Showing papers by "National University of Malaysia published in 2010"

The Attractive Female Body Weight and Female Body Dissatisfaction in 26 Countries Across 10 World Regions: Results of the International Body Project I

Abstract: This study reports results from the first International Body Project (IBP-I), which surveyed 7,434 individuals in 10 major world regions about body weight ideals and body dissatisfaction. Participants completed the female Contour Drawing Figure Rating Scale (CDFRS) and self-reported their exposure to Western and local media. Results indicated there were significant cross-regional differences in the ideal female figure and body dissatisfaction, but effect sizes were small across high-socioeconomic-status (SES) sites. Within cultures, heavier bodies were preferred in low-SES sites compared to high-SES sites in Malaysia and South Africa (ds = 1.94-2.49) but not in Austria. Participant age, body mass index (BMI), and Western media exposure predicted body weight ideals. BMI and Western media exposure predicted body dissatisfaction among women. Our results show that body dissatisfaction and desire for thinness is commonplace in high-SES settings across world regions, highlighting the need for international attention to this problem.

Review of solar dryers for agricultural and marine products

Abstract: Drying for agricultural and marine products are one of the most attractive and cost-effective application of solar energy. Numerous types of solar dryers have been designed and developed in various parts of the world, yielding varying degrees of technical performance. Basically, there are four types of solar dryers; (1) direct solar dryers, (2) indirect solar dryers, (3) mixed-mode dryers and (4) hybrid solar dryers. This paper is a review of these types of solar dryers with aspect to the product being dried, technical and economical aspects. The technical directions in the development of solar-assisted drying systems for agricultural produce are compact collector design, high efficiency, integrated storage, and long-life drying system. Air-based solar collectors are not the only available systems. Water-based collectors can also be used whereby water to air heat exchanger can be used. The hot air for drying of agricultural produce can be forced to flow in the water to air heat exchanger. The hot water tank acts as heat storage of the solar drying system.

Institutions and policy processes: the means to the ends of adaptation

Abstract: Institutions and institutional change are mentioned often but rarely specified in discussions of climate adaptation. Policy change is proposed, but the detail of policy processes less often discussed. Adaptation to increased climate change and variability will require policy interventions to change behaviors across multiple sectors, requiring policy processes constrained or enabled by institutional settings. Detailed discussion of how to redesign policy processes and institutions are especially rare at the crucial jurisdictional scales of national and sub-national policy and planning. We review coverage of policy and institutions in the adaptation literature and clarify key issues by drawing on the domains of public policy, institutional change, and sustainable development. The distinction between, but close dependencies among, institutions, institutional systems, organizations, policy processes, policy instruments, and management are emphasized. We propose that the climate policy literature has rapidly become large enough that a tendency of self-referencing has developed, and that insights can be gained from other areas. Within existing parameters of law, politics, and governance, options are identified that could embed considerations of climate adaptation into policy processes and institutional systems, with focus on enabling cross-sectoral policy integration (‘mainstreaming’), decision making under conditions of uncertainty, vertical (‘cross-scale’) policy coordination, issues of capacity and devolution, and policy evaluation and learning. The value of seeking lessons from past policy interventions and from cognate policy sectors is explored. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

The high value of logged tropical forests: lessons from northern Borneo

Abstract: The carbon storage and conservation value of old-growth tropical forests is clear, but the value of logged forest is less certain. Here we analyse >100,000 observations of individuals from 11 taxonomic groups and >2,500 species, covering up to 19 years of post-logging regeneration, and quantify the impacts of logging on carbon storage and biodiversity within lowland dipterocarp forests of Sabah, Borneo. We estimate that forests lost ca. 53% of above-ground biomass as a result of logging but despite this high level of degradation, logged forest retained considerable conservation value: floral species richness was higher in logged forest than in primary forest and whilst faunal species richness was typically lower in logged forest, in most cases the difference between habitats was no greater than ca. 10%. Moreover, in most studies >90% of species recorded in primary forest were also present in logged forest, including species of conservation concern. During recovery, logged forest accumulated carbon at five times the rate of natural forest (1.4 and 0.28 Mg C ha−1 year−1, respectively). We conclude that allowing the continued regeneration of extensive areas of Borneo’s forest that have already been logged, and are at risk of conversion to other land uses, would provide a significant carbon store that is likely to increase over time. Protecting intact forest is critical for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, but the contribution of logged forest to these twin goals should not be overlooked.

Biolubricants: raw materials, chemical modifications and environmental benefits.

Abstract: The depletion of the world's crude oil reserve, increasing crude oil prices, and issues related to conservation have brought about renewed interest in the use of bio-based materials. Emphasis on the development of renewable, biodegradable, and environmentally friendly industrial fluids, such as lubricants, has resulted in the widespread use of natural oils and fats for non-edible purposes. In this study, we have reviewed the available literature and recently published data related to bio-based raw materials and the chemical modifications of raw materials. Additionally, we have analyzed the impacts and benefits of the use of bio-based raw materials as functional fluids or biolubricants. The term biolubricants applies to all lubricants, which are both rapidly biodegradable and non-toxic to humans and other living organisms, especially in aquatic environments. Biodegradability provides an indication of the persistence of the substance in the environment and is the yardstick for assessing the eco-friendliness of substances. Scientists are discovering economical and safe ways to improve the properties of biolubricants, such as increasing their poor oxidative stability and decreasing high pour points. “Green” biolubricants must be used for all applications where there is an environmental risk.

Solid‐state Materials and Methods for Hydrogen Storage: A Critical Review

Abstract: Hydrogen is important as a new source of energy for automotive applications. It is clear that the key challenge in developing this technology is hydrogen storage. Current methods for hydrogen storage have yet to meet all the demands for on-board applications. High-pressure gas storage or liquefaction cannot fulfill the storage criteria required for on-board storage. Solid-state materials have shown potential advantages for hydrogen storage in comparison to other storage methods. In this article, the most popular solid-state storage materials and methods including carbon based materials, metal hydrides, metal organic frameworks, hollow glass microspheres, capillary arrays, clathrate hydrates, metal nitrides and imides, doped polymer and zeolites, are critically reviewed. The survey shows that most of the materials available with high storage capacity have disadvantages associated with slow kinetics and those materials with fast kinetics have issues with low storage capacity. Most of the chemisorption-based materials are very expensive and in some cases, the hydrogen absorption/desorption phenomena is irreversible. Furthermore, a very high temperature is required to release the adsorbed hydrogen. On the other hand, the main drawback in the case of physisorption-based materials and methods is their lower capacity for hydrogen storage, especially under mild operating conditions. To accomplish the requisite goals, extensive research studies are still required to optimize the critical parameters of such systems, including the safety (to be improved), security (to be available for all), cost (to be lowered), storage capacity (to be increased), and the sorption-desorption kinetics (to be improved).

Stagnation-point flow over a shrinking sheet in a micropolar fluid

Abstract: An analysis is carried out to study the steady two-dimensional stagnation-point flow of a micropolar fluid over a shrinking sheet in its own plane. The shrinking velocity and the ambient fluid velocity are assumed to vary linearly with the distance from the stagnation point. The features of the flow characteristics are analyzed and discussed. Different from a stretching sheet, it is found that the solutions for a shrinking sheet are nonunique.

Efficiency in Islamic and conventional banking: an international comparison

Abstract: The paper investigates the efficiency of a sample of Islamic and conventional banks in 10 countries that operate Islamic banking for the period 1996–2002, using an output distance function approach. We obtain measures of efficiency after allowing for environmental influences such as country macroeconomic conditions, accessibility of banking services and bank type. While these factors are assumed to directly influence the shape of the technology, we assume that country dummies and bank size directly influence technical inefficiency. The parameter estimates highlight that during the sample period, Islamic banking appears to be associated with higher input usage. Furthermore, by allowing for bank size and international differences in the underlying inefficiency distributions, we are also able to demonstrate statistically significant differences in inefficiency related to these factors even after controlling for specific environmental characteristics and Islamic banking. Thus, for example, our results suggest that Sudan and Yemen have relatively higher inefficiency while Bahrain and Bangladesh have lower estimated inefficiency. Except for Sudan, where banks exhibits relatively strong returns to scale, most sample banks exhibit very slight returns to scale, although Islamic banks are found to have moderately higher returns to scale than conventional banks. While this suggests that Islamic banks may benefit from increased scale, we would emphasize that our results suggest that identifying and overcoming the factors that cause Islamic banks to have relatively low potential outputs for given input usage levels will be the key challenge for Islamic banking in the coming decades.

Validation of a static Franz diffusion cell system for in vitro permeation studies.

Abstract: Over the years, in vitro Franz diffusion experiments have evolved into one of the most important methods for researching transdermal drug administration. Unfortunately, this type of testing often yields permeation data that suffer from poor reproducibility. Moreover, this feature frequently occurs when synthetic membranes are used as barriers, in which case biological tissue-associated variability has been removed as an artefact of total variation. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the influence of a full-validation protocol on the performance of a tailor-made array of Franz diffusion cells (GlaxoSmithKline, Harlow, UK) available in our laboratory. To this end, ibuprofen was used as a model hydrophobic drug while synthetic membranes were used as barriers. The parameters investigated included Franz cell dimensions, stirring conditions, membrane type, membrane treatment, temperature regulation and sampling frequency. It was determined that validation dramatically reduced derived data variability as the coefficient of variation for steady-state ibuprofen permeation from a gel formulation was reduced from 25.7% to 5.3% (n = 6). Thus, validation and refinement of the protocol combined with improved operator training can greatly enhance reproducibility in Franz cell experimentation.

Trend and status of air quality at three different monitoring stations in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

Abstract: Over the last decades, the development of the Klang Valley (Malaysia), as an urban commercial and industrial area, has elevated the risk of atmospheric pollutions. There are several significant sources of air pollutants which vary depending on the background of the location they originate from. The aim of this study is to determine the trend and status of air quality and their correlation with the meteorological factors at different air quality monitoring stations in the Klang Valley. The data of five major air pollutants (PM10, CO, SO2, O3, NO2) were recorded at the Alam Sekitar Sdn Bhd (ASMA) monitoring stations in the Klang Valley, namely Petaling Jaya (S1), Shah Alam (S2) and Gombak (S3). The data from these three stations were compared with the data recorded at Jerantut, Pahang (B), a background station established by the Malaysian Department of Environment. Results show that the concentrations of CO, NO2 and SO2 are higher at Petaling Jaya (S1) which is due to influence of heavy traffic. The concentrations of PM10 and O3, however, are predominantly related to regional tropical factors, such as the influence of biomass burning and of ultra violet radiation from sunlight. They can, though, also be influenced by local sources. There are relatively stronger inter-pollutant correlations at the stations of Gombak and Shah Alam, and the results also suggest that heavy traffic flow induces high concentrations of PM10, CO, NO2 and SO2 at the three sampling stations. Additionally, meteorological factors, particularly the ambient temperature and wind speed, may influence the concentration of PM10 in the atmosphere.

Great Deluge Algorithm for Rough Set Attribute Reduction

Abstract: Attribute reduction is the process of selecting a subset of features from the original set of features that forms patterns in a given dataset. It can be defined as a process to eliminate redundant attributes and at the same time is able to avoid any information loss, so that the selected subset is sufficient to describe the original features. In this paper, we present a great deluge algorithm for attribute reduction in rough set theory (GD-RSAR). Great deluge is a meta-heuristic approach that is less parameter dependent. There are only two parameters needed; the time to “spend” and the expected final solution. The algorithm always accepts improved solutions. The worse solution will be accepted if it is better than the upper boundary value or “level”. GD-RSAR has been tested on the public domain datasets available in UCI. Experimental results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that this approach is effective and able to obtain competitive results compared to previous available methods. Possible extensions upon this simple approach are also discussed.

A longitudinal examination of intellectual capital reporting in Marks & Spencer annual reports, 1978–2008

Abstract: This paper examines the intellectual capital content of Marks & Spencer annual reports over a 31 year period from 1978 to 2008 using a content analysis instrument. Motivated by the gap among prior studies in respect of longitudinal samples, the paper also sets out to note the ways in which the annual report has changed over the three decades in response to the supposed change from the assumption that fixed assets and operations were the key driver of value creation to a belief that knowledge and the stock of intellectual assets had become a more powerful explanation of value-added. The paper finds an overall increase in intellectual capital reporting over the 31 years but notes a particular increase in relational capital reporting and a re-ordering of sub-categories over time. Narrative (as opposed to quantitative) reporting has increased and ‘factual’ (as opposed to opinion and judgement) reporting has decreased. The paper concludes that annual report narratives have reflected a wider change in the market for information among investors and other stakeholders. Whilst the exact nature of these market changes was beyond the scope of this paper, it is concluded that changing patterns of ICR reflect the increased complexity of the messages being conveyed in voluntary reporting. The increased reliance on IC in value creation has, we argue, created a need for narrative of less factual certainty and with more ambiguity and circumspection in describing increasingly complex knowledge assets.

Boundary layer flow and heat transfer over a stretching sheet with Newtonian heating

Abstract: The steady boundary layer flow and heat transfer over a stretching sheet with Newtonian heating in which the heat transfer from the surface is proportional to the local surface temperature, is considered in this study. The transformed governing nonlinear boundary layer equations are solved numerically by a finite-difference method. Numerical solutions are obtained for the heat transfer from the stretching sheet and the wall temperature for a large range of values of the Prandtl number Pr. The Newtonian heating is controlled by a dimensionless conjugate parameter, which varies between zero (insulated wall) and infinity (wall temperature remains constant). The important findings in this study are the variation of the surface temperature and heat flux from the stretching surface with the conjugate parameter and Prandtl number. It is found that these parameters have essential effects on the heat transfer characteristics.

Knowledge cluster formation in Peninsular Malaysia: The emergence of an epistemic landscape

Abstract: Knowledge clusters are central places within an epistemic landscape, i.e. in a wider structure of knowledge production and dissemination. They have the organisational capability to drive innovations and create new industries. Examples of such organisations in knowledge clusters are universities and colleges, research institutions, think tanks, government research agencies and knowledge-intensive firms with their respective knowledge workers. The following paper will look at Malaysia and its path towards a Knowledge-based economy. We first describe the development strategy of the Malaysian government which has emphasized cluster formation as one of its prime targets. We then provide evidence of the current state of knowledge cluster formation in Peninsular Malaysia and try to answer the following questions. If the formation of a knowledge cluster (especially in the ICT and multimedia industry) has been the government policy, what has been the result? Has Malaysia developed an epistemic landscape of knowledge clusters? Has the main knowledge cluster really materialised in and around Cyberjaya in the MSC Malaysia? Data collected from websites, directories, government publications and expert interviews have enabled us to construct the epistemic landscape of Peninsular Malaysia. Several knowledge clusters of a high density of knowledge producing institutions and their knowledge workers have been identified and described. The analysis of the knowledge output, measured in terms of scientific publications, patents and trademarks show that existing knowledge clusters have, indeed, been productive as predicted by cluster theory. On the other hand government designed development corridors do not always coincide with the distribution of knowledge assets. The analysis of our data pertaining to Cyberjaya, the MSC Malaysia and the “corridors” needs to be developed further to produce more robust results. Keywords:

Thermal boundary layer flow over a stretching sheet in a micropolar fluid with radiation effect

Abstract: In the present paper, we study the effects of radiation on the thermal boundary layer flow induced by a linearly stretching sheet immersed in an incompressible micropolar fluid with constant surface temperature. Similarity transformation is employed to transform the governing partial differential equations into ordinary ones, which are then solved numerically using the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method. Results for the local Nusselt number as well as the temperature profiles are presented for different values of the governing parameters. It is found that the heat transfer rate at the surface decreases in the presence of radiation. Comparison with known results for certain particular cases is excellent.

Trends in Peninsular Malaysia rainfall data during the Southwest monsoon and Northeast monsoon seasons: 1975-2004

Abstract: This study investigated the spatial pattern and trends of the daily rainfall data in Peninsular Malaysia based on seasonal rainfall indices. Five rainfall indices which describe the main characteristics of rainfall, the total amount of rainfall, frequency of wet days, rainfall intensity, extreme frequency, and extreme intensity, were employed in this study. The statistics of rainfall indices were calculated in terms of their means for four regions in Peninsular Malaysia for the period 1975 to 2004. The findings indicate that the southwest monsoon had the greatest impact on the western part of the Peninsula, particularly in characterizing the rainfall pattern of the northwest region. During this season, the northwest region could be considered as the wettest region since all rainfall indices tested are higher than in other regions of the Peninsula. Otherwise, the northwest region is denoted as the driest part of the Peninsula during the northeast monsoon period. The northwest region is less influenced by the northeast monsoon because of the existence of the Titiwangsa Range, which blocks the region from receiving heavy rainfall. On the other hand, it is found that the lowlands areas such as the eastern part of the Peninsula are strongly characterized by the northeast monsoonal flow. Based on the results of the Mann-Kendall test, as the trend of the total amount of rainfall and the frequency of wet days during the southwest monsoon decrease at most of the stations, the rainfall intensity increases. In contrast, increasing trends in both the total amount of rainfall and the frequency of wet days were observed at several stations during the northeast monsoon, which give rise to the increasing trend of rainfall intensity. The results for both seasons indicate that there are significantly decreasing trends in the frequency of wet days during the extreme events for most of the stations on the peninsula. However, a smaller number of significant trends was found for extreme intensity.