Chitin is a biopolymer that forms the exoskeleton of arthropods, and found in the shells of crustacea and in the cell walls of certain fungi and algae. Commercially, chitin is obtained from processing the outer skeleton of crustacea such as shrimp, crab, prawn, and crayfish. Extraction of chitin was carried out using various chemical procedures. The study aim is to examine characteristic of chitin for different aging of Leucaena leucephala pods using hydrochloric acid (HCl). Different aging of the raw materials was used to study their effect of nitrogen content in the pods. In this study, chitin in Leucaena leucephala was extracted using chemical methods by using hydrochloric acid (HCl). The extracted chitin was then characterized by using elemental analyzer. The results obtained revealed that the percentage of nitrogen and carbon content in the samples was significantly reduced after extraction. Elemental analysis, the N% value in younger pods is closer to the theoretical value than adult pods. The purity of chitin in younger pods is higher than chitin in the adult pods.
Laterite soils are occasionally associated with geotechnical problems such as road deformation, erosion, settlement, dam seepage, slope instability, leachate permeation through hydraulic barriers, etc. Numerous soil improvement techniques were being applied to overcome these problems, including mixing the laterite soil with cements, limes, bitumen, chemicals, pozzolanas, etc. These additives may not be locally available and cheap, and could significantly increase the cost of construction. Likewise, in many cases, these stabilizing agents are not environmentally friendly. Different percentages of fines, sand and gravel in laterite soils exhibit different engineering characteristics and behaviour, making it difficult to obtain suitable and appropriate gradation for specific construction purposes. Thus, the essence of this review is to determine the fundamental engineering properties of laterite soil as a standalone material at different gradations to harness its potentiality for various construction purposes. It proposes step-by-step procedures on how to achieve a better soil by varying its gradation and moisture content. Laboratory testing in accordance with BS1377:1990 and ASTM D698 are adopted to examine the engineering characteristics with respect to hydraulic conductivity, shear strength, and volumetric shrinkage. In this experimental technique where molding water content and compaction energy are carefully controlled at different laterite gradations, the engineering design is anticipated to provide greater accuracy, safety, and sustainability.
A comfortable work space is important to produce productive work performance among workers. In Malaysia, the condition of office environment and its related issues on thermal comfort are fairly new. Past studies shown that the increment of energy consumption in high rise offices tend to increase dramatically. This is because the consumption of air condition for cooling accounts in office buildings had increased from 40% to 60% in recent years and the total electricity usage for office units also rises intensely due to urban heat island (UHI) resulted from modification of land surfaces. The objective of this paper therefore is to investigate the conditions and problems of existing prominent high rise office in Kuala Lumpur which is IBM Plaza and Menara Mesin Niaga in the scope of thermal comfort as well as describes an integrated passive design approach to reduce the cooling requirement for high-rise office building through an improved building envelope design using green technologies like external wall cladding following the GBI standard. This paper also attempts to get the user perception towards their existing workspace. For this purpose, case study as research strategy is adopted using mixed methodology combining qualitative and quantitative method under the framework of interpretivism and positivism research paradigm. Findings indicate that external wall cladding made of composite aluminium provides much advantages to the user. This study is important because appropriate design principles by adopting appropriate building envelope made of suitable material addressing ecology issues will not only provide a comfortable living environment to the users but also established referential guideline for future designers and scholars whom interested in office design.
Background/Aims: Date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, is mentioned 27 times in the Holy Quran and is considered a prophetic food. Islamic scripture together with Jewish and Christian holy texts refers to date palm fruit as having many beneficial effects on health including medicinal properties. This study aims to characterize scientific studies on date palm fruit relating to human health in published scientific literature. Methods: Five major scientific databases of published literature were searched for papers relating to the effects of date palm on human health. A scientometric analysis was then performed on the studies obtained. Results: Analysis of 270 relevant papers revealed a lack of human subject studies despite numerous papers reporting beneficial nutritional properties and promising results from animal studies. Saudi Arabia leads global research output on this topic. Conclusion: Further research should be supported to advance knowledge useful to local populations, especially in Islamic countries where the widely accessible date palm fruit can confer many potential health benefits.
Surface tension is a surface characteristic that is related to the forces of molecules residing at the interface. The presence of surface active substance in biological or body fluids which adsorb at interface influences the norm surface tension value. Such the changes indicate valuable signs in the medical field, particularly in pathological states. The conventional surface tension measurements suffered several flaws including lack of dynamic control and required a direct contact with the samples. The optical method seems to be attractive and useful in the surface phenomena owing to non-contact capabilities, non-destructive procedures and required a finite sample volume. In this paper, various optical techniques for surface tension measurement are reviewed and the potential applications regarding the surface tension through the meniscus formation are well discussed. This paper finds the simplicity and credibility of the optical method offers a good opportunity in fields such as medical and diagnostic analysis for monitoring applications.
Flood mitigation and assessments are crucial in current time. The seasonal and nonseasonal of flood occurrence in Malaysia provide risk towards country growth and productivity. In this study, the flood pattern will be analysed by using correspondence analysis. The data involve the occurrence of flood based on month and locality from 2013 to 2018. The test of independence (χ2 test) between month and locality indicated independency among the variables (p=0.615). The symmetric plot suggested that Perak, Melaka, Selangor, Johor, Terengganu, Sarawak inclined to have flood occurrence during December to March, while Kedah and Penang during March. This analysis will help authorities to better planning flood mitigation accordingly.
The purpose of this study is to compare the tensile strength between additional polystyrene into
coconut meat husk reinforced fiber composite. Composite were produced by using hand layup
technique. It is seen that with the additional of polystyrene into the coconut meat husk reinforced
polyester composites showed the increment tensile strength value compared to the non added
polystyrene which indicates that effective stress transfer between the fiber, matrix and
polystyrene .
Introduction: Overweight currently has become a major global burden. Salmon is one of the major sources for fish oil to treat inflammatory related cardiovascular diseases. Yellow-stripe scad (YSS) on the other hand, is a local Malaysian fish which can be a good substitute for salmon; however, the therapeutic effects of YSS is still unclear. Objective: Therefore, this study compared the nutritional values EPA+DHA of YSS and salmon on body mass index (BMI), leptin and activation markers for both platelet and endothelial cell. Methods: Healthy overweight Malaysian adults (n=45), aged 21-55 years old, were recruited for 6-months cross-over trial study. They were randomised equally to receive eight weeks of either steamed whole YSS fish or salmon fillet, for three days per week, obtaining approximately 7000 mg EPA+DHA weekly. The diets were switched after an eight-week washout period. Baseline dietary fish intakes were similar in the two groups. Results: Significant differences observed in serum leptin for YSS-baseline group I and salmon-baseline group II (p0.05) on time and treatment in all variable after 16 week, but there was a significant effect of treatment on sCD40L from YSS and vWF from salmon (p
Introduction: Pheromones are chemicals produced by an animal that affects the behavior of another animal or the same species. Information conveyed includes location, presence of food or threat, sexual attraction, courtship, and dam–pup interactions. Pheromones are used widely in laboratory mice facilities to synchronize estrus and simultaneous breeding for logistic purposes. Female mice housed together in the absence of the male exhibit the Lee-Boot effect of lengthened diestrus or ovarian inactive period of up to several weeks. Whitten effect is described when a large number of female mice housed together in the absence of the male and having diestrus, will enter estrous 48 to 72 hours later upon exposure to male odors or male mouse urine soaked-bedding. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the time taken for the Whitten effect to occur based on changes in vaginal cell characteristics, vulva appearance and behavior in grouped female mice. Methodology: Ten female mice were acclimatized to the animal facility for 3 estrus cycles or 12 days. Phases of the estrus cycle were evaluated by visual observation to assess changes to the vulva and vaginal cytology. Male urine soaked-bedding were exposed to females for 3 days and the time taken for the Whitten effect to occur was determined based on changes in vaginal cell characteristics, vulva appearance and observation of behavior. Result: The Cochran's Q test was used to observe the changes from diestrus to proestrus and later estrus. The results showed a significant difference (p
Torque teno virus (TTV) is one of the “orphan” virus that have been discovered almost two decades ago, with little information on the relationship of the infection to any diseases. It is one of the 45% of commensal virus which was found throughout the population and becoming one of the most extensively studied viruses on its prevalence among various level of health status. From healthy blood donors to patients who suffered severe illness, TTV infection level seems to be high and the findings has triggered an interest from the researcher. Even though the study on TTV prevalence is actively performed, the actual pathogenesis of TTV to any specific diseases is yet to be ascertained. Many suggestions on the possible association of TTV infection with severe diseases such as acute respiratory diseases, liver-related diseases and even cancer have been discussed. However, one type of diseases which might have an association with TTV is hepatitis. Albeit, it remains a theory as the actual pathogenicity of TTV is not fully understood.
Kajian ini telah dijalankan dengan menghasilkan dua sistem komposit iaitu komposit epoksi berpengisi montmorillonite (MMT) dengan dan tanpa cecair getah asli terepoksida (LENR) secara kaedah pencampuran in situ. Komposit telah di pra-matang pada tiga suhu iaitu pada suhu 30 °C, 50 °C atau 70 °C . Kedua dua sistem dimatang pada suhu 130 °C atau 140 °C. Ujian hentaman Izod dan ujian keliatan patah ke atas komposit yang dihasilkan menunjukkan peningkatan maksimum sebanyak 44% dengan penambahan MMT dan 29% peningkatan dengan penambahan getah asli terepoksida. Selain kandungan MMT, suhu pra matang 70 °C memberikan kesan yang ketara terhadap kekuatan hentaman dan keliatan patah sistem epoksi berpengisi MMT. Suhu pra-matang 50 °C merupakan suhu yang optimum dan berupaya memberikan kekuatan hentaman dan keliatan patah yang baik kepada sistem epoksi berpengisi MMT getah asli terepoksida. Suhu matang bagi kedua dua sistem tidak memberikan kesan yang ketara kepada sifat mekanikal kedua dua sistem komposit ini. Pemeriksaan mikrostruktur melalui mikroskop elektron transmisi menunjukkan MMT tertabur dengan susunan interkalasi. Peningkatan kandungan MMT melebihi 1 % berat menunjukkan kehadiran taktoid dan penggumpalan silikat.
Due to labour shortages and increasing labour cost, many hotels have employed foreign labour. However, some five-star hotels continue to employ the local workers. Although the employment of foreign labour helps to fill job vacancies, the over flooding of foreign labour is detrimental to Malaysia’s economy, social tranquillity, national peace and political stability. This paper reviews articles on foreign labours, human capital investment and compensation. Past studies found that a well-designed and implementation of job-skill training improves corporate profits and create shareholder’s value as increased human capital leads to customer satisfaction. Human capital refers to employee’s knowledge, experience, professional competency and cognitive ability. High investment in human capital is essential to service firms that provide customize service and seek to compete based on their services. To secure their investment, luxury hotels provide an effective compensation plan that includes internal and external equity.
The dumping of disposal plastic bottle are booming especially in food industry. Furthermore, it gives high impact to the landfill waste space, pollution, cost and energy. Therefore, the study had been conducted to create a Recyclable Plastic Rope (RPR) in order to decrease or minimize the impact to the environment. The study also focused on the acceptance of RPR among students in Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Politeknik Merlimau Melaka. Methodologies of producing RPR and the production cost have been stated in the study. The acceptance study of RPR is based on its characteristics; which are portable, sustainability of the resources, durability towards weather and heavy load, multipurpose function, creativity and uniqueness, variety types of bonds, stretchable and the supportive effort to protect the environment. The result showed that most of the respondents strongly accepted the function of RPR as an alternative rope.
Edu-tourism is now an alternative strategy to the mass tourism development effort. Therefore, it is of importance to study the factors that may boost Edu-tourism for Malaysia as a halal hub. This paper focuses on evaluating the food choice experiences for the Muslim international students studying in Malaysia, for the purpose of understanding the issue and offering solution to support their well-being. The area of Muslim international students' acculturation experiences has been documented in extant literature. The process and issues when making halal food choice upon migration however, received little attention compared to other studies concerning international students’ experiences. For the aim to explore the Muslim international students’ halal food choice experiences, two methods of qualitative approaches were applied; using accompanied food shopping observation, followed by an in-depth interview with new international students. The findings identified the halal food perception, the factors that influence the halal food choice and the food adjustment strategy as the themes emerged from the observation and interviews. The study further extends the knowledge on the halal food choice experience and elucidates the importance of halal food management in Edu-tourism. Future studies related to food choice could be extended to a wider international group to provide a significantly valuable lens towards the literature on acculturation experiences and managing halal food choice for Edu-tourism practitioners.
The dumping of disposal corn silk are booming especially in food industry. Furthermore, it gives high impact to the landfill waste space, pollution, cost and energy. Despite the rich of the nutrition content, is the waste finding that people do not consume the corn silk. Therefore, studies have been conducted to create Maize Silk Tea (MST) in order to decrease or minimize the impact to the environment. The study also focused on the acceptance of MST among students in Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Politeknik Merlimau Melaka. The acceptance study of MST based on its color, taste and smell. The results showed that the acceptance level of respondents towards the tea made from corn silk is 4.31 that is high mean value. Biotechnology result showed the amount of heptasiloxane is high 14.61%, acentic acid also high 9.15% and the nicotinic acid is low 0.50%. Hedonic scale been used as a quantitative instrument. 30 respondent been selected among students in Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Politeknik Merlimau Melaka. Descriptive analysis been used to analyzed the data collected using SPSS version 23.0. In conclusion, respondents strongly accepted the function of MST as a nutritious new tea flavours.
Citrullus lanatus also known as watermelon that normally consumed raw. Apart from benefits of its flesh, less people know that watermelon rind (WMR) also contains some nutrients. Looking at it potential and benefits to health, a research has been conducted to produce ice cream from the WMR. This study was assigned to determine the presence of antioxidant activity, nutrition content and the acceptance level of respondents towards ice cream made from WMR. As for quantitative instrument, hedonic scale was used in the questionnaire distributed to 30 randomly selected respondents. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the data collected using SPSS version 23.0. Gas Chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to determine amount of antioxidant, fat, protein, carbohydrate and total energy content of WMR ice cream. Results showed that the presence of antioxidant is at 9.91%, while the amount of fat, protein, carbohydrate and total energy are at 1.5g/100g, 2.7g/100g, 7.7g/100g and 55kcal/100g respectively. It was also indicated that the respondents accepted this ice cream at high level with mean value 4.28. In conclusion, the WMR ice cream is nutritious, highly accepted by respondents and has commercial value.
Hospitality symbolizes such kind of act which is consummated by the hosts to welcome and take care of guests or strangers or travelers till they stay at the home of host or any host country. The basic requirement of hospitality is to ensure providing of healthy food, drinks as well as comfortable and safety accommodation for welcomed guests or tourists. Islam always gives more importance and priority on hospitality and Muslims can enhance and increase their societal, national as well as international bondage strongly by dint of hospitality. In Malaysia Islamic tourism and hospitality industry has been potentially developed since Malaysia is enriched with arts, heritage and Muslim Malay culture. Although Islamic hospitality has been studied by many researchers, rare research has been done into the authentication of Islamic hospitality management. So, the main aim of this study is to explore the validation of Islamic hospitality management in the Malaysian tourism destination. A total of 563 Muslim tourists from 35 countries took part in this study. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was an appropriate data analysis technique for this study. A self-administrated questionnaire was developed. The 5-likert scale was used in questionnaires. The Cronbach‟s alpha coefficient was used to test the reliability of the scale. The findings as analyzed by Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) revealed that the overall fit indices showed a satisfactory fit to the empirical data. The criterion of p
Shariah compliant hotel is a new lucrative products in Malaysia as part of halal industry. There are about 5,520 hotels in Malaysia and regretfully only 10% are complying with Shariah requirements. The demand for Shariah Compliant Hotel (SCH) is increasing due to the increased in Middle-Eastern tourists and the criteria for hotel room is highly sought. There are few standards been developed on Shariah compliant hotel in this country. This study will identify the criteria of Shariah compliance in hotel room provision through survey and observation methods. The methodology used on 8 SCH hotels to assess it room facilities in meeting Shariah requirements. A sample of 40 questionnaires was distributed to the hotel guests to identify Muslim guest needs based on Maslow hierarchy of needs. All data were collated and analysed through content analysis and descriptive analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to generate results. The results were synchronized with Islamic Quality Standard (IQS) and MFHS Standard for hotels to be embedded with the ultimate objective of Shariah (Maqasid Shariah). The findings show that about 33 aspects of hotel room being surveyed are complying with Shariah requirements. About 15 of the criteria meeting the Muslim guest needs. Shariah compliant hotel criteria based on guestroom facilities have accommodate hotel operators to apply the criteria in meeting the potential users in the hotel in Malaysia.
The development of discrimination case which is now extended to the issue of female workers dress code in the hotel sector seen as a challenging topic and a solution is needed. Discrimination generally gives a negative impact to the victim and if seen in the hotel sector, it has a direct impact on female workers if it involves the issue of this dress code. Hence it is not appropriate if these women are subjected to discrimination that prohibit them from wearing a hijab and wearing a short skirt during working hours. On this basis, this study discusses the major problems pertaining to dress code faced by female workers in the work place. This research is essentially a qualitative research using an interviews with relevant parties from selected hotels to gain the findings and supported by materials that obtained from libraries, archives and other databases. Through the research findings, several recommendations were introduced to reduce and eliminate the discrimination issue in Malaysian working sector, in order to achieve the equality among men and women in workplace.