University of Technology Malaysia

Water energy sources play a crucial role, particularly in providing electrical energy through hydroelectric power. Both the water flow rate and the water head determine the potential energy available from water. The hydroelectric system's energy generation directly depends on the water flow rate. A lower flow rate means less water is available to generate energy, even if the head is high. It is essential to increase the potential of the water flow so that it can generate enough electricity. Traditionally, the flow rate is restricted due to the limited capacity of single penstock. This work addresses this issue by introducing multiple penstock-based water flow management systems. Also, conventional water flow monitoring systems often face limitations, like relying on manual measurement, as it only provides periodic data, making it difficult to respond quickly to changes in flow conditions. IoT-based flow sensors leverage IoT technology to monitor water flow and transmit flow data in real-time, enabling operators to detect fluctuating flow conditions and implement timely adjustments to processes, therefore enhancing the overall efficiency. This work aims to design and develop an IoT-enabled prototype hydroelectric power generation system using multiple water flows for enhancing power generation efficiency. The prototype indicates the use of multiple pipes as penstocks in a dam. Additionally, if generating a significant amount of electricity is not required, the water flow can be discontinued, thereby automatically closing each pipeline. This work uses flow sensors, Kitsware software, Arduino IoT Cloud, and an LCD display to generate flow measurement data every ten seconds from multiple pipelines. Moreover, the system automatically generates Excel data and graphically represents multiple water flows, enabling the user to compare the water flow data. The completed work resulted in a hydropower system demonstrating enhanced output and effective compatibility with IoT for remote access.

Rainfall-induced landslides are a frequent geohazard for tropical regions with prevalent residual soils and year-round rainy seasons. The water infiltration into unsaturated soil can be analyzed using the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) and permeability function which can be used to monitor and predict incoming landslides, showing the necessity of selecting the appropriate model parameter while fitting the SWCC model. This paper presents a set of data from six different sections of the studied slope at varying depths that are used to test the performance of three SWCC models, the van Genuchten-Mualem (vG-M), Fredlund-Xing (F-X) and Gardner (G). The dataset is obtained from field monitoring of the studied slope, over a duration of 6 months. The study discovered that the van Genuchten-Mualem model provided the best estimation based on RMSE and evaluation metric, R2 followed by Fredlund and Xing, and Gardner, however, the difference between them is minor. The R2 obtained varies as the value at the crest with 1.0 m depth has a mean of 0.44, the lowest among the overall data fitted but it also has the best RMSE value with a mean of 0.00473. Whereas the location mid-section at a depth of 1.0 m has the highest R2 with a mean of 0.97, and an average value of RMSE of 0.0145 which is the middle of the group that was fitted. This indicates that R2 measurement for model performance relies highly on the dispersion of the variables collected. The dispersion of the data set is mainly due to the sensors’ inability to detect effectively at exceedingly high matric suction and zero matric suction. The investment in improving the equipment’s precision will boost reliability and reduce the number of assumptions as the data is collected from the site rather than laboratory testing.

Despite extensive characterization of its biochemical properties, Acinetobacter haemolyticus recombinant alkaline-stable lipase KV1 (Lip-KV1) remains unexplored in crosslinked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) as a means to enhance its catalytic performance. This research focused on optimizing the preparation of Lip-KV1CLEAs through the application of response surface methodology and Box–Behnken design (BBD) to optimize the parameters, glutaraldehyde concentration (mM), Tween 80 (v/v%), pH, and temperature, for the response of recovery activity (%). Results revealed that the CLEAs-Lip-KV1 exhibited the highest recovery activity of 123.3% under the following optimum condition: isopropanol as the precipitant (80% v/v), Tween 80 at 0.01% (v/v), 60 mM glutaraldehyde, agitation at 200 rpm, pH 4.0 with a 2-h crosslinking duration at 30 °C. The resultant CLEAs-Lip-KV1 was stable in 10% v/v of methanol. Notably, the optimum temperature and pH stability of the CLEAs-Lip-KV1 was elevated compared to its free form, from the corresponding 40 °C and pH 8, to 50 °C and pH 10, with its thermal stability reaching up to 80 °C. The FTIR spectrum and FESEM micrographs confirmed these changes chemically and morphologically, which verified the CLEAs-Lip-KV1 preparation.

Studies have indicated that, less affluent families are less likely to have the financial and or time availability to provide their children with academic support compared to affluent families.This study investigated the relationship between Language Learning Strategies used by secondary school students in Nigeria and their Parents Socio-economic Status. The data for this research was provided by 559 respondents who study English as a second language and belonging to three varied socio-economic affiliations. A modified Oxford Study Inventory of Language Learning (SILL) questionnaire was used as the measurement instrument. Analysis of the data was done using SPSS version 16.0. This was done to assess the strategies employed and to understand their mean frequencies. A one-way ANOVA was conducted to determine the relationship between language learning strategy choice and socio-economic status of student’s parents. The study found that, respondents highly used Language Learning Strategy (LLS) while learning English and within closely related frequency level. The study found significant relationship between socio-economic statuses of parents of the learner in the choice of Cognitive, Metacognitive, Social, situational and religious Strategies and no significance in the learner choice of Memory and compensation strategies to learn English. Conclusively, the findings of the study has pedagogical implications for English Language teachers and curriculum designers that could assist in understanding the English language learning patterns of secondary school students in Nigeria.

The most widely used language in research, business, politics and other areas of life in our contemporary world is the English language. The exploration of the world by the British people through colonization and their conquest of North America contribute immensely to the spreading of the language. This paper traces the historical spread of English as a language, the methods that were used to teach it across the ages and its adoption as a foreign language in Indonesia. It also examines its introduction to the senior high school and the effectiveness of the present curriculum. Findings show that the current program requires upgrading, while a lot of administrative adjustments are required to encourage students learning the language as part of the curriculum. It was further concluded that the only way to improve quality of graduates and make them useful in the international labor market is to incorporate English as part of the curriculum and as medium of teaching in Indonesia.

Nowadays, many higher education institutions are still depending on the traditionally-based learning management systems that actually do not use full capabilities of social media in engaging researchers in collaborative learning. Due to recent rise in social media usage, especially among researchers and lecturers of educational institutions, a great deal of research was conducted to explore how to take advantage of social media and use it to improve the researchers ‘academic performance through collaborative learning. To achieve this objective, it is important to explore the actual relationship between two variables: social media and academic performance. This study is aimed at examining the relationship between using social media and improving academic performance. A survey was conducted among the research students of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, and 323 valid responses were received. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the relationship between three constructs: social media, collaborative learning, and academic performance. The results showed a significant effect of social media on the students’ academic performance with collaborative learning as the mediating variable. Without good collaborative learning, an education institution cannot take advantage of social media for improving academic performance.

In this paper, a hybrid PV/diesel/battery-based energy system is designed for supplying power to the residential area being fed with diesel generators during outrage hours. The proposed system is utilized generated power from the standalone PV system along with diesel generator to replace the requirement of diesel by solar energy partially. The optimal hybrid system is obtained by using hourly measured solar radiation data and per liter cost of diesel for the selected location along with other required components. Performance analysis is done using Hybrid Optimization Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER). A comparative study based on percentage renewable penetration, total net present cost (TNPC), cost of energy (COE) and emitted pollutants has been carried out. It is found that the system constitutes of three generators of 50 kW, 50 kW and 10 kW along with a PV array of 64 kW and battery of 53 kW is the optimal solution for the selected site. Sensitivity analysis shows that the proposed system, for a diesel price of 1 $/liter and with solar penetration of 34$/kWh and $ 1,042,824 respectively. The presented model can be used in designing optimal energy systems for a similar environment.

With the increased power demand, the effort on the efficiency improvement of the existing renewable systems is also increased. One of the available options is the Solar PV-T cogeneration system. Such systems provide an alternative to utilize the extracted heat from the panel. As the electrical efficiency of the PV system mainly depends on the panel used and the power electronics converter efficiency. The panel efficiency increases with the reduction in panel temperature for particular isolation. And the reduction in power losses in the inverter can be achieved by reducing the number of device count of the inverter topology. For this, an efficient multilevel inverter (MLI) topology and nanofluid-based solar PV panel is proposed. The proposed panel uses TiO2 Nano-fluid as the cooling agent. The prototype of the developed panel is tested in the laboratory in which a decrease in panel temperature of 18.7 °C is achieved. Performance of the panel is compared with other experimental studies available as well as with water and airflow fluid in the same environmental condition. Results show that the proposed panel can absorb 27% more heat than airflow panel, and the improvement of about 1.17% in the efficiency of the panel is achieved. An efficient and reliable inverter topology focusing on utilizing a single source is proposed. The developed circuit structure is compared with other existing seven-level topologies, and it is found that the proposed topology utilizes only one dc source with the lowest device count, thus have lower losses. Performance of the system incorporating the developed PV panel and the proposed inverter is verified through required simulation analysis. Results obtained shows that the integrated system works properly with lower converter losses and panel efficiency of 16.38%. Therefore the proposed system is efficient and very much suitable for solar PVT applications.

The paper is to examine the selection criteria by international students of their higher education at private higherlearning institutions in Malaysia. It focuses on factors which private international students considered importantin their decision of choosing Malaysia as their educational destination. A questionnaire was designed to include48 factors for selection of learning destination. Through judgmental sampling the data were solicited from 565international students using survey instrument. These were analyzed on principal components factor analysis toascertain factors related to their criteria to study in Malaysia. The results shown that six factors have a stronginfluence on international students’ decision-making process, namely, quality of learning environment,influencers, customer focus, cost, facilities, socialization and location. Further, through MANOVA, it was foundthat customer focus and facilities are the main factors used by respondents in their choice decisions. Thesefactors should be considered by colleges’ managers to develop their marketing strategies in attracting foreignstudents to enroll at their institutions. It is also important for positioning strategy and strengthening higherlearning institution offerings to the foreign market.

Service industries have chosen the significance of customers’ satisfaction and loyalty in one side, and the retention of these customers in another side. Factors influencing the retention of customers in which brand credibility is one. Despite there have been studies targeting issues of brand, satisfaction and loyalty; this study included word of moth to fill the existing gap in the Internet service providers in Malaysia. 120 respondents participated in this study, which all were customers of Internet services for at least 2 years. This study found that brand credibility has positive impact on word of mouth through customers’ satisfaction and loyalty.

This study examined the effect of corporal punishment on students’ motivation and classroom learning. Research has indicated that behavior of teacher profoundly influences students’ learning. It has been observed with great concern that teachers in Pakistani schools resort to corporal punishment to motivate students for classroom learning. Over the years this practice has resulted in reduced students’ motivation towards learning.This study was purposefully designed to investigate this area of concern. For this purpose, the study attempted to find answer to the question that was there any relationship between corporal punishment and students’ motivation and classroom learning. Using a correlation design, the study surveyed attitudes of a randomely sampled 250 teachers from secondary schools in Malakand district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. For data analysis, SPSS was used. This research studied the relationship between the following three main variables: corporal punishment as independent variable and student motivation and classroom learning as dependent variables. To examine correlation between the variables, ANOVA and Regression Analysis were utilized. Results of the study revealed that corporal punshment was significantly negatively correlated with students’ motivation and classroom learning.

This study examined the correlation between service-learning and civic development and its three dimensions: civic knowledge, civic skills and civic commitment. Service-learning is a unique experiential teaching and learning methodology that promotes civic learning of students by connecting academic learning with community service. The study also assessed the moderating effect of reflection on the relationship of service-learning with civic development. Using a correlation design, this study surveyed 250 teachers in three public universities in Malakand Division, Pakistan. Results of the study showed a significant positive correlation between service-learning and civic development. The study also showed that reflection significantly moderates the relationship between service-learning and civic development.

Corporal punishment results in aggressive behaviours in students. As a result, some students leave school. Researchers believe that the issue of school dropout can be reduced by adopting different motivational techniques. Self-efficacy is one technique that can be promoted to create a caring and supportive learning environment. The issue of dropout is alarming in many Pakistani schools especially at the primary level due to the prevalence of corporal punishment and other factors. This issue prevails mostly in government schools where teachers adopt stringent steps in the teaching process. This study was specifically designed to examine the role of self-efficacy as a moderator between corporal punishment and school dropout. Many studies have explored the relations of corporal punishment with school dropout. It remains to be seen what actually moderates these relations. This study contributes to this gap in the literature by examining self-efficacy as an influencing factor. The study used a validated questionnaire to survey 300 government primary school teachers’ attitude on this issue. Results of the study indicated that corporal punishment significantly correlated with school dropout rate. Secondly, self-efficacy significantly moderates the relations between corporal punishment and school dropout. On the basis of these findings, the study concludes that teachers may reduce the issue of school dropout by creating a supportive and caring teaching and learning environment in school. Finally, the study suggests that the school administration play a key role to overcome the issue of increasing rate of school dropout by adopting rules and procedures to convince and motivate teachers to avoid corporal punishment.

Information Technology (IT) is an important factor to the success of an organization as it will align and coordinating the organization to their right tracks to achieve the organizational goals. It is essential to maintaining our leadership and success. It is not surprising because IT offers enormous benefits for organizations to grow their leadership skills and societal development. In order to cope with the problems in managing people, it is important to focus on IT leadership program in motivating employees. The current gap on leadership is on evaluation and measurement of the impacts towards the employee’s attitude, mainly the organization that are being engaged with. This paper addresses the gap by providing a discussion on IT leadership program on evaluation of employees and information reporting. The evaluation using the leadership approach will not only create a holistic evaluation process, but it will also assist in fostering innovative organization and technology.

Changes in the healthcare system in relation to human resource conditions have somehow adversely influenced organizational effectiveness. In particular, this has exposed the FLNMs to multidimensional and ambiguity roles (management and clinical skills). Studies on FLNMs’ roles have been conducted to clarify this, but little consensus has been reached so far. An exploratory qualitative research method is utilized to describe the terminologies “FLNMs’ roles”. In this regard, sixty text samples are conveniently selected as a secondary data (published articles, health care documentaries, and books from 2001-2012). Meanwhile, qualitative content analysis on the roles of FLNMs has been conducted on one thousand units (sentences or paragraphs in accessible sources) that appeared the FLNMs’ role messages. Results indicated that their roles can be categorized into three main codes and 17 subcategories or factors, i.e., Planning (P1-P7), Organizing (Q8-Q12), and Leadership (L13-L17). More than 50% of the sources have cited “report delivery” and “patient care (health education)” of the planning role; “staff training and education” and “participation in training programs” of the organizing role; and “staff evaluation form and worker training” of the leadership role in their studies. This review has determined three central constructs of Mintzbergs’ (1990) theory, including; “Interpersonal contact (IC)”, “Information processing (IP)”, and “Decision making (DM)” as a conceptual framework of FLNMs’ roles. Further studies need to be established to study other important factors involved.

While appearance of the technology can help employees and organizations achieve the optimized performance, it may have some negative consequences if it is not accepted by employees. Previous studies found some unintended consequences due to system rejection or acceptance by employees including job satisfaction and turnover intention. This paper finds other consequences including psychological contract, organizational commitment and turnover intention and then provides a conceptual framework.

Ozone is well established as an important oxidising agent in many industrial applications and the high-voltage pulsedstreamer discharge technique has emerged as an efficient method for its production. The paper investigates theparameters that are important in this process, including the magnitude of the applied pulse voltage, the air flow rate andthe electrode dimensions and spacing, when used in a plate-to-plate reactor configuration in which sheets of perforatedaluminium are employed to enhance the degree of ionisation and soda lime glass dielectric barriers both to inhibitsingular discharges and to promote the development of the streamer discharge. The highest ozone concentrationachieved was 5995 ppmv and the greatest yield was 144 g/kWh.

Ozone generation using both perforated-aluminium plate and fine-mesh stainless steel electrodes is studied, with the view to comparing the effectiveness of the two technologies in improving the stability of the glow discharge that they produce at atmospheric pressure. Electric field computations using simulation software (Ansoft-Maxwell 2D) indicate that the wire mesh generates the higher electric field strength, in contrast to an initial assumption that the perforated aluminium would be better because of its sharp-edged holes. Experimental work confirms however that the discharge configuration with perforated aluminium electrodes produces a better glow discharge stability at atmospheric pressure, showing that the electric field strength does not influence the stability of the glow discharge, as was also noted by previous authors. The perforated-aluminium plate discharge system may therefore be an effective means of improving the ozone generation and removing the pollutant gases.

Nowadays, with growing public concern over environmental issues, companies are under pressure from government and society to reduce the impact of their activities. Based on that, in the early 1990’s the European Union identified End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) as a priority waste stream and a directive was introduced to protect the environment. Automotive companies are being pushed by environmental awareness and legislation to recycle, remanufacture and reuse the components at the end of life and also to reduce the quantity of manufacturing waste generated. Within this scenario, a design tool is needed for automotive design processes to fulfil the requirement of the European Union Directive on End-of-Life Vehicles. Besides that, the role of design in modern manufacturing is becoming even more important with companies adopting design tools as profit generating business elements especially for the automotive recycling or dismantling companies. Hence, this paper discusses a Design for End-of-Life (DFEL) Value framework for the vehicle design and development process. The framework described in this paper consists of 4 main steps: investigation of the current situation, Recycling Function Deployment (RFD) analysis for value and cost, characteristics selection and lastly decision for detail design. RFD is a new idea based on the concept of Quality Function Deployment (QFD). It is believed that the adoption of DFEL Value concept can help the designer to design the products to fulfil the end-of-life requirements. This paper concludes with a discussion and further direction for this research.

This empirical study investigates the extent that the Malaysian restaurant operators and customers accept the Thai food. Any changes in customers’ eating patterns of the local cuisines are also evaluated. Restaurant operators and customers in three Malaysia northern states (Perlis, Kedah and Penang) were selected as a sample. Both restaurant operators and customers saw a trend towards Thai foods which are becoming well accepted in this country. Nevertheless, the popularity of Thai food is not to the extent of outshining the local food. Thai foods were found to be not consumed everyday by the local people, but rather as an option or alternative or as part of leisure dining. Another remarkable finding is that respondents seemed to agree that Thai food is internationally popular than the Malaysian food. This indication has significant implications to the related authorities as to why Malaysian food is not as popular as Thai food internationally in spite of having a distinctive flavour and diversity of taste.