time for each line which tasks of each model can be allocated to more than one parallel assembly line through the TMMPALB. Fourteen data sets with 244 cycle times were used to validate the performance of the TMMPALB. The results show that 205 cycle times out of the 244 cycle times have been improved.

Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Napsiah IsmailGholamreza Esmaeilian, Shamsuddin Sulaiman and Maryam Hamedi

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6341; napsiah@eng.upm.edu.my

Development of a Heuristic Model for Balancing of Mixed-model in Parallel Assembly Lines (Type II)

Keywords: Surface roughness, cutting temperature, Taguchi parameter design, turning operation

In machining operation, the quality of surface finish is an important requirement for many turned workpieces. Thus, the choice of optimised cutting parameters is very important for controlling the required surface quality. The focus of present experimental study is to optimise the cutting parameters using two performance measures, workpiece surface temperature and surface roughness. Optimal cutting parameters for each performance measure were obtained by employing Taguchi techniques. The orthogonal array, signal to noise ratio, and analysis of variance were employed to study the performance characteristics in turning operation. The experimental results show that the workpiece surface temperature can be sensed and used effectively as an indicator to control the cutting performance and improved the optimisation process. Thus, it is possible to increase machine utilisation and decrease production cost in an automated manufacturing environment.

Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Napsiah IsmailAdeel H. Suhail and Nawal Aswan Abdul Jalil

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6341; napsiah@eng.upm.edu.my

Optimisation of Cutting Parameters based on Surface Roughness and Assistance of Workpiece Surface Temperature in Turning Process

Science, Technology & Engineering

244

Keywords: RSS, weblogs, tag, folksonomy, keyword index indicator

Really Simple Syndication aggregator has been widely applied onto several applications such as news headlines, poscasting, education, medical, geospatial and weblogs. The purpose of RSS is to enable users aggregating new content updates on the favourite site which has subscribed to the RSS feeder instead of visiting the sites individually. Blogging over the internet has become a hobby amongst the internet veteran, whether they are politicians, retired teachers, students, lawyers, journalist etc. The usage of RSS aggregator as a tool onto the blogging environment has become the latest form of internet phenomenon. Weblogs written in chronological order will discuss several different topics, while RSS serves as a tool to aggregate new content updates on the site subscribed. However, each of the independent readers have their different interests in several aspects, such as cooking, computing, football, scholarly literature, political issues and etc. Relevant topics that have been raised by multiple writers from different sites aggregated onto current automated RSS aggregator do not completely satisfy the readers to find relevant topics from multiple websites. This project involves studying the different formats used in aggregator with aggregated result in terms of the coalescence of their metadata. The project also covers the issues of ambiguity of the weblogs on the relevant topics aggregated by the user based on user interest. PheRSS is proposed to help in resolving these problems hybriding the technique on the selected topics.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Azim Abd. GhaniTeh Phoey Lee, Hamidah Ibrahim and Rodziah AtanFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6555; azim@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Coalescence of XML-based Really Simple Syndycator (RSS)

Keywords: Wireless network security, HMAC-SHA1, HMAC-SHA2

IEEE 802.11 standard provides several security protocols to make secure data frames through communications. However protection offered by these protocols applies only on data frames and control frames are left without any security. Wireless control frames including RTS, CTS, ACK, CF-End, and CF-End-ACK frames have a duration field which represents the amount of time that the wireless channels is kept busy by the sender. During this time, all wireless stations except the senders must keep silent and they cannot transmit anything. An attacker exploits this vulnerability and continually transmits forgery control frames with the highest possible value for duration field (32767us) to disrupt normal communication between network stations. The main purpose of the attacker is to cause a complete loss of availability and prevent legitimate use of provided resources for authorised users in the target wireless network. These types of attacks while severely can block the entire wireless network performance, are easy to perform against wireless networks. Wireless networks have very limited resources such as bandwidth, buffer, computation power, and battery lifetime. Thus they are extremely susceptible to DoS attacks which focus on resource exhaustion. Wireless DoS attacks do not need a very high-powered radio frequency interface therefore physically locating the attacker is very difficult. In this work, first we provide a real testbed to conduct DoS attacks in wireless network. The testbed results prove how the attacks can easily shutdown the target wireless networks. Then two distinct models are proposed and developed through simulations as countermeasure to prevent DoS attacks over the wireless networks. The performance measures are collected through several experiments which are used to compare performance of the models with each other and with the current model as well. The results prove that the models are completely successful to prevent DoS attacks against 802.11 wireless networks

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Azim Abd. GhaniMina Malekzadeh, Shamala Subramaniam and Jalil DesaFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6555; azim@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Authorised Control Frame Model to Prevent Virtual Carrier Sense DoS Attacks in IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks

Science, Technology & Engineering

245

Keywords: Differential game, control, strategy, value of the game, optimal strategy

We study a pursuit-evasion differential game of countably many players in Hilbert space. Motions of the players are described by the ordinary differential equations of second order. The control functions of players are subject to integral constraints. The control resource of each pursuer is greater than that of the evader. Duration of the game is fixed. The payoff functional is the greatest lower bound of distances between the pursuers and evader when the game is terminated. The pursuers try to minimise the payoff functional, and the evader tries to maximise it. In this paper, we give a formula to calculate the value of the game and construct optimal strategies of the players. To solve the first part of the problem, the pursuit game, we use the method of fictitious pursuers.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gafurjan IbragimovMehdi Salimi

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6818; gafur@science.upm.edu.my

Pursuit-evasion Differential Game with Many Inertial Players

Keywords: Meteorological modelling, land use, MM5, urban

It has been widely known that changes of the land surface from vegetation area to urban area can substantially affect the surrounding meteorological condition. Meteorological model was used to assess meteorological condition for air quality modelling and forecasting. Inputs used in this study for the meteorological and air quality model were land use and land cover of the terrain. This study tends to examine the sensitivity of land use and land cover on the predicted meteorological conditions. A meteorological simulation using 5th generation mesoscale model (MM5) by Penn State/NCAR was used to compare the effects of land use from two different years on meteorological condition. The predicted meteorological conditions were then compared with the respective monitoring station on-site. Results showed there is an improved surface wind speed and temperature simulated using improved land use map. Findings suggest land use map should be taking into consideration in historical meteorological fields to access future air quality if the area of study expects large changes in land use pattern.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Makmom Hj. AbdullahWan Nor Azmin Sulaiman, Muhammad Firuz Ramli and Loi Kok Chng

Faculty of Environmental Studies, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6759; amakmom@gmail.com

The Effects of Improved Land Use on the Meteorological Modelling in Klang Valley Region, Malaysia

Science, Technology & Engineering

246

Keywords: Heteroscedasticity, outliers, robust estimation, robust weighted least squares, Monte Carlo Simulation

Least Squares (LS) method in the linear regression model has been relying to the statistics practitioners due to its universal acceptance, elegant statistical properties, and computational simplicity. The homogeneity of error variances (homoscedasticity) is an important assumption in linear regression for which the least squares estimators enjoy the minimum variance property. However, in practice, it is difficult to retain the error variances homogeneous which lead to the heteroscedasticity problem. When heteroscedasticity occurs in the data, it is very common practice to use the Weighted Least Squares (WLS) procedure to estimate the regression parameters. However, the presence of a few atypical observations that we often call outliers can make the WLS estimator meaningless. In this article we take the initiative to find the remedy for these two problems simultaneously. We have proposed a robust procedure for the estimation of regression parameters in the presence of heteroscedasticity and outliers. We call this method robust weighted least squares (RWLS). The performance of the newly proposed method is investigated extensively by real data sets and Monte Carlo Simulations. The results suggest that the proposed RWLS method offers substantial improvements over the existing methods.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah MidiSohel Rana and A. H. M. R. ImonInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6876; habshahmidi@gmail.com

Robust Remedial Measures of Heteroscedasticity in the Presence of Outliers

Keywords: Multivariate control chart, multivariate outliers, minimum volume ellipsoid, minimum covariance determinant, probability of detecting a shift

A Hotelling T 2 control chart has been widely used for monitoring first phase of multivariate statistical process control. However, this classical control chart which is based on classical estimators, is not effective in detecting multivariate outliers. As an alternative, T 2 statistics based on robust minimum volume ellipsoid or the minimum covariance determinant are proposed. The performances of these robust control charts are investigated extensively by real examples and Monte Carlo simulation. The result indicates that the robust control charts are more effective in detecting outliers than the classical control charts.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah MidiAshkan Shabbak and Mohd. Nooh HassanInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6876; habshahmidi@gmail.com

Multivariate Control Chart based on High Breakdown Point Estimator

Science, Technology & Engineering

247

Keywords: Mutual information, kernel density, minimum volume ellipsoid, minimum covariance determinant, outliers, mixture distribution, robust statistics

Mutual Information (MI) measures the degree of association between variables in nonlinear model as well as linear models. It can also be used to measure the dependency between variables in mixture distribution. The MI is estimated based on the estimated values of the joint density function and the marginal density functions of X and Y. A variety of methods for the estimation of the density function have been recommended. In this study, we only considered the kernel method to estimate the density function. However, the classical kernel density estimator is not reliable when dealing with mixture density functions which prone to create two distant groups in the data. In this situation, a robust kernel density estimator is proposed to acquire a more efficient MI estimate in mixture distribution. The performance of the robust MI is investigated extensively by Monte Carlo simulations. The results of the study offer substantial improvement over the existing techniques.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah MidiKourosh Dadkhah

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6876; habshahmidi@gmail.com

Mutual Information for Mixture of Bivariate Normal Distributions based on Robust Kernel Estimation

Keywords: High leverage points, masking, group deletion, Robust Mahalanobis distance, minimum volume ellipsoid, diagnostic-robust generalised potentials, Monte Carlo simulation

Leverage values are being used in regression diagnostics as measures of influential observations in the X-space. Detection of high leverage values is crucial due to their responsibility for misleading conclusion about the fitting of a regression model, causing multicollinearity problems, masking and/or swamping of outliers etc. Much work has been done on the identification of single high leverage points and it is generally believed that the problem of detection of a single high leverage point has been largely resolved. But there is no general agreement among the statisticians about the detection of multiple high leverage points. When a group of high leverage points is present in a data set, mainly due to the masking and/or swamping effects the commonly used diagnostic methods fail to identify them correctly. On the other hand, the robust alternative methods can identify the high leverage points correctly but they have a tendency to identify too many low leverage points to be points of high leverages which are not desired. In this paper an attempt has been made to make a compromise between these two approaches. We propose an adaptive method where the suspect high leverage points are identified by robust methods and then the low leverage points (if any) are put back into the estimation data set after diagnostic checking. The usefulness of our newly proposed method for the detection of multiple high leverage points is studied by some well-known data sets and Monte Carlo simulations.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah MidiNorazan Mohamed Ramli and A.H.M.R. Imon

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6876; habshahmidi@gmail.com

Diagnostic-robust Generalised Potentials for the Identification of Multiple High Leverage Points

Science, Technology & Engineering

248

Keywords: Associative algebra, diassociative algebra, dendriform algebra, isomorphism, nilpotency

In this project, we consider classes of algebras to have two binary algebraic operations. They have been introduced and have been called dialgebras by Loday. We deal with the classification problems of these classes of algebras in low-dimensions cases. The first class called the class of Diassociative algebras appears as a generalisation of the Associative algebras. We give complete classification of complex Diassociative algebras in dimensions two and three. Here we give a complete list of isomorphism classes of four-dimensional Diassociative algebras as well. Another class of dialgebra is closely related to Diassociative algebras called Dendriform algebras that has important applications in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. We give the description of isomorphism classes of two dimensional complex Dendriform algebras.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Isamiddin S. RakhimovIkrom M. Rikhsiboev and Witriany BasriFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6831; isamiddin@science.upm.edu.my

Isomorphism Classes of Low-dimensional Dialgebras

Keywords: IP networks, VoIP, IPTV, FTP, NS-2

Multi Protocol Label Switching technology or shortly MPLS has been proposed to speed up the traffic flow in the network using labels. Thus, MPLS allows Internet Services Providers (ISPs) to provide better Triple Play Services (i.e. voice, video, and data). In this project, the impact of MPLS technology on the Triple Play Services is evaluated based on the average throughput of the network, total number of packets received at destination nodes, and packet loss rates, and this is compared to that provided by traditional Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The results showed that MPLS performs better since it utilises all the available paths to the destinations. This work concludes that MPLS allows ISPs to provide better triple play services for end-user.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hamidah IbrahimWaheed Yasin, Nur Izura Udzir and Nor Asila Wati Abdul HamidFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8943 6510; hamidah@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Improving Triple Play Services using Multi Protocol Label Switching Technology

Science, Technology & Engineering

249

Keywords: Kenaf, nanofibres, acetylation, chemical characterisation, structural characterisation

The aim of this study was to develop cellulose nanofibres with hydrophobic surface characteristics using chemical modification. Kenaf fibres were modified using acetic anhydride and cellulose nanofibres were isolated from the acetylated kenaf using mechanical isolation methods. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated acetylation of the hydroxyl groups of cellulose. The study of the dispersion demonstrated that acetylated cellulose nanofibres formed stable, well-dispersed suspensions in both acetone and ethanol. The contact angle measurements showed that the surface characteristics of nanofibres were changed from hydrophilic to more hydrophobic when acetylated. The microscopy study showed that the acetylation caused a swelling of the kenaf fibre cell wall and that the diameters of isolated nanofibres were between 5 and 50 nm. X-ray analysis showed that the acetylation process reduced the crystallinity of the fibres, whereas mechanical isolation increased it. The method used provides a novel processing route for producing cellulose nanofibres with hydrophobic surfaces.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalauddin HarunMehdi Jonoobi, Paridah M.D. Tahir, Syeed Saifulazry and Kristiina Oksman

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6977; mehdij1978@gmail.com

Preparation of Cellulose Nanofibres with Hydrophobic Surface Characteristics

Keywords: Malaysian cultivated kenaf, soda-AQ pulp, whole fiber, linerboard, fibre bonding

The main goals of this study were to make soda-anthraquinone (soda-AQ) pulp from kenaf whole stem and to compare the resulting core and bast pulps for linerboard production. The soda-AQ pulping was done under mild cooking conditions (active alkali 12-15% with cooking time 30-90 min and cooking temperature of 160ºC). During pulping, the Kappa number ranged from 56.02 to 20.55, total yield from 58.40 to 54.17% and reject from 2.32 to 0.11%. Based on the pulp quality, pulps with Kappa number 49.44 and 25.44 were selected as representive for kenaf high Kappa (KHK) and kenaf low Kappa (KLK) pulps, respectively. The results showed that the properties of core, whole stem (KHK and KLK), and bast pulps were significantly different. The core pulp with lower freeness and higher drainage time produced sheets with greater density, tensile index, burst index, RCT, but lower light scattering coefficient and tear index than bast pulp. The whole stem pulps showed properties between those of core and bast pulps. Moreover, KLK with higher drainage time gave paper with significantly higher strength properties than KHK. Finally Malaysian cultivated kenaf is suitable for commercialisation for linerboard production since the properties surpass commercial pulp.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalaluddin HarunAhmad Azizi Mossello, Hossein Resalati, Rushdan Ibrahim, Paridah Md. Tahir, Sayeed Rashid Fallah Shamsi

and Ainun Zuriyati MohmamedInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6977; aziziahmad99@yahoo.com

Soda-anthraquinone Pulp from Malaysian Cultivated Kenaf for Linerboard Production

Science, Technology & Engineering

250

Keywords: Viscous damper, optimisation, earthquake, genetic algorithm

The application of modern control techniques to diminish the effects of seismic loads on building structures offers an appealing alternative to traditional earthquake resistant design approaches. A number of studies and experimental tests have been carried out to assess and examine the how structures, which are furnished with different types of dampers, respond to seismic. However the challenge in this field is to enhance performance of viscous damper to minimise of seismic response of buildings and optimisation earthquake energy dissipation system for diminish effect of earthquake on buildings. Recently, genetic algorithms are implemented in a computer simulation in which a population of abstract representations of candidate solutions to an optimisation problem evolves toward better solutions. In the present innovation system, a genetic algorithm is used for optimising earthquake energy dissipation device operation for the reinforced concrete buildings in earthquake excitation in order to minimise seismic damage and response of structure and guarantee building safety. For this purpose, all genetic algorithm optimisation components include of optimisation design variables, objective function and design constraints are developed based on the analysis of three dimension reinforced concrete buildings furnished by viscous damper in multi support dynamic excitation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jamaloddin NoorzaeiFarzad Hejazi, Saleh Jaafar and Waleed ThaanonInstitute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6371; jamal@eng.upm.edu.my

Optimisation of Earthquake Energy Dissipation System by using Genetic Algorithm

Keywords: Kenaf, fractionation, beating, drainage time, strength properties

Kenaf stem consists of two distinct fibres i.e. core and bast that are significantly different in nature and structure, and show different behaviour during paper making process. The main objective of this study was to determine the suitability of fractionation and sequence selective process (separation long fibre and short fibre, beating long fibre, and remixing with short fibre to target freeness) as a new approach to use of kenaf for paper and paper board production. In this study, a laboratory Bauer McNett Classifier with screen 18 mesh (1mm) was used to separate short fibre and long fibres of the unbeaten kenaf whole soda-AQ pulps i.e. kenaf high kappa with kappa number 49.44 and kenaf low kappa with kappa number 24.55. Also for comparison, the initial unbeaten pulps were beaten in the PFI to same freeness (300 mL). The results showed that fractionation with making good opportunity to beating long fibre at higher PFI revolutions and better fibrillation significantly improved all paper properties of kenaf pulps except for tear index and produced sheet with better drainage and strength properties compared to beaten pulps especially in case of kenaf high kappa pulp. So, it can be considered as new approach to enhance kenaf whole stem pulp properties.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jalaluddin HarunAhmad Azizi Mossello, Hossein Resalati, Rushdan Ibrahim, Paridah Md. Tahir, Sayeed Rashid Fallah Samsi and Harmaen Ahmad SaffianInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6977; aziziahmad99@yahoo.com

New Approach to Use of Kenaf for Paper and Paperboard Production

Science, Technology & Engineering

251

Keywords: Phase change materials (PCMs), thermal characteristic, eutectic mixtures, DSC, melting point, latent heat, passive solar building

This invention mainly focusses on palm oil based PCMs, such as organic fatty acids, impregnated with PU roofing boards, which possess superior properties over other class of PCMs, such as suitable phase change temperature, non-toxicity, high latent heat density, ready availability, small volume change and good thermal reliability after a large number of heating-cooling cycles. The main aim of this invention is to conserve energy in buildings, where the heat collected during bright sunshine can be preserved and stored and later released at night in solar energy systems. Thus, the product is applicable as heat storage material. Palm oil based PCMs use chemical bonds to store and release energy and the thermal transport occurs through phase change. The advantage is that, they store 5-14 times more heat compared to other conventional storage materials. Fatty acids are more desirable for solar application due to its lower cost and can be continuously obtained at non-pollutant source of supply.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luqman Chuah AbdullahRozanna D., Salmiah A. and Thomas S. Y. Choong

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6288; chuah@eng.upm.edu.my

Palm Oil based Polyurethene Building Materials having Phase Change Material (PCM)

Keywords: Ethylene vinyl acetate, mixing condition, waste tire dust

Tires are among the largest and most problematic sources of waste, due to the large volume produced and their durability. Those same characteristics that make waste tires such a problem also make them one of the most re-used waste materials, as the rubber is very resilient and can be re-used in other products. Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers offer excellent ozone resistance, weather resistance and mechanical properties. Blends of natural rubber and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer are very attractive because of the excellent properties of both constituents. The addition of natural rubber to EVA increases the melt elasticity of the system. In addition, the presences of EVA in higher proportions increase the thermal ageing resistance of EVA/WTD blends. Increase in irradiation doses increased the percentage of gel content in EVA/WTD blends. Mechanical properties of EVA/WTD increase with the introduction of irradiation except for elongation at break. Irradiation enhances the crosslink density but increases the blend stiffness. The presence of crosslinking agents will further accelerate the irradiation-induced crosslinking in which help to achieve optimum tensile strength at lower irradiation dose.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luqman Chuah AbdullahZ. A. Anis Sakinah, C. T. Ratnam and Thomas S. Y. Choong

Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6288; chuah@eng.upm.edu.my

Irradiated and Crosslinked Ethylene Vinyl Acetate/Waste Tire Dust (EVA/WTD) Blend

Science, Technology & Engineering

252

Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, montmorillonite, nanocomposite, antibacterial activity, powder X-ray diffraction, Muller-Hinton Agar

Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) were successfully synthesized into the interlayer space of Montmorillonite (MMT) by chemical reduction method. AgNO3 and NaBH4 were used as a silver precursor and reducing agent, respectively. The properties of Ag/MMT nanocomposites were studied as a function of the AgNO3 concentration. The UV-vis spectra of synthesized Ag-NPs showed that the intensity of the maximum wavelength of the plasmon peaks increased with increasing AgNO3 concentration. The crystalline structure of the Ag-NPs and basal spacing of MMT and Ag/MMT were also studied by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). The antibacterial activity of Ag-NPs was investigated against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and K. pneumonia) and Gram-positive bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus) by disk diffusion method using Muller-Hinton Agar (MHA) at different sizes of Ag-NPs. The smaller Ag-NPs were found to have significantly higher antibacterial activity. These results showed that Ag-NPs can be used as effective growth inhibitors in different biological systems, making them applicable to medical applications such as in surgical devices.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mansor AhmadKamyar Shameli, Wan Md. Zin Wan Yunus and Nor Azowa IbrahimFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6793; mansorahmad@science.upm.edu.my

Synthesis and Characterisation of Silver/Clay Bionanocomposites by Green Chemistry Method

Keywords: Musa sp. cv. Tanduk, in vitro, shoot tip, scalps, regeneration

A prolific plant regeneration system using scalps derived from shoot tips of Musa spp. cv. Tanduk was developed. Highly proliferating scalps, produced after four monthly subcultures of shoot tip explant on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 100 uM BAP and 1.0 uM IAA, were placed on MS basal medium supplemented with 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0 uM BAP. Rooting of shoots was assessed on hormone-free half strength and full strength MS media and on MS medium supplemented with 1.0, 5.0 and 10 uM IBA. Four types of potting media comprising of sand, peat, top soil + sand + goat dung (3:2:1 v/v) and top soil + sand (1:1 v/v) were evaluated during acclimatization of the plantlets. Prolific shoot regeneration from scalps was obtained on MS medium containing 2.5 uM BAP, at 9.61 and 40.6 shoots per explant after four and eight weeks of culture, respectively. Meanwhile, the highest mean shoot height of 2.19 cm was attained on MS medium with 1.0 uM BAP after eight weeks of culture. Full-strength MS medium supplemented with 5.0 uM IBA produced the highest mean number of roots per explant at 15.08, while the highest mean root length of 11.07 cm was obtained on hormone-free half strength MS medium at week four of culture. The highest plant survivability of 77.5% was achieved in potting medium consisting of top soil + sand + goat dung after six weeks of acclimatisation. The plants were morphologically normal with vigorous stems and broad green leaves.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maheran Abd. AzizSuleiman Mohamed Ahmed Elhory, Azmi Abd. Rashid and Abdul Ghani YunusInstitute of Tropical Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4115; maheran@agri.upm.edu.my

Prolific Plant Regeneration through Organogenesis from Scalps of Musa sp. cv. Tanduk

Science, Technology & Engineering

253

Keywords: Web mining, recommender system, user profiling

The rapid growth of the Web makes it the largest publicly accessible data source in the world. Now it includes more than 4 billion pages, with about one million added every day. Hence, the major concerns are not the availability of information but rather obtaining the right information. To alleviate and manage the information overload, a personalized information system mines the web server logs to capture, model, and analyse the behavioural patterns and profiles of users interacting with a Web site which in return gives the ability to predict and then recommend the next visited page for a given user. Most of the recommendation systems are user-centred which make a prediction list to the users based on their long term navigation history, users’ databases or full users profiles. E-commerce companies wish to attract anonymous users, directed them at the early stages of their visits and get them involved with their websites and turn surfers to buyers. Learning and mining the web navigation profiles followed by enhanced classification to the similar activities of previous users will provide an appropriate model to recommend to the current anonymous active user with short term navigation. Using CTI dataset, the experimental results show better prediction accuracy than the previous works.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Md. Nasir SulaimanYahya M. Almurtadha, Norwati Mustapha and Nur Izura Udzir

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6514; nasir@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Mining Web Navigation Profiles for Recommendation Systems

Keywords: Biodegradability, controlled release, hydrogels, carboxymethyl cellulose, sago waste

Biodegradable polymers can be prepared from lignocellulosic waste materials from agriculture and forestry and looked promising to replace the environmentally unfriendly hydrocarbons. In this study, sago palm waste was used to isolate sago pulp (cellulose) and further modified to carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Cellulose was converted to CMC by etherification of the hydroxyl groups with sodium monochloroacetate in the presence of aqueous alkali based on classical Williamson synthesis of ethers. The CMC prepared had three degree of substitutions (DS) i.e.; 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 which were white granular substance and water-soluble. High energy electron beam irradiation was used to cross-link CMC to produce CMC hydrogels which resulted in significant properties change in mechanical behaviour, solubility and swelling. The CMC hydrogels were susceptible to soil biodegradation with the rate of biodegradation being 2.9 ± 0.4% per week. CMC hydrogels of DS 0.4 completely degrades in three months and CMC hydrogels of DS 0.6 and 0.8 in five months. The biodegradability of the CMC hydrogel in the soil is an essential factor to use the CMC hydrogels as a carrier for slow release fertiliser and it is an effective polymer for environmental conservation. A series of CMC hydrogels were loaded with fertilisers (potassium nitrate (KNO3) and ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) and their releases were studied while the hydrogels biodegraded in the soil. The results show that the percentage of KNO3 and NH4NO3 loading (w/w %) on CMC hydrogels enhanced with increasing KNO3 and NH4NO3 concentration, respectively. The results in the present work indicated that the cross-linked CMC hydrogels are endowed with a slow release property, biodegradable and a soil moisture preservation property at the same time.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mansor AhmadV. Pushpamalar and Kamaruddin Hashim

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6793; mansorahmad@science.upm.edu.my

Biodegradability and Controlled Release Studies on Carboxymethyl Cellulose Hydrogels from Sago Waste

Science, Technology & Engineering

254

Keywords: Grammars, grammars with regulated rewriting, petri nets, petri net controlled grammars

A context-free grammar and its derivations can be described by a Petri net, called a context-free Petri net, whose places and transitions correspond to the nonterminal symbols and the production rules of the grammar, respectively, and tokens are separate instances of the nonterminal symbols in a sentential form. Therefore, the control of the derivations in a context-free grammar can be implemented by adding some features to the associated cf Petri net. The addition of new places and new arcs from/to these new places to/from transitions of the net leads grammars controlled by k-Petri nets, i.e., Petri nets with additional k places. In the paper, we investigate the generative power and give closure properties of the families of languages generated by such Petri net controlled grammars, in particular, we show that these families form an infinite hierarchy with respect to the numbers of additional places.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Hasan SelamatSherzod TuraevFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6517; hasan@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Petri Net Controlled Grammars with a Bounded Number of Additional Places

Keywords: Block ciphers, symmetric cryptosystems, cryptographic algorithms, security evaluation

We design a software program known as the “New Evaluation Tool for Block Ciphers Symmetric Cryptosystems (NET-BC)” with the use of certain source codes. The Literary Work is a software program designed for the following functions: analysing cryptographic algorithms, performing security evaluation on the different classes of block ciphers, detecting vulnerability points in block ciphers, performing the three (3) important properties in Cryptography, namely, Completeness; Avalanche and Static Information Leakage.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamad Rushdan Md. SaidDavood Rezaeipour, Kamel Ariffin Mohd. Atan and Mohamed OthmanInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6841; mrushdan@putra.upm.edu.my

New Evaluation Tool for Block Ciphers Symmetric Cryptosystems (NET-BC)

Science, Technology & Engineering

255

Keywords: Coefficient of determination, median absolute deviation, normal contaminants

Alternative to the least square coefficient of determination, R2OLS, the coefficient of determination based on median absolute deviation, R2MAD, is an attractive consideration in the construction of a goodness-of-fit test based on regression and correlation, due to its robustness. This paper presents the power study on a goodness-of-fit test statistic, ZMAD = 1 -R2MAD, used for testing samples from the standard logistic distribution against clean and contaminated alternative distributions. Contamination is introduced to investigate perseverance of the robustness property of R2MAD. For lognormal and exponential alternatives, observed values of ZMAD, denoted as Z*MAD, and observed values of ZOLS = 1 - R2OLS, denoted as Z*OLS, are simulated for various sample sizes (n =10, 20, 30, 50, 100) and percentage of contamination (5%, 15%, 25%, 40%) in presence of normal (3, 0.2) contaminants for different percentiles (? = 0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1). Power is represented by the percentage of rejections assuming that the alternative is true. The results indicate that for the cases with and without contamination the test statistic ZMAD performs as well as ZOLS, except for cases with normal contaminants, whereby the power decreases markedly as percentage of normal contaminants increases.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Akma IbrahimLim Fong Peng, Fauziah Maarof and Kassim Haron

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6873; nakma@putra.upm.edu.my

Effect of Normal Contaminants on the Power of ZMAD

Keywords: Petri net controlled grammars, petri nets, grammars, grammars with regulated rewriting

A Petri net controlled grammar is a context-free grammar equipped with a Petri net, whose transitions are labelled with rules of the grammar or the empty string, and the associated language consists of all terminal strings which can be derived in the grammar and the sequence of rules in every terminal derivation corresponds to some occurrence sequence of transitions of the Petri net which is enabled at the initial marking and finished at a final marking of the net. We present some results on the generative capacity of such grammars so that the associated Petri nets are restricted to some known special classes of Petri nets.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Hasan SelamatSherzod Turaev

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6517; hasan@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Petri Net Controlled Grammars: The Case of Special Petri Nets

Science, Technology & Engineering

256

Keywords: Marangoni convection, nonuniform temperature, magnetic field

Linear stability analysis is applied to investigate the effect of nonuniform temperature gradient and magnetic field on Marangoni convection in a horizontal fluid layer heated from below and cooled from above with a constant heat flux. The influence of various parameters on the onset of convection is analysed. Six nonuniform basic temperature profiles are considered, and some general conclusions about their destabilising effects are presented.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norihan Md. ArifinSiti Suzilliana Putri Mohamed Isa, Roslinda Nazar and Mohd. Noor SaadInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6850; norihan@math.upm.edu.my

Effect of Nonuniform Temperature and Magnetic Field on Marangoni Convection

Keywords: DNA electrochemical biosensor, DNA hybridisation, ZnO nanoparticles, ionic liquid, chitosan

An electrochemical DNA biosensor was successfully developed by depositing ZnO nanoparticles, ionic liquid (e.g., 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([EMIM][Otf])) in chitosan (CHIT) nanocomposite membrane at modified gold electrode (AuE). The properties of the ZnO/CHIT/[EMIM][Otf]/AuE and the characteristics of the immobilisation and hybridisation of DNA were studied by cyclic voltammetry using MB as the redox electrochemical indicator. ZnO/CHIT/[EMIM][Otf]/AuE dramatically enhanced the sensitivity of DNA hybridization recognition. Under optimal conditions, the dynamic range of DNA concentrations for detecting the sequence specific DNA of Trichoderma harzianum gene was 1.0×10-18 to 1.82x10-4 mol L-1, and the detection limit was 1.0×10-19 mol L-1, suggesting that the ZnO/CHIT/[EMIM][Otf] nanocomposite held great promises for the applications in electrochemical biosensor.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nor Azah YusofShafiquzzaman Siddiquee, Abu Bakar Salleh, Soon Guan Tan, Fatimah Abu Bakar and Lee Yook HengFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6782; azah@science.upm.edu.my

Electrochemical DNA Biosensor for the Detection of Specific Gene related to Trichoderma harzianum Species

Science, Technology & Engineering

257

Keywords: Unsteady flow, boundary layer, mass transfer, rotating fluid, shrinking sheet

The problem of unsteady flow induced by a shrinking sheet with mass transfer in a rotating fluid is studied. The transformed boundary layer equations are solved numerically by an implicit finite difference scheme known as the Keller-box method. The influence of rotation, unsteadiness and mass suction parameters on the reduced skin friction coefficients f’(0) and g’(0), as well as the lateral velocity and velocity profiles are presented and discussed in detail.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norihan Md. ArifinFadzilah Md. Ali, Roslinda Nazar and Ioan PopFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6850; norihan@math.upm.edu.my

Unsteady Shrinking Sheet with Mass Transfer in a Rotating Fluid

Keywords: Marangoni convection, heat generation, porous medium

Linear stability analysis is applied to investigate the effect of internal heat generation on Marangoni convection in a fluid saturated porous medium bounded below by an insulating and above by a non-deformable free surface. The Darcy law and the Brinkman model are used to describe the flow in the porous medium heated from below. The conditions for the onset of instability occurring via steady convective modes are obtained using exact method. The asymptotic solution of the long-wavelength is also obtained using regular perturbation technique with wave number as a perturbation parameter. It is observed that the critical Marangoni number decreases with an increase in the dimensionless heat source strength.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norihan Md. ArifinNor Fadzillah Mohd. Mokhtar, Roslinda Nazar, Fudziah Ismail and Mohamed Suleiman

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6850; norihan@math.upm.edu.my

Effect of Internal Heat Generation on Marangoni Convection in a Fluid Saturated Porous Medium

Science, Technology & Engineering

258

Keywords: Supply chain network design, mixed integer linear programming, benders’ decomposition, surrogate constraints.

This paper proposes a mixed integer linear programming model and solution algorithm for solving supply chain network design problems in deterministic, multi-commodity, single-period contexts. The strategic level of supply chain planning and tactical level planning of supply chain are aggregated to propose an integrated model. The model integrates location and capacity choices for suppliers, plants and warehouses selection, product range assignment and production flows. The open-or-close decisions for the facilities are binary decision variables and the production and transportation flow decisions are continuous decision variables. Consequently, this problem is a binary mixed integer linear programming problem. In this paper, a modified version of Benders’ decomposition is proposed to solve the model. The most difficulty associated with the Benders’ decomposition is the solution of master problem, as in many real-life problems the model will be NP-hard and very time consuming. In the proposed procedure, the master problem will be developed using the surrogate constraints. We show that the main constraints of the master problem can be replaced by the strongest surrogate constraint. The generated problem with the strongest surrogate constraint is a valid relaxation of the main problem. Furthermore, a near-optimal initial solution is generated for a reduction in the number of iterations.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosnah Mohd. YusuffHadi Mohammadi Bidhandi, Megat Mohamad Hamdan Megat Ahmad and Mohd. Rizam Abu BakarFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6342; rosnah@eng.upm.edu.my

Development of a New Approach for Deterministic Supply Chain Network Design

Keywords: Jatropha curcas triglycerides, oscillatory flow biodiesel reactor, low free fatty acid, jatropha curcas methyl esters

There is an increasing interest in the development of alternative fuels from renewable resources particularly in the use of vegetable oils as alternative base stocks in biodegradable diesel formulation. The research on the use of Jatropha curcas triglicerides as biodiesel feedstock has received worldwide attention due to its inherent characteristics. Unlike palm triglycerides, Jatropha curcas triglycerides are non edible thus do not disturb the food supply. For the reaction purpose, an oscillatory flow biodiesel reactor was extensively developed which considered the hydrodynamics behaviour as fundamental principles. Oscillatory flow biodiesel reactor offers precise control of mixing by means of the baffle geometry and pulsation which could facilitate the continuous operation, giving plug flow residence time distribution with high turbulence and enhanced mass and heat transfer. In conjunction with the concept of reactor design, parameters such as reactor dimensions, the hydrodynamic studies and physical properties of reactants must be taken into account prior to the design work initiated recently. The conversion of Jatropha curcas triglycerides into biodiesel in the oscillatory flow biodiesel reactor showed a significant advantage work due to the average reaction time required could be lessen almost 42 % compared to a batch reactor application. To avoid a saponification reaction, the low free fatty acid jatropha curcas triglycerides was required. As a conclusion, the maximum reaction conversion of 99.72% was achieved at reaction temperature of 60°C, molar ratio of Jatropha curcas triglycerides to methanol of 6:1 and at 6 Hz of oscillation frequency. Thus, regarding the biodiesel performance, the physical properties analysis indicated that the Jatropha curcas methyl esters meet the major specification of biodiesel standards (ASTM).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Robiah YunusAzhari Muhammad Syam, Thomas Choong Shean Yaw and Tinia Idaty Mohd. GhaziFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6266; robiah@eng.upm.edu.my

Application of Oscillatory Flow Biodiesel Reactor to Convert Jatropha curcas Triglycerides into Biodiesel

Science, Technology & Engineering

259

Keywords: Fish diversity, introduced fish, black water, brown water, seasonal flooding

The diversity and composition of fish fauna in brown and black water habitats at Batang Kerang in Balai Ringin, Sarawak, were evaluated during high and low water seasons. A total of 234 individual fish representing 36 species belonging to 13 families were captured. The fish fauna comprised 32 species belonging to 12 families in the brown water habitat, while 12 species from 7 families in the black water habitat. The fish fauna in the brown water was dominated by the family Cyprinidae (63.8%), while the family Helostomatidae (59.8%) dominated the black water habitat. The most abundant species in brown water was Oxygaster anomalura while in black water, the introduced species, Helostoma temminckii, was the most abundant. Various water parameters, such as dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity and water transparency, total suspended solid (TSS) and ammonium-nitrogen concentrations were significantly different (p<0.05) between the black and brown water habitats. Obviously, types of habitat are important to determine freshwater fish species composition, abundance and distribution. The brown water with overgrown floating vegetation fringed with tall grasses have provided nursery ground for young fish to forage and grow, hence create suitable niches for a variety of fish species. Subsequently, the brown water habitat supports more diverse and abundant populations of freshwater fishes than the black water habitat, which is normally stagnant to slow moving water. Most of the species found in black water habitat can adapt themselves to low dissolved oxygen level and high acidity. The diversity indices for brown water and black water were 2.09 and 0.65, respectively. The differences in diversity indices between the two habitats may be related to the physicochemical properties of the water, including the seasonal flooding of the area.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Khalijah DaudKhairul Adha Abdul Rahim, Siti Shapor Siraj, Aziz Arshad, Yuzine Esa and Eza Rena Ibrahim

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6602; sitikd@science.upm.edu.my

New Record of Freshwater Fish Fauna and Species Invasion in Black and Brown Water Habitats of the Same River System in Sarawak

Keywords: Assessment tool, advanced manufacturing technology, performance

Ensuring the success of AMT implementation requires detail planning and understanding of the technological, operational and organisational changes of the company. The Advanced Manufacturing Technology Implementation Evaluation Tool (AMTIET) has been developed as an analytical tool to help managers and operational engineers make technology implementation and application decisions. AMTIET integrates research and data from an extensive literature sources to facilitate users in conducting implementation analyses of technology implementation. AMTIET is an-internet-based software and a multi-attribute decision tool programmed in PHP environment applicable to all manufacturing firms. The tool analyses responses from each company and indicates the performance of the companies based on factors that have been identified as crucial to AMT implementation. The factors have been classified as technological factors (involving level of technology investment, technology integration, and justification methods), organisational factors (organisational structure, organisational culture, and operational strategy), human resource and management practices, obstacles and barriers, and government programmes. Currently, the system has analysed 140 small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. The results are demonstrated in graphical mode such as bar graph to compare the users with other registered SMEs in the tool database as well as radar graph to show the strengths and weaknesses of users in any of the factors. Besides evaluating the current performance of the company, the users are able to compare within and between industries. The tool is also equipped with useful comments and suggestions to guide the users to ameliorate their situations and improve their strategies in ensuring the full benefits of AMT implementation are achieved.

Assoc. Prof. Rosnah Mohd. YusuffRosnah Mohd. Yusuff, Sara Saberi, Norzima Zulkifli and Afdiman Anuar

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6342; rosnah@eng.upm.edu.my

Advanced Manufacturing Technology Implementation Evaluation Tool (AMTIET)

Science, Technology & Engineering

260

Keywords: Nanoconductivity meter, nanofluids

Work on applications of nanofluids can be restricted due to unavailable conductivity meter for nanofluids in the market. This study is concerned with design and development of a conductivity meter for nanofluids for temperature range of 20oC-50oC for copper oxide and alumina with distilled water as base fluid. This temperature range is in accordance with ordinary thermal applications and our empirical limitations. The meter is comprised of the components such as a plastic water bath, an electrical heater, some thermometers, an electrical motor, a fan, an electrical transformer, and a 100ml Pyrex beaker. In this method both conduction and convection were considered to measure the thermal conductivity of moving fluids. Calibration and verification of the equipment by using distilled water showed a significant agreement to conductivity standard value of ASTM standard. Results showed that CuO-distilled water has higher thermal properties than alumina-distilled water, and that means particles with higher thermal conductivity make higher conductive nanofluids. For example percentage of thermal conductivity rising for 2% mass CuO-distilled water in 45oC is equal to 33.5% but this value for alumina is equal to 26%. Among our nanofluids, 4% mass particle concentration of CuO-distilled water gave the highest conductivity value and least is 1% mass particle concentration of alumina-distilled water. Result also showed that this meter can give the conductivity value of 0.001 decimal places. Finally it can be concluded that nanofluids can consider as new generation of thermal fluid with higher thermal conductivity than traditional thermal fluids. They also can increase the efficiency of thermal equipments.

Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Nor Mariah AdamNor Mariah Adam, Azmi Zakaria, Halim Abdullah and Seyed Sharafaldin HosseiniFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7541; Mariah@eng.upm.edu.my

Development of Nanoconductivity Meter for Nanofluids

Keywords: Metal chalcogenide semiconductor, thin films, p-n juctions, photovoltaic applications

The photovoltaic electricity (PV cell) offers a limitless and environmentally friendly source of electricity. The materials used were usually from selenium, which has similar properties with silicon. In earlier study, it is known as ‘photocell’ and the efficiency of the cell was only 1%. Metal chalcogenide compounds with semiconductor structure have the capacity for its physical properties to change continuously as the chemical composition of the compound is altered. This behaviour makes them important for sensor and laser materials, thin film polarisers, and thermoelectric cooling materials. Among the metal chalcogenides that have received extensive attention is copper selenide (CuSe). CuSe has the ability to form ternary compound, CuInSe2 or other multinary materials by integrating indium into the binary compound. Various application such as solar cells, super ionic conductors, photo-detectors, photovoltaic cells and Shottky-diodes have been associated with this metal chalcogenide compound. Knowing the physical properties (such as structural, optical, electrical, thermal properties) of the Se based semiconductor will bring advancement of basic material physics and in important technological application such as device substrate characterization and processing control. The scientific data for the dependency of the fabrication condition and physical properties for semiconductor performance would contribute to the advancement of solar cell device fabrication in Malaysia, which are needed in order to solve many fundamental and technological aspects, and to reduce the production costs for making photovoltaic competitive in front more classical energy production systems.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin TalibMohd. Firdaus Mohd. Yusof, Josephine Liew, W. Mahmood Mat Yunus, Zulkarnian Zainal and Abdul Halim ShaariFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.03-8946 6606; zainalat@science.upm.edu.my

Design, Fabrication and Characterisation of Copper Selenide based Thin Film Semiconductor as Photovoltaic Cell

Science, Technology & Engineering

261

Keywords: Outdoor bench, rotating system, industrial design

A bench is a piece of furniture for people to seat. Benches have been used everywhere for indoor (often in rows) or outdoor (as in a park) used. This invention focuses on outdoor usage which needs substantially strength and durable material for application.

Mr. Bakri Bakar@IsmailMohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Arnis Aziz and Aimenur Dawana Salim

Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4096; buckrie@gmail.com

Rotating Bench

Keywords: Efficient, rainwater harvesting (RHS), housing, sustainability, environment

Rainwater harvesting system (RHS) has an increasing role to address the issues of urban flooding and water scarcity. However, the existing design of the systems are facing many problems such as maintenance, energy consumption, high initiate cost, aesthetic value and space needed for water tank and pump. A study is conducted on selected housing area showed that 61% of the installed systems had been dismantled. The present invention is concerning an efficient RHS which is easy to use with less maintenance, economical, with no aesthetic problems, appropriate for upgrading buildings, and with sufficient volume for the water tank. The system promotes reuse of rainwater for non-domestic purposes, sustainability and environmental conservation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thamer Ahmed MohammedTeoh Chee Keong and Elias Salleh

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6352; thamer@eng.upm.edu.my

Efficient Rainwater Harvesting System for Terrace Housing

Science, Technology & Engineering

262

Keywords: Parsing, parser generators, programme understanding system

Parser generator is a tool that reads a grammar specification and converts it to a programme that can recognise matches to the grammar. The purpose of this research is to test and examine the available parser generators and to find out which is suitable to be used with our Programme Understanding System. The chosen parser generator is an ANTLR (Another Tool for Language Recognition). ANTLRWorks is a novel grammar development environment for ANTLR version3 grammars. ANTLRWorks will generate parse tree and abstract syntax tree (AST) as output. Parse Tree is a record of rules and token used to match some input texts where as a syntax tree record the structure of the input. Meanwhile AST contains essentially the same information as the parse tree but in a more compact form. A case study has been conducted by inputting an object-oriented programming code which is Java to the ANTLR. Presented is the result of this parser generator in the form of an AST.

Dr. Nor Fazlida Mohd. SaniAbdul Azim Abdul Ghani and Norazimah RosidiFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6585; fazlida@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Parser Generators for Programme Understanding System

Keywords: Functionally graded material, fabrication, pressureless method, hydroxyapatite-titanium

Functionally Graded Metal-Ceramic composite was fabricated by pressureless sintering method. The pure metallic component (Ti) and pure ceramic component (HA) are located at the ends of a cylindrical specimen. The composition (in %weight) of layers was 100% pure Titanium; 75% Titanium+25% HA ; 50% Titanium+50% HA; 25% Titanium+75% HP; 100% pure HA . The properties of the developed FGM surface morphology and shrinkage measuring after sintering were characterised by scanning electron microscope (SEM).

Dr. Faizal MustaphaAli ShahrjediFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8964 6404; faizal@eng.upm.edu.my

Fabrication of Functionally Graded Material by Pressureless Method

Science, Technology & Engineering

263

Keywords: YBCO, rietveld refinement, nano sm2O3

The effects of small concentration of nanometer (? 25 nm) Sm2O3 particle addition on the structure, microstructure and superconductivity of YBCO have been studied. Polycrystalline samples were synthesised through solid state reaction by adding Sm2O3 in x wt. % (x = 0.0 - 0.6). The phase formation of all samples has been characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and detailed crystal structure analysis was carried out using a Rietveld refinement technique. The results revealed that only YBCO single phase reflection is observed for samples with x ? 0.3 wt. % and 211 secondary phase is observed for samples with x ? 0.4 wt. % and there is no orthorhombic-to-tetragonal transition occurred. Sm3+ was found to be incorporated into the crystal structure and could occupy both in Y- and Ba-sites. As the Sm2O3 concentration increased, Tc-zero value determined by four point probe technique decreases linearly from 89 K (x = 0.0) to 81 K (x = 0.6). The addition of Sm2O3 did not severely reduce the Tc, despite of its magnetic behaviour. It seems that the suppression of Tc-zero may relate to the decrease of the hole concentrations.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim ShaariMohd. Kamarulzaman Mansor, Chen Soo Kien, Zainal Abidin Talib and Sidek Ab. Aziz

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6648/6646; ahalim@science.upm.edu.my

Structure, Microstructure and Superconductivity in YBCO with Additives of Nano-Sm2O3

Keywords: Critical current density, non-stoichiometric, pinning centre

The critical temperature Tc of nonstoichiometric MgxB2 samples was found to decrease with x. However the critical current density of Mg deficient and Mg excess samples increased as compared to the stoichiometric sample. This could be due to the presence of MgO and Mg secondary phases which were observed in XRD patterns. These impurities can serve as pinning centers which were not observed in the stoichiometric sample.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Halim ShaariMohd. Faisal Mohd. Aris, Chen Soo Kien, Lim Kean Pah and Roslan Ab.

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6648; ahalim@science.upm.edu.my

Enhancement of Critical Current Density in Non-stoichiometric MgB2 Superconductor

Science, Technology & Engineering

264

Keywords: Dialogue systems, information visualisation, Quranic text

Visualisation is a human cognitive activity and is not something that a computer does. A good visualisation for Quranic text enables us to communicate the content with clarity, precision, and efficiency. Being a large information source, a visualisation system for Quranic text is required. This research proposes AQILAH, dialogue-based information visualisation for Quranic text. AQILAH facilitates the interaction and rearranges the content based on need-to-know basis, as opposed to sequential order as in recitals.

Dr. Aida MustaphaHamidah IbrahimFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6554; aida@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Dialogue-based Visualisation for Quranic Text

Keywords: Blood container, vacuum tube

Vacuum blood container (VBC) is used for storing blood sample in laboratory testing. All applications require closure device tightly seal the VBC. This is to maintain the vacuum inside the tube until the time of use and to avoid contamination of the contents which would distort the analytical result. Currently, vacuum blood tube was prepared using penetrative technique. A needle was used to withdraw air from the tube to provide vacuum condition. Due to the penetration of the needle through the enclosure of the tube will eventually create potential leaking for air to enter the tube. Hence, this will reduce the capability of the tube to withdraw sufficient amount of blood sample required. The present vacuum blood container invention was design to have non-penetrative vacuum process. The novel vacuum blood container is designed in three assembly parts; cap, an enclosure and tube. The inner surface of the cap was designed to have a number of air passages to allow air withdrawal process. The new invention does not require any penetration through its enclosure to produce vacuum. During vacuuming process, the air trapped inside the tube will be withdrawn through the air passages to create the required vacuum pressure. The novel design of cap, enclosure and tube allow the innovative process of non-penetrative vacuum blood container.

Dr. Abd. Rahim Abu TalibMohd. Saleh Yahaya, Ummi Noor Nazahiah Abdullah, Siti Aishah Adam dan Mohd. Nazim Abdul RahmanFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8646 6272; abrahim@eng.upm.edu.my

Non-penetrative Vacuum Blood Container

Science, Technology & Engineering

265

Keywords: Antifreeze, protein, peptide, thermal hysteresis

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, local navigation, minimum avoidance, virtual target, autonomous robotics

Antifreeze proteins play a vital role in the survival of organisms living in sub-zero temperature. The ability of antifreeze proteins to lower the freezing point without lowering the melting point, called thermal hysteresis, has attracted increasing interest in the past decade, particularly in the utilisation of antifreeze proteins as cryoprotectant for biological materials. However, commercial application of antifreeze proteins is hindered by high production cost due to low yield of protein expression. Short peptide segment derived from functional region of antifreeze protein that preserves the activity of its parent protein may be seen as potential candidate for a new antifreeze agent. In this work, we designed antifreeze peptides derived from novel antifreeze protein of Leucosporidium antarcticum. The design of the peptides is based on the predicted structure of L. antarcticum antifreeze protein, which has less than 20% homology with other antifreeze proteins in Protein Data Bank. The predicted protein structure shows four helical segments located in the outer structure of the protein. Our hypothesis is that the L. antarcticum antifreeze protein utilises these four helical segments to inhibit ice crystal growth by binding to the ice crystal-liquid water surface. To prove our hypothesis, we designed four peptides derived from helical segments of L. antarcticum antifreeze protein with various lengths between 25 to 30 residues. Three peptides possess nonzero thermal hysteresis and result in modification of the ice crystal shape. Two peptides are modified by Leu/Glu and Gln/Lys replacements in order to create helix-stabilising i, i+4 salt bridges. We found that the peptides with additional salt bridges have increased thermal hysteresis, which suggests the role of salt bridge in the stabilisation of antifreeze peptide structure. Our study on molecular dynamics suggests that the increased activity of modified peptide could be due to the rearrangement of hydrophobic-hydrophilic faces of the peptide.

A new fuzzy logic algorithm is developed for reactive navigation of mobile robots. A pioneer robot perceives its environment through an array of eight sonar sensors and self positioning-localisation sensors. While the fuzzy logic body of the algorithm performs the main tasks of obstacle avoidance and target seeking through artificial potential fields, an actual-virtual target switching strategy resolves the problem of limit cycles in any type of dead-ends encountered on the way to the target. This is an advantage beyond pure fuzzy logic approaches and common virtual target techniques. In this work, multiple traps may have any shape or arrangement from barriers forming simple corners and U-shape dead-ends to loops, maze, snail shape, and other complicated shapes. Robot trajectories are demonstrated by simulation work and compared with results from other related methods to prove the robustness of this method.

Dr. Bimo Ario TejoSyed Hussinien Hielmie Shah, Mohammad Fairuz Zulkifli, Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman, Abdul Munir

Abdul Murad, Nor Muhammad Mahadi, Mahiran Basri, Raja Noor Zaliha Abdul Rahman and Abu Bakar SallehFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7488; bimotejo@science.upm.edu.my

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tang Sai HongOmid Motlagh, Napsiah Ismail and Ang Chun Kit

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6332; saihong@eng.upm.edu.my

Novel Antifreeze Peptides derived from Fungal Protein

Development of a New Minimum Avoidance System for a Behaviour-based Mobile Robot

Science, Technology & Engineering

266

Keywords: Machine, forwarding, low density material, extruder

Handling materials especially low density material, such as kenaf or any natural fibre, into small opening can pose a problem because such materials tend to clump and clog. The other problem that needs to be handled is bridging effect due to shapes and moisture contents of the materials. All these problems can cause inconsistency in flow of material thus make it impossible to achieve constant and continuous flow behaviour. This invention caters all the above problems and it also allows the user to control the amount of output during operation. When this invention is integrated with the extruder for compounding natural fibre composite, the natural fibre can be mixed along the path of the molten plastic inside the extruder. Therefore, this method does not require premix process as normal extruder does and it is possible to change the amount of fibre loading of the composite at any moment during the operation.

Dr. Edi Syams ZainudinKhalina Abdan, Jalaluddin Harun and Wan Mohamad Haniffah Wan HussinInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6317; edisyam@eng.upm.edu.my

A Novel Method of Handling Material

Keywords: MgB2 superconductor, carbon doping, disorder, critical current density

In this work, nano sized SiC powders were mixed with Mg and B and reacted by either a one-step in situ or two-step method resulted in different level of C substitution. X-ray diffraction shows the presence of Mg2Si signifying that the reaction between SiC and Mg occurred leading to the release of C in samples reacted in the one-step method. Moreover, the much reduced value of a-axis indicates that C substitution took place. Resistivity measurements showed higher intragrain scattering owing to a higher density of defects and/or impurities. These samples also show higher Hirr and Hc2 at 20K in comparison to samples with mainly unreacted SiC (hence lower C substitution). More importantly, their Jc’s are more insensitive to high magnetic field (> 4T) at 6K. However, at 20K, the effect of C content on Jc(H) is less pronounced. Finally, the order of magnitude of Jc(H) at both 6K and 20K is rather dominated by pinning.

Dr. Chen Soo KienTan Kwee Yong, Tan Kim Lee, Wan Nurul Ain Wan Shaaidi, Lim Kean Pah, Abdul Halim Shaari and Elias SaionFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6668; skchen@science.upm.edu.my

The Relative Influence of Carbon Doping and Disorder on Field and Temperature Dependent Critical Current Density of MgB2

Science, Technology & Engineering

267

Keywords: Hyperspectral, spectral signatures, index, toolbox

Currently, the issue of selecting optimal spectral bands and creating effective indices for specific application using hyperspectral data is a very daunting task. This is due to the unavailability of user-friendly tool for statistical analysis and index generation from the highly complex hyperspectral data. This motivates the development of SDIDT in order to solve this problem. The development of the toolbox is based on extensive research into the best statistical procedures and optimal spectral index for stress detection in vegetation. The toolbox facilitates easy operation to identify optimal bands for index development and subsequently can be used to assist airborne-based detection of any types of anomalies from hyperspectral imagery.

Dr. Helmi Zulhaidi Mohd. ShafriM. Izzuddin Anuar

Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6459; hzms04@gmail.com

Spectral Discrimination and Index Development Toolbox (SDIDT)

Keywords: Buckling, composite, compression, thin laminate structure

The main objective of this fixture is to test a flatwise long specimen subjected under compression in order to look for buckling at the first ply failure. It is a simple structure that can be used with any type of Universal testing machine (UTM) that has a compression plate. However the compression plate is advice to be bigger than the fixture holding base in order to ensure that the load applied is transfer to the fixture. The base is made from fibrelite, which is a low cost material compared to stainless steel but yet is having the significant strength to withstand the compressive load applied. The gripper is made of solid Teflon with a groove to hold the specimen into place. It is to ensure that the specimen is straight and inline on both sides. The float is made of stainless steel in which acts as the stabiliser to ensure that the specimen does not move or slide. To ensure minimum friction is introduced during the experiment, grease is applied on the inner shaft to ensure free movement is observed.

Dr. Faizal MustaphaKhairul Dahri Mohd. Aris

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8945 6401; faizal@eng.upm.edu.my

Compression Testing Jig for Composite Buckling under Delamination at Sub-laminate Layer

Science, Technology & Engineering

268

Keywords: Oo design, design heuristic, design pattern

The design phase is claimed to be one of the highest source of errors in software development. Object-oriented design is a difficult process especially for novice designers. However, research on the process model that is suitable for novices is scarce. Moreover, many of the CASE tools available serve as diagramming or automated tools and lack technical guidance for developing object-oriented applications. The main goal of this research is to introduce a new model of design guidance to guide novice designers during the design process. For this purpose, a literature study was first conducted to examine current techniques and available tools in guiding novice designers. A guidance model was then developed (OOD-GuideM) which comprises of three components: object-oriented design process model, design knowledge repository and design analyzer. Object-oriented design heuristics and patterns, which are parts of design knowledge, were collected and studied. Those that were considered suitable for novices were then converted to rules and cases respectively. OOD-GuideM also includes a design analyzer which is capable of analysing designs for heuristic violations and detecting potential pattern applications. Based on its analysis, this component assists novice designers in terms of warnings and suggestions during the design process. To test the implementability of the proposed OOD-GuideM model, a prototype is developed as a proof of concept. A controlled experiment is then conducted to evaluate this prototype. The evaluation results show that the evaluated aspects of the model are feasible in supporting the design process for novice designers. It also demonstrated that OOD-GuideM can be beneficial to novice object-oriented designers in assisting and guiding them in the process. This led to the conclusion that the OOD-GuideM model is capable, feasible and practical for guiding novice object-oriented designers.

Dr. Jamilah DinSufian Idris and Shahrul Azman Mohd. NoahFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6585; jamilah@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Model of a Design Guidance System for Novice Object-oriented Designers

Keywords: Quantum key distribution, photon number splitting attack, sifted key

We propose a new quantum key distribution protocol which can produce higher sifted key rate and robust photon number splitting attack. The work deploys theoretical works on quantum key distribution protocol by redefining a method of decoding to sharing a secret key in quantum key distribution. This theoretical derivation later is used to verify simulation result on sifted key rate. Then robustness of the protocol is simulated based on two main photon number splitting attacks in quantum key distribution and finally a simulation on the proof of concept of the protocol is done using a phase encoding quantum key distribution. This new protocol has improved the percentage of discarded key bit by 25% as compared to the SARG04 protocol considering an ideal case without Eavesdropping and produces a 15% higher percentage of sifted key with zero error as compared to the SARG04 protocol at an ideal case with Eavesdropping. In terms of its robustness, this protocol can secure a key bit transmission up to link loss of 31.2dB against Eavesdropper intercept resend with unambiguous attack at ideal scenario. Another powerful photon number splitting attack of storage attack can guard against Eavesdropper getting one photon of up to link loss of 7.4dB. In practical scenario, a maximum secured distance can be achieved at up to link loss of 22.9dB. Therefore this protocol consequently can increase sifted key rate during reconciliation process while ensuring protection against photon number splitting attack. In summary, this work presented a new protocol which improved the sifted key rate and robust photon number splitting attacks. An implementation using phase encoding quantum key distribution embedding this decoding protocol algorithm might be a breakthrough for near future practical setup.

Dr. Ing Ahmad Fauzi AbasLizal Iswady Ahmad Ghazali, Wan Azizun Wan Adnan, Makhfudzah Mokhtar, M. Iqbal Saripan and Mohd. Adzir MahdiFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4351; fauzi@eng.upm.edu.my

W2IF2A09 Protocol to Prepare and Measure, Point to Point Fibre Optics Quantum Key Distribution

Science, Technology & Engineering

269

Keywords: GPS, INS, GA, PSO, ANFIS

This paper presents an alternative approach of solving GPS outages without requiring any prior information about the characteristics of the INS and GPS sensors. INS can be used as a stand-alone system to bridge the outages during GPS signal loss. Kalman filter (KF) is widely used in INS and GPS integration to present a forceful navigation solution by overcoming the GPS outages problems. Unfortunately, KF is usually criticised for working under predefined models and for its observability problem of hidden state variables, sensor dependency, and linearisation dependency. This approach utilises a genetic neuro fuzzy system (GANFIS) to predict the INS position and velocity errors during GPS signal blockages suitable for real-time application. The proposed model is able to deal with noise and disturbances in the GPS and INS output data in different dynamic environments compared to other traditional filtering algorithms such as the neural network and neuro fuzzy. Real field test results using MEMS grade IMU with integrated GPS show a significant improvement obtained from the integrated GPS/INS system using GANFIS module compared to traditional methods such as kalman filtering, particularly during long GPS satellite signal blockage.

Dr. Khairulmizam SamsudinAhmed M. Hasan and Abdul Rahman Ramli

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4320; kmbs@eng.upm.edu.my

Evolutionary Algorithms for INS Error Prediction

Keywords: Miniature robot, swarm

Biological swarm is a fascinating behaviour of nature that has been successfully applied to solve human problem especially for robotics application. The high economical cost and large area required to execute swarm robotics scenarios do not permit experimentation with real robot. Model and simulation of the mass number of these robots are extremely complex and often inaccurate. This project presents an autonomous miniature mobile-robot (AMiR) for swarm robotics research and education. The large number of robots in these systems allow designing an individual AMiR unit with simple perception and mobile abilities. Hence a large number of robots can be easily and economically feasible to be replicated.

Dr. Khairulmizam SamsudinFarshad Arvin and Abdul Rahman Ramli

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4320; kmbs@eng.upm.edu.my

AMiR: An Autonomous Miniature Robot

Science, Technology & Engineering

270

Keywords: Switching duration, Neutral-Point-Clamped, total harmonics distortion (THD)

Neutral-Point-Clamped (NPC) inverter is one type of the multilevel inverters that has the advantages of lower output distortion, lower dv/dt stresses on each individual power switches and lower switching losses, when compared to the conventional 3-phase bridge inverter. Multilevel inverter operation is based on the concept of increasing the staircase level of output voltage waveform by steadily switching the power switches in small voltage steps. Each increment of level of the multilevel inverter involves an additional of two power switches at each leg. This study investigates the effect of switching duration of the triggering signals to the 3-phase, 3-level Neutral-Point-Clamped inverter. By varying the switching duration of the triggering signals, the Total Harmonics Distortion (THD) value of voltage and current outputs of the inverter will be affected. From the investigation, the relationship between the switching duration and the output voltage and current can be found. Thus, the best switching duration can be used to obtain output with the lowest THD value. This low THD output waveform can help in minimizing the harmonics distortion when the inverter is being used as a Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) in power system network. Simulation model of the NPC inverter has been designed and developed using Matlab/Simulink software.

Dr. Nashiren Farzilah MailahSenan Mahmod Abdullah and Norhisam MisronFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6316; nashiren@eng.upm.edu.my

Investigation of Switching Duration for 3-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped Inverter

Keywords: Graphic processing unit, cellular automata, noise filtering, edge detection

In the last few years, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have evolved into more flexible and powerful parallel data processors. GPUs are economical and are advantageous in a wide variety of computer architecture. The parallelism feature of Cellular Automata (CA) is well-suited to run on parallel processors and therefore, can be employed on graphical processing units (GPUs). This research presents a hybrid CA model for edge detection in image distorted by salt and pepper noise. In order to enhance the performance of the CA model, we adopt GPU based processing approach. The proposed CA model is able to extract edge in high intensity noise image compared to other conventional method. The implementation of the CA model based on GPU has significantly improved the performance of the edge detection in the presence of noise.

Dr. Khairulmizam SamsudinAfsaneh Jalalian, Syamsiah Mashohor and M. Iqbal SaripanFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4320; kmbs@eng.upm.edu.my

Fast Hybrid Image Processing based on Graphic Processing Unit

Science, Technology & Engineering

271

Keywords: Privacy, pervasive computing, identity privacy, location privacy, time privacy

Pervasive systems are typically embedded and invisible which make it difficult for users to know when, where, and how these devices are collecting data. With that, privacy is a major issue for pervasive computing applications and several privacy models have been proposed for pervasive environments. In this paper, we present a XML based User-centered Privacy Model (UPM) which provides content, identity, location, and time privacy with low unobtrusiveness.

Dr. Nur Izura UdzirAli Dehghantanha and Ramlan Mahmod

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6521; izura@fsktm.upm.edu.my

A XML based, User-centered Privacy Model in Pervasive Computing Systems

Keywords: Runge-Kutta-Nystrom method, phase-lag, oscillatory problem

A new pair of embedded explicit Runge-Kutta-Nyström (RKN) methods are developed to integrate second-order differential equations of the form q” = f(t,q) where the solution is oscillatory. The embedded formula has dispersion order eight and dissipation order seven for the fifth-order formula. The cost for this pair is four function evaluations at each step of integration. Numerical comparisons with several codes in the scientific literature such as RKN5(4)D, RKN5(4)B, RKN4(3)G and DOPRI5 show the efficiency of the new method developed.

Dr. Norazak SenuMohamed Suleiman and Fudziah Ismail

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6848; razak@math.upm.edu.my

An Embedded Explicit Runge-Kutta-Nystrom Method for Solving Oscillatory Problems

Science, Technology & Engineering

272

Keywords: Pineapple, peeler and corer, slicer, dicer

Pineapple Multi-peeler Plus machine was designed and constructed based on three major functions, which are peeling and coring, slicing, and dicing. It was designed and developed to overcome the issues faced in current pineapple machine. This machine is affordable, suitable for domestic uses, as well as for application in the pineapple processing industry. It is not only capable of saving energy and time but also ensures a hygienic process. This machine is made from stainless steel. Pineapple with a height of 145 mm is placed at the peeler and corer to remove the skin and core to obtain the pineapple flesh. Then the pineapple is sliced using slicer and finally diced using pineapple dicer. Depending on the industrialists’ preferences, Pineapple 3 in 1 machine can be operated either manually or automatically.

Dr. Rosnah ShamsudinJohari Endan and Siti Zaharah MustapaFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6366; rosnahs@eng.upm.edu.my

Pineapple Multi-peeler Plus

Keywords: Data grid, grid computing, replica control protocol

Replication is a useful technique for distributed database systems and can be implemented in a grid computation environment to provide a high availability, fault tolerant, and enhance the performance of the system. This research discusses a new protocol named Enhanced Diagonal Data Replication in 2D Mesh structure (EDR2M) protocol where the performance addressed are communication cost and data availability which are compared with the previous replication protocols, Diagonal Data Replication in 2D Mesh structure (DR2M). EDR2M protocol is organized in a logical two dimensional mesh structure and by using quorums and voting techniques to improve the performance of communication cost and data availability of the replication protocol where it reduces the number of copies of data replication for read or write operations. The data file is copied at the selected node of the diagonal site in a quorum of the network. Selecting the middle node and grouping the nodes in quorum have reduced the communication cost and high in availability since all nodes have the equal number of requests and data accessing in the network. The algorithm in this paper also calculates the best number of nodes in each quorum and how many quorums are needed for N number of nodes in a network. EDR2M protocol also ensures that the data for read and write operations is consistent, by proofing that the quorum must not have a nonempty intersection quorum. To evaluate EDR2M protocol, we developed a simulation model in Java. Our results prove that EDR2M protocol improves the performance of the communication cost and data availability compare to the previous data replication protocol, DR2M.

Dr. Rohaya LatipHamidah IbrahimFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6536; rohaya@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Quorum-based Data Replication in Data Grid

Science, Technology & Engineering

273

Keywords: Audio transcription, signal processing, microcontroller

A real-time signal processing technique using static and dynamic window sizes with a low-cost hardware interface is proposed. Most audio signal processing systems require high cost hardware interfaces such as DSP. The proposed technique in this project introduces a hardware interface that includes a microcontroller to process audio music signals for pitch extraction. The audio signal is divided to smaller sections known as windows to obtain samples of the signals for transcription. In general, two different approaches are proposed which convert the voice samples for real-time processing using static and dynamic window sizes. However, the transcription process into MIDI data involves complex calculations and in this proposed technique, a simple technique is used to process audio signals. The transcribed data generated shows the feasibility of using microcontrollers as a real-time MIDI generation hardware interface.

Dr. Shyamala C. DoraisamyFarshad Arvin

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6548; shyamala@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Real-time Audio Transcription Technique using Static and Dynamic Window Sizes with a Low-cost Hardware Interface

Keywords: Case-based reasoning, soft systems methodology

A Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) system solves new problems by remembering a previous similar problem and reusing its solution. Descriptions of previous problems and their solutions are stored in a case base. The system depends on information given by the end-user and historical cases for the descriptions of a new problem and its solution. Thus, the ability of the system to make appropriate decisions or suggestions is limited. While the characteristics of today’s computing systems offer a lot of opportunities to be explored, it is beneficial for a computer system to have an awareness of its environment by providing information on the current situation to the end-user and to the computer system itself. Such contextual information is useful to keep the system informed, define the problem descriptions, and recommend appropriate solutions or suggestions based on the current situation. CBR systems with environment awareness can potentially improve to define the problem description and its solutions precisely with the contextual information. However, the development of a system that has environment awareness requires a deeper analysis of the system itself and its relationships with its environment. The analysis approach in the systems development should be able to yield a collection of collaborating elements in a computing system and its links to the environment. Today’s computer systems are situated in intricate environments, and are required to adapt to the dynamic environment as well as be proactive in making decisions. Such requirements are difficult to be modelled using the ‘hard’ analysis approach. The Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is an established approach to understand an ill-defined problem in such situations. This research presents the SSM analysis in the development of an environment-aware CBR system. The analysis models help clarify and define the system’s environment explicitly to describe the design of the system.

Dr. Sa’adah HassanFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6507; saadah@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Soft Systems Methodology for Environment-aware Case-based Reasoning Systems

Science, Technology & Engineering

274

Keywords: Pyrochlores, solid state reaction, dielectric, chemical doping

Chemical doping was performed in order to enhance dielectric properties of cubic bismuth zinc tantalate, (L-BZT) pyrochlores. Copper doped L-BZT, Bi3Zn1.8Cu0.2Ta3O14 was successfully prepared by conventional solid state reaction at 1050 °C for 48 hours. The prepared sample crystallized in a cubic cell with lattice parameter, a = 10.5399 (0.0002) Å and space group Fd3m. Copper doped L-BZT was thermally stable as evidently shown in thermal analysis. The electrical properties of the prepared pellets were characterised by AC impedance spectroscopy. The conductivity values were found higher than that of the undoped sample. The activation energy determined from the slope of conductivity Arrhenius plots was 1.15 eV. On the other hand, relative permittivity (e’) and dielectric loss (tan d) of the doped sample were 78, 0.0043 at temperature 30 °C and frequency 1 MHz, respectively. These values were somewhat higher than that of the parent composition. The doped sample showed high degree of dispersion of permittivity at low frequency (<1 kHz) and at temperatures above 300 °C. An appreciable increase of dielectric loss above temperature 500 °C was observed.

Dr. Tan Kar BanHajaratul Najwa, Zulkarnain Zainal, Chen Soo Kien and Khaw Chwin ChiehFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7491; tankb@science.upm.edu.my

Synthesis and Electrical Properties of Copper Substituted Bismuth Zinc Tantalates (BZT)

Keywords: Blending, heating, cutting

This invention generally relates to an apparatus for automated blending and agitated cooking. More specifically, this invention relates to chilli paste maker. The apparatus provides a blender-cooker apparatus that functions as both a blender structure and a cooker structure. The main components of the invention include a motor, a hopper cover, a hopper, a cover lid, a container, a set of blade assembly with lower and upper blades, a safety holder, a lifting arm, a lifting support, a thermocouple and a heating plate. Each upper and lower blades are equipped with cutting surfaces along their leading edges and lower blades are adapted to have wing flats configured to induce upwardly directed axial flow of the foodstuff. Therefore, the blade assembly could be functioned as cutting blade in clockwise rotation for blending process and acted as an agitator in counterclockwise rotation. The whole operation of this apparatus is controlled by the PLC (Programmable-Logic-Control) Unit which allows an automated control in the desired temperature parameters. Therefore, the invention saves clean-up work of transferring blended food for cooking as well as save time and labour.

Dr. Siti Mazlina Mustapa KamalIntan Shaidatul Shima Mohd. Shariff and Lee Sze YingFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6294; siti@eng.upm.edu.my

Apparatus for Automated Blending and Agitated Cooking

Science, Technology & Engineering

275

Keywords: Biocomposite, sugar palm fibre, glass fibre, tensile, impact, hybrid material

In recent years, sugar palm fibre has been found to have great potential to be used as fibre reinforcement in polymer matrix composites. This research investigated the possibility of sugar palm fibre to composite as the building material in fabrication of a small boat. The study started with the determination of mechanical properties of woven glass/sugar palm fibre that reinforced unsaturated polyester hybrid composite. The composite specimens were compression moulded from different layers of fibre in different orientations such as strand mat, natural and hand woven. The tensile and impact tests were carried out in accordance to ASTM 5083 and ASTM D256. The boat was fabricated using hand lay up technique. The results of the experiment showed that the tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break values and impact strength were acceptable for this application. As a general conclusion, the use of sugar palm fibre together with glass fibre has improved the mechanical properties of the composite and is suitable to be used in small boat fabrication.

Dr. Zulkiflle LemanSairizal Misri, Ridzwan Ishak, Mohd. Sapuan Salit and Umar Abdul Hanan

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6347; zleman@eng.upm.edu.my

Development of Ijuk (Arenga pinnata) Fibre Biocomposite for Small Boat Application

Keywords: Singular integral, quadrature formula, discrete vortices method, spline approximation, modification

New quadrature formulas (QFs) for evaluating the singular integral (SI) of Cauchy type with unbounded weight function on the edges are constructed. The construction of the QFs is based on the modification of discrete vortices method (MMDV) and linear spline interpolation over the finite interval [-1,1]. It is proved that the constructed QFs converge for any singular point x do not coincide with the end points of the interval [-1,1]. Numerical results are given to validate the accuracy of the QFs. The error bounds are found to be of order O(h^alpha|lnh|) and O(h|lnh|) in the classes of functions H^alpha([-1,1], A) and C([-1,1]) respectively.

Dr. Zainidin K. EshkuvatovNik Mohd. Asri Nik Long and Mohammad Abdulkawi

Institute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6855; ezaini@science.upm.edu.my

Quadrature Formula for Approximating the Singular Integral of Cauchy Type with Unbounded Weight Function on the Edges

Science, Technology & Engineering

276

Keywords: Dielectrophoresis, cell separation, weaving, textile

The use of dielectrophoresis (DEP) to date has mainly been limited to processing small volumes due to difficulties in the fabrication of microelectrodes over large surface areas. To overcome this problem, a novel approach to the construction of micro-electrode arrays has been developed based on weaving. A plain weave cloth was made from 100 micron diameter stainless steel wires and polyester yarns. The stainless steel wires formed the weft, and were kept parallel and apart by a warp of flexible polyester yarns, with a gap of around micron between the metal wires. The metal wires were alternately connected to earth and signal of an AC power source, and it was shown that it was possible to collect yeast cells suspended in deionised water at the metal wire surfaces by dielectrophoresis. The polyester yarn was also found to distort the electric field, creating further areas of electric field non-uniformity around the polyester yarns, further enhancing the capability of the system to attract cells. A separation chamber with greater capacity was constructed and was able to separate dead and live yeast cells.

Dr. Zurina Zainal AbidinRobiah Yunus and Fadhilla Hasanah Ahmad NadzriFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4371; zurina@eng.upm.edu.my

Large Scale Dielectrophoretic Separation of Cells

Keywords: Quantum key distribution (QKD), wireless local area network (WLAN), uer datagram protocol (UDP), 802.11i

Cryptography nowadays is looking for a secure and trusted channel especially in key distribution between two legitimate parties without being intercepted or decipher by intruders either in wireless or wired communication medium. The invention of Quantum Cryptography as part of quantum mechanics has solved the key distribution’s problem in cryptosystem by providing a secure communication channel between two parties with absolute security guaranteed by the laws of physics. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) as a new method in key distribution used to transmit secret key between two legitimate parties. This paper will discuss the implementation of BB84 protocol in UDP 802.11i Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). WLAN as a wireless links are much noisier and less reliable in general than wired links. This type of noise will generate different numbers of key lengths and also different levels of error rate estimation.

Dr. Zuriati Ahmad ZukarnainNur Hanani Kamarul Aizan and Hishamuddin ZainuddinFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6565; zuriati@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Implementation of BB84 protocol on UDP 802.11i

Science, Technology & Engineering

277

Keywords: Unmanned avionic vehicle (UAV), industrial design, auto balancing technology (ABT), built in audio video

The Unmanned Avionic Vehicle (UAV) is purposely designed to support The Forestry Department of Malaysia’s operation in preventing criminal activities such as illegal logging and forest destruction. The design project aims to solve a problem faced by the Forestry Department in maintaining the forest’s sustainability and also helps to reduce the use of manpower and transportation during this type of surveillance operation. This UAV system uses auto rechargeable battery powered engine, Auto Balancing Technology (ABT) and a built in audio video (AV) device.

Mr. Bakri Bakar@IsmailMohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Hasri Yunardi Hassan, Rahinah Ibrahim and Muhamad

Haziq NoraizanFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; buckrie@gmail.com

STAYER: Forest Surveillance UAV

Keywords: Xylitol, activated charcoal, overliming, sago trunk cortex hydrolysate

Xylitol can be derived from D-xylose which mainly contains in lignocellulose materials. Sago trunk cortex was chosen as lignocellulose source due to its availability and abundant in the sago starch processing industry. The characterisation of sago trunk cortex was done to identify the composition of lignocellulosic fractions. The production of xylitol from sago trunk cortex includes hydrolysis which breaks the cellulose and hemicellulose polymers to fermentable sugar, mainly xylose, followed by fermentation process which converts the sugars to xylitol. However, some by-products such as furan compounds are released during chemical hydrolysis and inhibited the yeast cultivation. This study describes two common detoxification methods of sago trunk cortex hydrolysates to improved xylitol production by Candida tropicalis. Activated charcoal and overliming methods were used to compare the efficiency in reducing toxic compound and finally, the effects of both methods were evaluated by combination of both treatments. The best assays was found using combination of overliming at pH 9 and using 2.5% activated charcoal at 60 minutes of contact time after 72 hour of fermentation, which corresponds to 0.28 g L-1h-1 volumetric productivity and 0.758 g g-1 xylitol yield on consumed xylose.

Mr. Abdul Ghani Liew AbdullahSiti Mazlina Mustapa Kamal, Norhafizah Abdullah and Nurul Lina Mohamad

Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4428; ghaniey@eng.upm.edu.my

Xylitol Production from Sago Trunk Waste

Science, Technology & Engineering

278

Keywords: Hybrid multipurpose vehicle, intelligent storage system, industrial design

The project aims to design a Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) that gives more space comfort, aerodynamics and design concept which will be relevant for the next ten or fifteen years. The MPV design also proposes three additional luggage compartments as a solution that can possibly solve a luggage problem. It is located at the side bottom and rear bottom of the vehicle. The project also applies the hybrid technology as the MPV’s power resources in order to ensure the fuel efficiency.

Mr. Bakri Bakar@IsmailMohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Rafidei Mohamad, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin and Mohd. Haidiezul Jamal Abdul HadiFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; buckrie@gmail.com

PROPHECY: Hybrid MPV with Intelligent Storage

Keywords: Unmanned aerial vehicle, remotely piloted aircraft, pilotless vehicle, industrial design

UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is a drone or remotely piloted vehicle and a pilotless craft guided which is the main characteristic of this product. This product is purposely design to support Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) through air observation and investigation. The UAV can be adapted with the most advance technology used for highly difficult conditions and missions. The controller of the drone can originate from an airplane, a ship, a ground station, or a satellite link. UAVs are often preferably used for missions that are too risky, strategic crime location, or dangerous for manned as an observer.

Mr. Bakri Bakar@IsmailMohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Saiful Hasley Ramli, Rahinah Ibrahim and Shahbudin Md. SattarFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; buckrie@gmail.com

WATCHER: PDRM AI-Drone

Science, Technology & Engineering

279

Keywords: Furniture, dressing table

This design project aims to reduce the existing problem of a dressing table which is available in the market. The most common problems are that existing dressing table is bulky and requires huge space utilisation. It also has an inadequate compartment for the users to keep their cosmetics and jewelries. Furthermore, the size of a mirror may not be suitable for the user when they want to look at their daily appearance. During the design process, it mainly explores in finding a possible idea that can be proposed as the problem solving process. A questionnaire method is applied in identifying the user’s requirements in designing an appealing and functional dressing table. The aesthetics element of this dressing table adds in providing a sense of romance and glamour to the users particularly to the women.

Mr. Hasry Yunardi HassanMohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin and Zulkifli Muslim

Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4096; hasriy@yahoo.com

Fully Dress: Dressing Table with Full View Mirror

Keywords: Cubicle cell, sleeping space, industrial design, product design

This product is an effective solution for instant sleeping space - designed for those who need to rest or nap for few hours before continuing their activities. The scope focusses on places where people would go especially during festive seasons such as the public transportation station, main town and shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. It can become an alternative space replacing hotel or rest house which is quite costly for this purpose to certain travelers. It can also provide a wide visible surface for advertising purposes. Data were gathered from questionnaire, interviews and observations for design idea. The product providing this service (instant sleeping space) is found to be beneficial.

Mr. Bakri Bakar@IsmailMohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Mohd. Faiz Yahaya, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin and Rosalam

Che MeFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; buckrie@gmail.com

Mobile Cubicle Cell

Science, Technology & Engineering

280

Keywords: Extractor, conventional method, industrial design

Coconut juice is well known in Malaysia as a famous cool drinking juice. The conventional method of extracting the coconut juice needs to be changed in order to ease access to the juice. Thus, ‘Pluck It’ is a young coconut device extractor that is safe and needs less skill to use. Therefore, it shortens the process of chopping the coconut shell to drink the coconut juice.

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik AbdullahMuhammad Haziq Noraizan, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin, Hassan Alli, Mohamizzam Mohammad, Mohd. Azali Abd. Rahim, Rahinah Ibrahim and Osman Mohd. TahirFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; nikaizan@yahoo.com

Device for Extracting Coconut Juice

Keywords: Pengutip biji sawit terlerai, roda lidi, roda kutip

Sebuah pengutip biji sawit terlerai yang mudah dan selesa pengendaliannya telah direka bentuk dan dibina sebagai suatu pilihan bagi membantu kerja-kerja mengutip biji tersebut di keliling pokok sawit di ladang. Buat masa kini semua kerja-kerja mengutip biji tersebut dilakukan secara manual dengan pencakar, pengaut tangan atau tangan sendiri. Alat tolak beroda seberat 2kg ini digerakkan oleh pekerja secara manual dan roda kutip akan bergolek memasukkan biji ke dalamnya melalui lidi anjal bergaris pusat 2mm. Roda kutip tersebut adalah berukuran 260mm lebar dan bergaris pusat 200mm di bahagian tengah dan 120mm di bahagian hujung. Lidi roda akan terenggang apabila menekan buah masuk ke dalam roda kutip tersebut dan lidi akan kembali ke keadaan jarak asal. Setelah hampir separuh penuh roda terisi dengan biji sawit, biji-biji tersebut akan dipindahkan ke bekas guni atau baldi yang dibawa bersama oleh pekerja tadi. Biji yang dikutip adalah bersih daripada sebarang sampah memandangkan hanya biji sahaja yang ditekan masuk ke dalam roda kutip dan mana-mana sampah yang termasuk itu akan terkeluar dengan sebdirinya melalui lidi roda tersebut. Hanya sedikit kecederaan sahaja (7%) yang berlaku semasa menekan biji-biji tersebut. Adalah dijangkakan pekerja akan mengutip sebanyak purata 300 kg dalam 6 jam sehari bekerja.

Assoc. Prof. Ir. Muhammad Salih Hj. Ja’afarMohd. Solah DeramanFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6423; salihmuar@yahoo.com

Pengutip Biji Kelapa Sawit Terlerai

Science, Technology & Engineering

281

Keywords: Salt fish drying, industrial design, rainy seasons, speed-up drying, ventilated air circulations, hygienic process

Salty fish dishes are one of the favourite’s main dishes for most Asians. In order to prepare a salty fish, certain processes are required before the fish can be marketed and prepared for lunch or dinner. Traditional method of drying and salting the fish is unhygienic and is still being practiced by the fish mongers or local villagers in small capacities. This design overcomes bacteria growing during the process of drying the fish as well as to speed up the process even during rainy seasons. The product uses fan for improving ventilated air circulations that can simultaneously speed up the fish drying process. The salty fish drying device concept has potential to be developed for applications to other ocean products like squids, prawns and even beef for the future.

Mr. Ruhaizin SulaimanHassan Alli, Nik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Bakri Bakar@Ismail, Mohamizzam Mohammad and Sazrinee Zainal

AbidinFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4034; ruhaizin@putra.upm.edu.my

Saltfish Drying Device

Keywords: Power generator, kinetic, industrial design

Battery is one of the most common things found in our lives as it is used to power most of the electronic devices in today’s modern lifestyle. It comes in various shapes and sizes. However, it creates an environmental issue as the number of used or discarded batteries increases from time to time. They need to be recycled or disposed properly so that the chemical by-product could not harm human as well as nature. Therefore, the idea of this product is to promote renewable energy usage into consumer lifestyle. This sustainable product enables a person to use battery-powered devices without the need to replace the exhausted typical batteries. It acts like a rechargeable battery without having to plug it into any power socket and provides renewable energy by means of converting kinetic energy into electricity. This product enables users to use the harnessed electric energy with their cell phones, mp3 player, torch lights, and many others. The electric charge will be stored in a small compartment which can be connected to most of the important gadgets found today.

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik AbdullahMohd. Amil Faesal Fauzi, Sazrinee Zainal Abidin, Rafidei Mohamad and Mohamizzam Mohammad

Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4096; nikaizan@yahoo.com

Mini Portable Generator

Science, Technology & Engineering

282

Keywords: Occasional tables, coffee table, furniture, reuse material

Occasional tables and the ubiquitous “coffee table” are quite essential partners to the sofa, not only for displaying stylish art book and table lamps, but also for resting the more mundane mug of coffee and remote control for the television. This research focuses on the value of furniture and the problem that occurs in current living. It also focuses on using reused material in furniture making. The innovation targets users who are executives who need to make the best use of space, an impact of new technological and social change.

Mr. Shahrul Azman ShahbudinMohd. Yusof Abdul Aziz, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Bakri Bakar and Saiful Hasley RamliFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4054; shazman67@yahoo.com

ROTAZIONE: New Conceptual Occasional Table

Keywords: Genus Trichoderma, RAMS, isozyme analysis, internal transcribed spacer

Trichoderma species are commercially applied as biocontrol agents against some plant pathogenic fungi due to their production of antifungal metabolites, competition for nutrients and space, and mycoparasitism. Antagonistic assessment by dual culture technique showed that 18 out of 48 selected T. harzianum isolates successfully inhibited the mycelial growth of Ganoderma boninense (isolate: PER71) at 47.86 to 72.06% with the strongest inhibitor exhibited by strain FA30. Eight samples produced effective volatile antifungal compounds of 24.528 to 58.70 % over six days. When the 10 samples were assayed for the production of non-volatile antifungal compounds, whereby showed the inhibitory effects of 18.35 to 40.16%. Strain FA30 was the best inhibitor isolate not only by dual culture inhibition technique, but was also the best producer of volatile and non-volatile inhibitor compounds. Identifications of Trichoderma species are currently misleading worldwide from micro-morphological descriptions which are tedious and prone to error. This study undertook a molecular approach using isozyme, random amplified microsatellite (RAMS) and gene sequencing of internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS 1) region of the rDNA. Molecular studies by isozyme and RAMS analysis did not give any confident level separation at the species level. Gene sequencing of the ITS 1 region of the nucleotide sequences of samples was multiple aligned and compared against the ex-type strains sequences from the NCBI and TrichoBLAST Genbank database. Results showed that 25 out of the 26 putatively identified T. harzianum were inagreement with the genomic of T. harzianum ex-type strain, except single strain belonged to T. virens. The 9 putative T. aureoviride were misidentifications whereas 7 were T. harzianum and 2 were T. virens based on the GenBank database. The ITS 1 region study showed that the gene sequences of Trichoderma samples were the most accurate technique for identification at the species level.

Mr. Shafiquzzaman SiddiqueeUmi Kalsom Yusuf and Tan Soon GuanFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6620; shafiqpab@yahoo.com

Molecular Evaluation and Taxonomic Implications of Selected Malaysian Isolates of Trichoderma harzianum

Science, Technology & Engineering

283

Keywords: Laptop platform, mobile, adjustable, ergonomic, cooling system, conduction system, sliding mouse pad

This design project is to create a new laptop platform for home and office use as well as mobile environment. It is suitable in any sitting and standing position and adjustable to suit personal right working angle. Ergonomically, this product can fit with any human size and its curve shape offers comfort to user which will maximize work efficiency and abilities. The cooling and conduction system applied to this product is purposely to decrease heat produced by the laptop. The product also comes with a few additional features such as a sliding mouse pad which offers user who prefers to use a mouse rather than a touchpad and a USB port.

Mr. Shahrul Azman ShahbudinHamiza Hj. Ali, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah and Mohd. Faiz YahayaFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4054; shazman67@yahoo.com

UKAN: Laptop Support Device

Keywords: Blind, mobility, wireless, navigation systems, visual impaired, spectacle, radio frequency identification (RFID)

The ability to take advantage of the information society is becoming a must for everyone. Technology literacy is becoming more and more important for individuals as well as corporations. Therefore no efforts must be spared to integrate everyone in this new and exciting development. For non-disabled persons, this can be a challenge, for certain types of disabilities are forcing greater effort for adaptation. The innovation focuses the blind users. Even the earliest civilisations recognised the unique needs of people who are blind. Blind men and women have made important contributions to the society as teachers, philosophers, and artists. It is therefore surprising how little research has been done to learn more about the lives of legally blind adults. Blind people need to become as independent as possible in their daily life in order to guarantee a fully social inclusion. Mobility means the possibility of free moving, without support of any accompanying person, at home, in public and private buildings, and in open spaces, as the streets of the town. Mobile and wireless technologies, and in particular the ones used to locate persons or objects, can be used to realise navigation systems in an intelligent environment. Such systems open new opportunities to improve the speed, easiness, and safety of the visually impaired person mobility.

Mr. Shahrul Azman ShahbudinNurul A’in Razak, Mohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Mohamizzam Mohammad, Rafidei Mohamad and Saiful Hasley

RamliFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4054; shazman67@yahoo.com

Visual Impaired Device

Science, Technology & Engineering

284

Keywords: Specification-based testing, grey-box testing, testing tool, test oracle generator

Testing a module that has memory using the black-box approach has been found to be expensive and relatively ineffective. Instead, testing without knowledge of the specifications (white-box approach) may not be effective in showing whether a program has been properly implemented as stated in its specifications. We propose instead a grey-box approach called Module Documentation-based Testing or MD-Test, the heart of which is an automatic generation of the test-oracle from the external and internal views of the module. The essence of the approach is to combine a formal interface specification (for the input/output relation) and a formal design specification (for the effect on the concrete data structure). The interface specification identifies those programs that can be invoked from outside the module, namely access-programs and describing their externally-visible effects. The internal design specification, in contrast, specifies the design decisions of a module, i.e. information on how a module should be implemented. In addition, it serves as an intermediate artifact between its interface specification and final code preserving the essential information of the interface specification and providing the basis of the implementation. Apparently, the knowledge of how a module should be implemented by the programmer is observable. Thus, it gives the tester the opportunity to test a module using a grey-box approach. Furthermore, the knowledge of the internal structure of the software under test (obtained from the internal design specification) allows us to test analogously to white-box testing and provides a basis for coverage measurement in terms of data states. Consequently, it offers a significant opportunity for improving effectiveness of software testing. An empirical analysis of MD-Test against three existing testing tools shows that MD-Test is more effective and efficient with respect that it is able to detect at least the same number of faults or at par with the tools under comparison.

Mrs. Salmi BaharomZarina ShukurFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6575; salmi@fsktm.upm.edu.my

Module Documentation-based Testing using Grey-Box Approach

Keywords: Evaporation, reduction, indigenous material, sustainability, green technology

Leaves taken from fronds of date palm trees (indigenous material) which are considered as agricultural waste were woven into square mats with a dimensions of 1 m x 1 m and thickness of about 5 mm. Each mat was fixed on to a wooden frame made of sticks (also taken from palm fronds) and tied to five empty plastic boxes. Each plastic box has dimensions of 20 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm and its main function is to keep the mats floating on water surface. This arrangement ensures minimal or no contact between mats and water surface. The mats were tested in the field and the collected data show that they can tremendously reduce the evaporation (an average percentage of 55% can be obtained) from open surfaces. Water samples were collected from the pools covered with mats and the results of the water quality analysis show that there is no serious impact on water quality.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thamer Ahmed MohammedAbdulmohsen A. Al-Ashaikh, Abdul Halim Ghazali, Saleh Alhassoun and Abdullah AlrehailiFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6352; thamer@eng.upm.edu.my

An Innovative Method to Reduce Evaporation by using Indigenous Material

Science, Technology & Engineering

285

Keywords: Solar power, lighting home appliance, industrial design

The increasing energy usage has forced researchers, developers and scientists to find alternative source of energy. This innovation was based on research on stored energy that can be optimised in household appliances such as the light source in a room. There are several renewable energy sources that can be implemented in most of the household appliances. Sunlight is the best solution of all renewable energy sources nowadays especially in a tropical country as Malaysia.

Mrs. Sazrinee Zainal AbidinNik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Mohd. Azali Abd. Rahim, Muhammad Aiman Ahmad Fozi and Addy Putra Mohd.

ZulkifliFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; sazrinee@putra.upm.edu.my

Solar Power Multipurpose Lighting Device

Keywords: City car, electric two-passenger urban vehicle, industrial design

Transportation is a crucial daily needs nowadays such as in a certain place like Putrajaya. Inappropriate choice of vehicle such as MPV and 4x4 will cause extra use of occupied existing parking spaces as well as side road used as parking spaces. The City Car is a stackable, sharable, electric two-passenger urban vehicle. The one-way sharable user model is designed to be used in dense urban areas like Putrajaya. Vehicle Stacks will be placed throughout the city to create an urban transportation network that takes advantage of existing transportation infrastructures such as subway, commuter and bus lines. By placing stacks in urban spaces and key points of convergence, the vehicle allows citizens of the city the flexibility to combine mass transit effectively with individualised mobility. The stacks receive incoming vehicles and would charge them with electric power. Using the same concept as luggage carts at the airport, users simply take the first fully charged vehicle at the front of the stacks. This City Car is not a replacement for personal vehicles, taxis, buses, or trucks; it is a whole new vehicle type that promotes social responsibility and efficient urban mobility. The City Car utilises fully integrated in-wheel electric motors and suspension systems called, “Wheel Robots.” The Wheel Robots eliminate the need for traditional drivetrain configurations like internal-combustion engines, gear boxes, and differentials because they are self-contained, modular, digitally controlled, and reconfigurable. Additionally, the Wheel Robot provides all-wheel power and steering capable of 360 degrees of rotation, thus allowing for Omni-directional movement. The vehicle can maneuver in tight urban spaces and park by sideways translation. This highly modular architecture allows for the design and manufacture of highly customizable passenger cabins that are freed from traditional drivetrain and powerplant constraints.

Mrs. Sazrinee Zainal AbidinMohd. Shahrizal Dolah, Shahrul Azman Shahbudin, Muhamad Faizal Che Leh and Zulkifli Muslim

Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4096; sazrinee@putra.upm.edu.my

REEDY: Fuel Cell City Car

Science, Technology & Engineering

286

Keywords: Filiform Leibniz algebra, invariant, isomorphism

There is a subclass of Leibniz algebra called filiform Leibniz algebras. The classification of this class can be obtained from two sources. First is the naturally graded non Lie filiform Leibniz algebras and the second is the naturally graded non Lie filiform Lie algebras. Here, we consider a filiform Leibniz algebras appearing from these two cases naturally graded. In 2001s, Goze and Omirov introduced theorem which was split into three subclasses, where they gave isomorphism cretirion only for first and second classes, and then, in 2006 Bekbaev and Rakhimov suggested an approach to solve the isomorphism problem for these two classes based on algebraic invariants. According to this method, the cretirion for two algebras to be isomorphic is given in terms of invariants function. By using BR-method, we found the isomorphism classes. For the third class of filiform Leibniz algebras during (2009-2009) Omirov et. al. give almost all of the details for this class, in addition to classification up to dimension 9. In this project, we will deal with the classification of complex filiform Leibniz algebras in seventh dimension. Here, we give the complete classification, and we focus on isomorphism cretirion, disjoint subset and isomorphism classes.

Mrs. Sharifah Kartini Said HusainIsamiddin S. Rakhimov and Munther A. HassanFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6857; skartini@science.upm.edu.my

On Classification of Filiform Leibniz Algebras in Dimension 7

Keywords: Chicken slaughtering, hygiene, industrial design, product design

Dhabiah is the prescribed method of ritual slaughter of all animals excluding fish and most sea-life per Islamic law. This method of slaughtering animals consists of a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife on the neck, cutting the jugular veins and carotid arteries of both sides but leaving the spinal cord intact. The objective of this innovation is to be more effective in draining the blood from the body of the slaughtered animal, thus, resulting in more hygienic meat.

Mrs. Sazrinee Zainal AbidinNik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Hassan Alli, Hasri Yunardi Hassan and Dahlia NordinFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; sazrinee@putra.upm.edu.my

Chicken Portable and Hygienic Slaughtering

Science, Technology & Engineering

287

Keywords: Poly (lactic acid), nanocomposites, anionic clay, TEM, flexibility improvement

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) being layered crystalline materials with easily exchangeable interlayer ionic species have tremendous potential as novel nanofiller for polymers. The novelty of LDHs with respect to other competitive materials in this respect include the great number of choice of organic modifiers with respect to functional groups, like carboxylates, sulfonates, phosphates, etc. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is considered to be one of the most important useful biodegradable polymers with various good mechanical properties such as high strength, thermoplasticity, transparency as well as fabricability. However, its applications are limited due to its brittleness and nonflexibility. In this work PLA/ Mg3Al LDH nanocomposites were prepared. Stearate was chosen as the modifier for LDH duo to plasticization effect of long chain fatty acids on the brittle polymers. Poly (lactic acid)/layered double hydroxide (PLA/LDH) nanocomposites were prepared from PLA and stearate-Mg3Al LDH via a solution casting method. The anionic clay Mg3Al LDH was prepared first by co-precipitation method from nitrate salts solution at pH 9 and then modified by stearate anions through an ion exchange reaction. This modification increased the basal spacing of the synthetic clay from 8.72 to 31.68 Å. The presence of stearate ions in the synthesized Mg3Al LDH was shown by the stearate-Mg3Al LDH infrared spectrum. When the stearate-Mg3Al LDH at the low concentration was dispersed in the PLA matrix, its layers were largely delaminated. The presence of 1.0 wt% of the stearate-Mg3Al LDH in the PLA improved drastically (of around 650%) of its elongation at break but retained its tensile strength and modulus as compared to those of the pure PLA.

Prof. Dato’ Dr. Wan Md. Zin Wan YunusEili Mahboobeh, Zobir Hussein, Mansor Ahmad and Nor Azowa Ibrahim

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6808; wanzin@science.upm.edu.my

Flexibility Improvement of Poly (Lactic Acid) by Stearate Modified Layered Double Hydroxide

Keywords: Food marinade container, vacuum pumping system, industrial design, product design

The aim of this project was to design a marinating container which can expedite the marination process using a vacuum pumping system with a timer and suitable material used. The design is called the “Fast Speed Vacuum Marinade Container with Timer” and named “Marinade Delight” which expedites the marination process, saving time, hygienic with a lid, safety with suitable material used, healthy for body as it reduces the cancer-causing agent and a timer to remind the time taken for the marinating process. A case study has been done to explore if vacuum can expedite the marinating process. The data collected from the chosen case was analysed and transformed into a design project. The target users for this product are the home makers. It is also designed for working ladies or business women who have limited time to cook after work but wanted to enjoy last minute dinner without any hassle.

Mrs. Sazrinee Zainal AbidinNik Aizan Nik Abdullah, Hassan Alli, Hasri Yunardi Hassan, Rahinah Ibrahim and Tan Gay Ha

Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 4096; sazrinee@putra.upm.edu.my

Food Marinade Container

Science, Technology & Engineering

288

Keywords: Ion-selective electrode, chromate (II) anion, N,N Bis(salicylidene) ethylenediamino cobalt(II) hydrate, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electroplating waste, potable and industrial waste waters

Chromium is present in effluent discharged from tannery, electroplating, chemical industries, etc. Its determination and removal from effluents have been a serious environmental concern owing to its high toxicity. In this work a membrane was prepared with the use of N,N Bis(salicylidene) ethylenediamino cobalt(II) hydrate (Co(SALEN)2) as an ion carrier (ionophore), polyvinylchloride (PVC) as matrix, and 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether (2NPOE), as plasticiser for making an ion selective electrode for measurement of CrO42- anion in solutions. The amounts of (Co(SALEN)2) and PVC were optimised in the preparation of the membrane. The response of the electrode was Nernstian within the concentration range 1.0 × 10-6 to 1.0 × 10-1 M of CrO42-. This sensor displays a drift in Nernstian response for this anion with increasing and decreasing amount of ionophore and PVC respectively. The effects of various parameters such as pH, different anion interferences, effect of the amounts of ionophore, PVC and time on response of the coated ion selective electrode were investigated. The response of the fabricated electrode at concentration range from 1.0× 10-6 to 1.0× 10-1 M is linear with a Nernstian slope of -28.33 mV per decade. The strengths of the ion-ionophore (CrO42- - Co(SALEN)2) interactions and the roles of ionophore on membrane are also studied via UV-Visible, FTIR and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Quantification of Cr(VI) in industrial samples like as electroplating waste potable and industrial waste waters were successfully achieved using the sensor.

Prof. Dr. Anuar KassimMajid Rezayi, Anuar Kassim, Saeid Ahmadzadeh, Tan Wee Tee, Nor Azah Yusof and Lee Yook HengFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6779; anuar@science.upm.edu.my

A Novel Chrome (VI) PVC Sensor based on Complex Ionophore for Industrial Wastes

Keywords: Classifications of PDEs, even and odd functions, convolution operators, classification of PDEs with variables coefficients

The classification of partial differential equations is an historical problem and it is difficult to make classification on PDEs with variables coefficients. In this study we consider further analysis on the classifications problem of linear second order partial differential equations with non-constant coefficients. The equations are produced by using the convolution with odd or even functions. It is shown that the classifications of new equations are similar to the classification of original equations.

Prof. Dr. Adem KilicmanHassan EltayebInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6813; akilicman@putra.upm.edu.my

Classification Problem for PDE(S) with Variable Coefficients

Science, Technology & Engineering

289

Keywords: Xylitol, fatty acids, esterification, enzyme, optimisation, Taguchi method, artificial neural network

Sugar esters are non-ionic, non-toxic, odorless and tasteless surfactants with good emulsifying and dispersing properties. These properties are excellent for use in cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food products. Traditional chemical synthesis of sugar esters is based on a high temperature and pressure esterification between sugars and fatty acids with acidic or metal catalysts. In the recent years, application of enzymes has emerged as an interesting alternative, since enzymatic synthesis has several advantages over chemical synthesis such as high selectivity, mild reaction conditions, and low energy consumption. Furthermore, optimisation of the reaction could be performed to increase the efficiency of the process. Chemometric techniques such as Taguchi orthogonal array method and artificial neural network (ANN) are powerful and flexible tools that are well suited to modeling of biochemical processes. In this research, Taguchi method and ANN were used for modelling and optimisation of lipase-catalysed esterification of xylitol and different fatty acids in solvent-based and solvent free systems using Novozym 435 .Various reaction parameters including xylitol: fatty acid molar ratio, amount of enzyme, amount of molecular sieve, temperature, reaction time and solvent volume affecting the synthesis of xylitol esters were studied. Good correlation between predicted and actual values implied the good generalisation of the developed models and their capability to predict the conversion. High percentage conversion (>88%) of esterification under optimised conditions was achieved. In addition, production of esters in solvent free system showed that the relationship of reaction parameters and response was satisfactorily represented by the models for all xylitol esters. Maximum conversion (>74%) was obtained with longer chain length fatty acids. The results of this research would be useful for several industries especially food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries that look for more environmentally acceptable and sustainable processes and products and also suggest significant cost savings.

Prof. Dr. Mahiran BasriAtena Adnani, Mohd. Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman and Abu Bakar Salleh

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7266; mahiran@science.upm.edu.my

Sustainable Biocatalytic Synthesis of Xylitol Sugar Esters using Multivariate Chemometrics Analysis

Keywords: Hepatocarcinogenesis, cola nut, elemental analysis, histology study, TEM, tunel assay, real-time PCR, enzyme tumour marker, lesion scoring

Hepatocarcinogenesis is a primary malignancy (cancer) of the liver. It can be defined as precancerous lesion which will develop into the most common primary malignancy of the liver: Hepatocellular Carcinoma. It is the fifth most frequent neoplasm and ranks third on the list of most lethal cancers. Male Sprague Dawley rats were divided to eleven groups. Hepatocarcinogenesis was induced in seven groups of rats by employing two carcinogen systems: an intraperitoneal injection of 200 mg/kg DEN as initiator, followed by 0.02% of AAF in rat chow to promote carcinogenesis. The effect of 1, 2.5 and 5% cola nitida extract on hepatocarcinogenesis induced male rats and normal ones was investigated by using application of body weight, enzyme tumor markers activity examination, histological evaluations, electron microscopy study, molecular and immunofluorescence investigation. In addition, elemental analysis of cola nuts was conducted using energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis which revealed that Cola nut has beneficial medicinal properties. In addition, histological evaluation of rat liver with light and transmission electron microscope revealed that DEN/AAF induced and untreated rats group showed higher lesion score as compared to treated ones. Tumour marker enzyme activity which was examined for cytosolic GST, GGT plasma and microsomal GGT, illustrated that cola nut extract has the effect to decrease their level of activity. The TUNEL assay and Real-Time PCR were also conducted to show the influence of cola nut extract on the apoptosis process and Alpha-Fetoprotein gene expression. The results indicate that, Cola nitida could act better than commercial drugs as an anticancer agent, which could inhibit or slow down hepatocarcinogenesis induced by DEN/AAF in a rat’s liver.

Prof. Dr. Fauziah OthmanMohammad Kadiavr, Asmah Rahmat and W. M. Z. Wan Nor Izzah

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8947 2315; fauziah@medic.upm.edu.my

Cola Nitida: A Potential Anticancer Agent in Hepatocarcinogenesis

Science, Technology & Engineering

290

Keywords: Algorithm, schedulling, heterogeneous, different processors availability time, parallel computing

During the last decade, the use of parallel and distributed systems has become more common. In these systems, a huge chunk of data or computation is distributed among many systems in order to obtain better performance. Dividing data is one of the challenges in this type of systems. Divisible Load Theory (DLT) is a proposed method for schedulling data distribution in parallel or distributed systems. In many researches carried out in this field, it was assumed that all processors are dedicated for grid system but that is not always true in real systems. The limited number of studies which attended to this reality assumed that systems are homogeneous and presented some algorithms or closed-formulas for schedulling jobs in a System with Different Processors Availability Time (SDPAT). In this article, we propose a new algorithm for schedulling jobs in a heterogeneous SDPAT.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed OthmanAmin Shokripour and Hamidah IbrahimFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6535; shokripour@gmail.com

A New Algorithm for Divisible Load Schedulling with Different Processor Available Times

Keywords: Micromelum minutum, coumarins, cytotoxicity, cell lines

Coumarins have attracted intense interest in recent years because of their diverse pharmacological properties and their cytotoxic properties have been extensively examined. Micromelum minutum (G. Frost.) Wright and Arn (Rutaceae) is one of the good sources of this class of compounds and petroleum ether and chloroform extracts of the plant exhibited strong cytotoxic activity when tested against T-lymphoblastic leukemia cell line. Further isolation of the extracts results in the isolation of five coumarins 3?,4?-dihydrocapnolactone, 2’,3’-epoxyisocapnolactone, 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2?,3?-diol, 8-hydroxy-3?,4?-dihydrocapnolactone-2?,3?-diol and 8,4?-dihydroxy-3?,4?-dihydrocapnolactone-2?,3?-diol and two triterpenes. Some of these compounds were strongly active against T-lymphoblastic leukemia (CEM-SS), promyeolocytic leukemia (HL60), cervical cancer (HeLa) and liver cancer (HepG2) cell lines. 8-Hydroxyisocapnolactone-2?,3?-diol was found to be the most active with IC50 values of 2.9, 2.5, 6.9 and 5.9 ?g/ml, respectively. This was followed by 2’,3’-epoxyisocapnolactone. When evaluated against the normal mouse fibroblast (3T3) cell line, 8-hydroxyisocapnolactone-2?,3?-diol was found to be inactive, hence could serve as valuable leads for further design and synthesis of more active analogues.

Prof. Dr. Mawardi RahmaniRatna Asmah Susidarti, M. Aspollah Sukari, Taufiq-Yap Yun Hin, Gwendoline Ee Cheng Lian and Abdul Manaf AliFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6794; mawardi@science.upm.edu.my

New Coumarins from Micromelum minutum (Rutaceae) as Potential Lead Compounds for Anticancer Agents

Science, Technology & Engineering

291

Keywords: Clausena excavata, cytotoxic, MTT assay, limonoid, alkaloid, coumarin

Clausena excavata or locally known as “pokok kemantu” or “pokok cemamar” is valued for its traditional uses in the treatment of snakebite, abdominal pain and as a detoxification agent. The isolation work on its stem bark and roots have afforded limonoids, alkaloids and coumarins including clausenolide-1-methylether, clausenarin, clausine-K, xanthyletin, dentatin, nordentatin and 3-formyl-2,7-dimethoxycarbazole. The crude extracts and selected isolated compounds were subjected to cytotoxic study using MTT assay against several cancer cell lines including HL-60, MCF-7, HeLa and HT-29. Most of the crude extracts exhibited strong cytotoxic activity with IC50 values of < 6 ?g/ml, while dentatin demonstrated the most potential anticancer properties among isolated compounds.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Aspollah Hj. SukariRahayu Utami Umar, Noorul Adawiyah Mustahil, Nurul Waznah Muhammad Sharif, Taufiq Yap Yin Hun and

Mawardi RahmaniFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,

43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6797; aspollah@science.upm.edu.my

In Vitro Cytotoxic Study of Clausena excavata and Its Chemical Constituents

Keywords: Zingiber amaricans, zingiber cassumunar, essential oils, cytotoxicity, zingiber, zerumbone

Zingiber cassumunar and Zingiber amaricans belong to the family of Zingiberaceae. Locally, Zingiber cassumunar known as “bengle” or “bonglai” while Zingiber amaricans known as “lempuyang emprit”. Isolation work on rhizomes of Z. amaricans has afforded zerumbone as the major constituent, together with cholesterol, campesterol, stigmasterol and ?-sitosterol. Meanwhile, for isolation work on rhizomes of Z. cassumunar gave cis-3-(3’, 4’-dimethoxyphenyl)-4-[(E)-3”, 4”-dimethoxystyryl] cyclohex-1-ene , (E)-4-(3’,4’-dimethoxyphenyl)but-3-en-1-ol, (E)-4-(3’,4’-dimethoxyphenyl) but-3-en-1-yl acetate along with veratric acid. Selected extracts and isolated compounds were examined for their bioactivities against microbes and cancer cell lines. Extraction of the essential oils from the rhizomes of Z. cassumunar was conducted via hydrodistillation method and the essential oils were tested for its antioxidant activities. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by using spectroscopic methods. Hexane extracts of Z. amaricans showed strong activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis mutan and wild, with inhibition zones (diameter) of 17, 9, 9, and 7.5 mm, respectively. While dichloromethane extract inhibited weakly the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis mutangenic with inhibition zones (diameter) of 7.0 mm each, only the growth of Staphylococcus aureus was inhibited weakly by methanol extract. On the other hand, cytotoxic test result against CEM-SS cancer cell lines showed that hexane extract of Z. amaricans possessed the strongest activity with IC50 value of 7.0 µg/ml and then it was followed by dichloromethane and methanol extracts with IC50 values of 20 µg/ml and 30 µg/ml, respectively. Zerumbone did not show antimicrobial activity against the target microbes, whereas the compound showed moderate cytotoxic activity against lymphoblastic T leukemia cell with IC50 value of 15 µg/ml (6.88 10-2 µmol/ml).

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Aspollah SukariMohd. Zulkhairi Azid, Sugeng Riyanto, Gwendoline Ee Cheng Lian and Ahmad Bustamam Abdul

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6797; aspollah@science.upm.edu.my

Zingiber species: Biossay studies, Chemical Constituents and Its Essential Oils

Science, Technology & Engineering

292

Keywords: FEM, roller compacted concrete dam, thermal stress, crack criterion factor

Development of temperature rise in massive concrete structure such as a roller compacted concrete dam is attributed to hydration of concrete and climatic changes on the convective boundaries. These thermal changes in the material affect the elastic and creep properties of the material, and in turn, the stress fields within the structure. Therefore, the effects of temperature on the properties of RCC materials (elastic, creep) has to be taken into account in order to determine the risk of the thermally induced cracking in these dams. In the present work, computer code for thermal and stress analysis of roller compacted concrete dam using finite element method is presented. This code has the capability to model actual climatic conditions and the heat exchange between the RCC dam body and the reservoir water taking into account the reservoir operation. In addition, the proposed code modelled the mechanical properties (creep and elastic) by modifying the existing mechanical models to be compatible with RCC materials and construction method. Safety against a crack occurrence over the time is determined using crack criterion factor.

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd. Saleh JaafarJamaloddin Noorzaei, Aeid A.Abdulrazeg, Thamer Ahmed Mohamed and Parvin. KhanehzaeiFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6391; Msj@eng.upm.edu.my

Development of Computational System in Safety Evaluation of Infrastructures such as Roller Compacted Concrete Dams

Keywords: Viscous damper, parallel building, vibration, earthquake, finite element

As time passes and population of cities increases, cities began to grow horizontally and vertically. Situations became more critical due to the presence of tall buildings and regular occurrence of natural hazards. The number of buildings in modern cities became higher along with the rapidly increasing human needs and structures were constructed close to each other. This caused new problem known as mutual pounding of adjacent buildings during occurrences of earthquakes. This innovation is an application of viscous damper system as coupling link devices for parallel buildings in order to minimise the seismic response of structures. The viscous dampers system has high capability on dissipation earthquake energy which would mitigate structural responses due to seismic excitations which is developed for connecting the adjacent buildings. A special purpose finite element program for nonlinear analysis of frame structures with nonlinear viscous dampers in the element library was developed. Ten story twin tower reinforced concrete framed building was modelled and seismic response of structures with and without application of damper for coupling were evaluated. The results showed that using viscous damper for coupling of towers effectively reduced tower seismic response such as plastic hinge occurring in beam and column sections and the movement amplitude of tower floors. The innovation is useful for engineers to produce optimum design of twin towers or retrofitting of existing twin tower buildings and protect of parallel buildings in earthquake excitation.

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd. Saleh JaafarFarzad Hejazi, Jamaloddin Noorzaei and Waleed ThanoonFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8656 7101; msj@eng.upm.edu.my

Coupling Parallel Buildings by using Viscous Dampers under Dynamic Vibration

Science, Technology & Engineering

293

Keywords: Zinc layered hydroxide, gallate, nanohybrid, memory effect, encapsulation

The memory effect of calcined zinc hydroxide nitrate was studied using gallate anion solutions. The layered hydroxide salt, zinc hydroxide nitrate was heat-treated at 150-800 °C. XRD analysis showed the growth of the calcined materials in both thickness and diameter occurring simultaneously with increasing calcination temperature. Surface area analysis confirmed this growth. The rehydration behaviour of the calcined material was investigated by placing the material in a solution containing gallate anions. Well crystalline, pure phase layered hydroxide salt was obtained for the sample, heated at 500 °C and treated with 0.1 mol/l anion. PXRD analysis showed the formation of a layered structure material after rehydration process. FTIR and thermal analysis confirmed the formation of the host-guest nanohybrid material produced.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir HusseinM. Yeganeh Ghotbi, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Mohd. Zaki Abd. Rahman

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6603; mzobir@science.upm.edu.my

Synthesis of Zinc-layered-gallate Nanohybrid via its Structural Memory Effect Property

Keywords: Layered double hydroxide, D-gluconate, food additive, nanohybrid, organic-inorganic nanolayered

Intercalation of D-gluconate into the interlamellae of zinc-aluminum-layered double hydroxide for the formation of a food additive-inorganic layered nanohybrid was accomplished by both direct (co-precipitation) and indirect (ion-exchange) methods. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) together with CHNS and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses show that the hybridisation of D-gluconate into the zinc-aluminum-layered double hydroxide resulting in good crystallinity, pure phase nanohybrid when direct method was adopted at pH 7.5-10, Zn to Al initial molar ratio of 2-5 and D-gluconate concentration of 0.05-0.3 M. The same nanohybrid compound was also prepared using indirect ion-exchange method by contacting the pre-prepared LDH with 0.1 M D-gluconate for 80 min. The basal spacing of the nanohybrid synthesised by the direct method is 9-12.0 Å, compared to 14.0 Å by the indirect ion-exchange method. The crystallinity of the latter is higher than the former and it inherited the crystallinity of the precursor. This work shows that a food additive, such as D-gluconate, can be hybridised into an inorganic host for the formation of a new nanohybrid compound, which can be used to regulate the acidity in the food industry.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir HusseinMohammad Yeganeh Ghotbi, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Mohd. Zaki Abd. Rahman

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6603; mzobir@science.upm.edu.my

Synthesis of LDH-intercalated D-gluconate Nanohybrid as a New Functional Food Additive Compound

Science, Technology & Engineering

294

Keywords: Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus strain HZ, thermostable lipase, optimisation, organic solvent tolerant

A newly isolated thermophilic bacterium, Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus strain HZ, from a hot spring recreational area (Sungai Kelah, Malaysia), showed an extracellular lipase activity. It was identified based on 16S rRNA sequencing, where phylogenetic analysis revealed its homology to Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus. The strain produced a lipase that was stable in various organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide, toluene, p-xylene, and hexane. In order to increase lipase production, optimisation of physical and nutritional factors which affected the growth and lipase production was studied. The optimal growth was obtained at 50°C and pH 8.0; while the maximal lipase production was achieved in the logarithmic decline phase at 60°C and pH 7.5 with 7% starting inoculum and 150 rev/min shaking rate for 48 h incubation. Maximum lipase production was obtained in the presence of peptone as the best nitrogen source. Among the various natural and synthetic triglycerides used, olive oil served as the best substrate for production of extracellular lipase. Additional carbon sources added in this study did not significantly increase the lipase production while metal ions, Mg2+, Na+, Ca2+ and K+ were found to enhance lipase production. In addition, lipase production was stimulated by Tween 85 as a surfactant.

Prof. Dr. Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd. RahmanMalihe Masomian, Abu Bakar Salleh and Mahiran BasriFaculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 7592; FBBSusEr6382@prpi.mail.com

A Novel Thermostable and Organic Solvent Tolerant Lipase from Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus Strain HZ

Keywords: Layered double hydroxide, controlled release formulation, agrochemical, pesticide, 4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)butyrate, nanohybrid

Hybridisation of beneficial organic guest with inorganic host affords scientists an opportunity to synthesise various combinations of new organic-inorganic nanohybrids with various potential applications, especially for controlled delivery of beneficial agent and storage. A new layered organic-inorganic nanohybrid material containing an agrochemical, 4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)butyrate (DPBA) in Zn-Al-layered double hydroxide inorganic interlayer was synthesised by direct and indirect methods. Both methods yielded mesoporous-type, phase pure, well-ordered layered nanohybrids with basal spacing of 28.5-28.7 Å and organic loading of around 54.3%. Compared to the material prepared by direct method, the ion exchanged product inherited more of the host’s properties especially the pore structure. In addition, the intercalated organic moiety is more easily released. This shows that the method of preparation plays an important role in determining the resulting physicochemical properties, in particular the release property and therefore can be used as a means to tune up the release property of the beneficial agent.

Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zobir HusseinNorhayati Hashim, Asmah Hj. Yahaya and Zulkarnain ZainalFaculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6603; mzobir@science.upm.edu.my

Controlled Release Formulation of Agrochemical Pesticide based on 4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)butyrate

Science, Technology & Engineering

295

Keywords: CNG tank mounting structure, snug fit structure, natural gas vehicle, crashworthy components

The present invention relates to the usage of natural gas in vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to automotive body design. The present invention relates to the front tank mounting and reinforcements for the purpose of placement and mounting of gas tanks on vehicle structures as well.

Prof. Ir. Dr. Barkawi SahariRosnah Mohd. Yusoff, Wong Shaw Voon, Mohd. Fauzy Ahmad and Siti Marhainis Abu Mansor

Institute of Advanced Technology, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 7536; barkawi@eng.upm.edu.my

Tank Mounting Bracket for Natural Gas Vehicle

Keywords: Z-scan, nonlinear refractive index, nonlinear absorption coefficient, nanofluids

Nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption of metal nanoparticles prepared g-radiation were investigated using a single beam z-scan technique. The CW laser operated at 532 nm with the power output of 75 mW was used as excitation source. A closed aperture setup was used for thermal-induced nonlinear refractive index and an open aperture setup was applied for measuring nonlinearity absorption. We measured the nonlinear refraction coefficient and nonlinear absorption coefficients for silver and gold nano-fluids at concentration of 5.23×10-3 M. The values of nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption obtained were 10-8 cm2/W and 10-3 cm/W respectively. The nonlinear refraction coefficient with the negative sign indicates the self-defocusing phenomenon. The experimental data for open aperture measurement was attributed by a two photon absorption process. Our results show that the metal nano-fluids have significant values of nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption, thus it could be a good candidate for optical devices.

Mr. W. Mahmood Mat YunusZainal Abidin Talib

Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 6684; mahmood@science.upm.edu.my

Z-Scan Technique for Determination of Nonlinear Refractive Index and Nonlinear Absorption Coefficient of Metal Nanofluids

Science, Technology & Engineering

296

Keywords: Back posture support, ergonomic, lower back pain, motorbike

Keywords: Simulation, mediation analysis, unusual observation, outliers, indirect effect, M-estimator, MM-estimator

This study presents a prototype of an ergonomic back-leaning posture support for motorbike in Malaysia. Motorbike riders are more exposed to musculoskeletal disorders such as lower back pain. Prototype consists of two basic components, frame and backrest cushion. Prototype back-leaning posture support is evaluated by comparing it with anthropometry data in terms of flexible range accommodations and by test runs on road with riders. Prototype has shown better comfort seating, adjustability, stability, solidity, durability and safety for riders.

Simple mediation model involves a series of regression equations. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method is often used to estimate the parameters of the mediation model. However, many researchers are not aware of the fact that the OLS estimators suffer a huge set back in the presence of outliers. In order to rectify this problem, robust methods which are not easily affected by outliers, have been created. We have proposed a robust M and MM procedure for estimation of mediation parameters in the presence of single outlier. The performance of the MM, M, and OLS estimates are compared by numerical example. The empirical evidence shows that the MM, M, and OLS estimators are equally good in a well behaved data. Nevertheless, when contamination occurs in the data, the performance of the MM is the best followed by the M and the OLS estimators.

Prof. Ir. Dr. Mohd. Sapuan SalitKarmegam Kurupiah, Md. Yusof Ismail and Napsiah IsmailFaculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6336; sapuan@eng.upm.edu.my

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habshah MidiAnwar FitriantoInstitute of Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 6876; habshahmidi@gmail.com

Design and Prototype of an Ergonomic Back-leaning Posture Support for Motorbike Riders

Robust Estimators in Simple Mediation Analysis

Science, Technology & Engineering

297

Keywords: Tissue engineering, muscle, bovine tunica vaginalis, abdominal wall defect, cell-seeding

The aim of this study was to engineer skeletal muscle tissue for repair abdominal wall defects. Myoblast were seeded onto the scaffolds and cultivated in vitro for 5 days. Full thickness abdominal wall defects (3x4 cm) were created in 18 male New Zealand white rabbits and randomly divided into two equal groups. The defects of the first group were repaired with myoblast-seeded-bovine Tunica vaginalis whereas the second group repaired with non-seeded-bovine tunica vaginalis and function as a control. Three animals were sacrificed at seventh, fourteenth, and thirtieth of post-implantation from each group and the explanted specimens were subjected to macroscopic and microscopic analysis. In every case, seeded-scaffolds have better deposition of newly formed collagen with neo-vascularisation than control group. Interestingly, multinucleated myotubes and myofibres were only detected in cell-seeded group. This study demonstrated that myoblast-seeded-bovine Tunica vaginalis can be used as an effective scaffold to repair severe and large abdominal wall defects with regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue.

Mr. Md. Zuki Abu Bakar@ZakariaAyele Taddese Tsedeke, Noordin Mohamed Mustapha and Noorjahan Banu Mohamed Alitheen

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8301; zuki@vet.upm.edu.my

Myoblast Seeded Bovine Tunica vaginalis for Repair of Abdominal Wall Defect

Keywords: Tissue engineering, muscle, bovine pericardium, abdominal wall

Abdominal wall defects caused by trauma, tumour ablation, and post-surgical loss of muscle mass may lead to loss of functional muscle tissue and cause severe impairments of the functionality of skeletal muscle. Tissue engineering is a promising approach to replace the lost or defective muscle tissue. The aim of this study was to engineer skeletal muscle tissue for reconstruction of abdominal wall defects in a rabbit model. Myoblast were harvested successfully from soleus muscles of 5-day-old male White New Zealand rabbit and based on the purity test using immunocytochemistry and flow cytometric analysis, more than 97% of the isolated skeletal myoblast have got myogenic phenotype. PKH26-fluorescent labelled myoblast were seeded onto the scaffolds and incubated in vitro for 5 days. Full thickness abdominal wall defects (3 x 4 cm) were created in 18 anaesthetised male New Zealand white rabbits and randomly divided into two equal group (n=9 each). The defects of the first group were repaired with myoblast seeded bovine pericardium while the second group with non-seeded bovine pericardium (control group). Three animals were sacrificed at 7, 14, and 30 days after implant from each group and the explanted specimens were subjected to macroscopic, and light, fluorescence and electron microscopic analysis. Mild adhesions were detected in control group, while they were not present in the treatment experiment implants group. In every case, tissue engineered construct was thicker in deposition of newly formed collagen with neo vascularisation than controls. Multinucleated myotubes and myofibres were only detected in the treatment experiment group. Therefore, engineered soft tissue construct can provide structural replacement of severe and large abdominal wall defects.

Mr. Md. Zuki Abu Bakar@ZakariaAyele Taddese Tsedeke, Noordin Mohamed Mustapha and Noorjahan Banu Mohamed Alitheen

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

+603-8946 8301; zuki@vet.upm.edu.my

Myoblast Seeded Bovine Pericardium for Repair of Abdominal Wall Defect

Science, Technology & Engineering

298

Keywords: Portable cream spreader, industrial design

Rapid growth of economy and modern era in Malaysia has increased the awareness of healthcare among Malaysians. The use of medical device nowadays is not limited in hospital or medical institution but also widely used at home. Malaysia is a tropical rain forest country which received more sunlight than other countries. Sunray consists of ultraviolet radiation that will cause skin disease such as eczema. Most skin diseases use medicated cream swept by using hand. However, applying the cream with our hands is not safe, nor hygienic. This product is a device that can assist users to apply the cream or lotion without giving an oily trace to the users’ fingers and risk in facing chemical contamination.

Mr. Nik Aizan Nik AbdullahMohd. Haideizul Jamal Ab. Hadi, Tn. Hj. Mohd. Azali Abd. Rahim, Saiful Hasley Ramli, Mohamizzam Mohammad, Osman Mohd. Tahir and Rahinah IbrahimFaculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 4096; nikaizan@yahoo.com

Cream Spreader Device

Keywords: Digestive system, red jungle fowl, indigenous chicken, broiler

The digestive system of three breeds of chicken known to differ in growth rate was investigated in this study. Ten male from each breeds: Red jungle fowl (RJF), Indigenous village chicken (IVC), and commercial broiler chicken (CBC) were sacrifice at days 1, 10, 20, 56, and 4 months post hatch. The organs weight and segmental length were measured. The H&E, special and histochemical stains and SEM were used for microscopic examinations. The digestive enzymes activities for pancreas and small intestinal segments were also determined. Results revealed that the absolute weights and length of digestive organs were greater in CBC than IVC and RJF. The duodenal length in CBC and IVC were constant after day 56. The arrangements of lingual and pharyngeal papillae were different among the breeds. The histochemical stains for type of mucins in the salivary glands and mucosa of the digestive system appeared no difference among the breeds for neutral and acid (sulfated and carboxylated) mucin. The pancreatic ductal system showed absence of ductal glands and goblet cells. However, the luminal mucin reaction of the epithelial cells lining these ducts was observed in the three breeds. Through SEM observation, the epithelial cells of intestinal villi in CBC were highly active than in the RJF and IVC, at all the ages. The measurements of villi height, villi surface area, crypt depth and muscularis externae intestinal segments indicate that the RJF have low development of intestinal mucosa as compared to IVC and CBC. The relative enzymes activities of the pancreas and intestinal contents were decrease at day 10 and thereafter in all birds, there were higher in CBC than IVC and RJF for pancreatic enzymes only. However, the relation was reversed for intestinal contents. The differences in growth rate among the breeds accompanied by differential growth of digestive organs.

Mr. Md. Zuki Abu Bakar@ZakariaNoordin Mohamed Mustapha and Mohd. Amin BabjeeFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.+603-8946 8301; zuki@vet.upm.edu.my

Comparative Study of the Digestive System of Red Jungle Fowl, Native Village Chicken and Commercial Broiler

Pejabat Timbalan Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan & Inovasi)Tingkat 1, Menara Idea I, Pusat Teknologi UPM-MTDC,Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang,Negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan.Tel: +603-8947 1002 E-mel: prpi2010@rmc.upm.edu.my