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The increasing concern over the adverse effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on human well-being has driven extensive research attempts with the aim of creating effective sunscreen compositions. The biocompatible and biodegradable mineral known as natural hydroxyapatite (HAp) has received significant interest as a potential UV absorber, due to its exceptional photoprotective characteristics. To strengthen the UV absorption properties of HAp and enhance its efficacy as a sunscreen agent, this research venture explores the novel effects of incorporating Mn2+ and Fe3+ into HAp. These metallic ions exhibit excellent photostability, ensuring the effectiveness of their UV protection efficacy and minimal toxicity. The cream, which is manufactured with a hybrid complex, has been tested by spectroscopic analysis. The FTIR spectra of the HAp with metal ions exhibited shifts in the wavelength range of 3626-3630 cm−1, indicating a potential interaction between the metal ions and the hydroxyl group (v OH). In the context of UV-vis examination, it is observed that HAp-Mn2+ exhibits a comparatively higher absorption value of 2.32. This can be attributed to its distinctive electronic structure, characterised by five unpaired d-electrons. The presence of these unpaired electrons enables HAp-Mn2+ to effectively absorb and dissipate UV light. The analyses mentioned above are supported by the utilisation of the theoretical quantum chemical B3LYP approach with a basis set of 6- 11++G(d,p). This technique reveals that the HOMO LUMO energy band gap of HAp-Mn2+ displays the lowest value, indicating its strong light absorption capability. This observation is further confirmed by the SPF calculation, which indicates that HAp- Mn2+ exhibits the greatest SPF value of 22.41. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan is an organic amino-polysaccharide that is produced from chitin. Chitosan has been widely used in a variety of applications due to its natural origin and exceptional qualities, including biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity, and metal ion chelation. This study's goal was to compare how well chitosan was produced at two distinct temperatures—high temperature for method A and ambient temperature for method B. Both methods, method A (90°C on deproteination, 25°C demineralization, and 90°C deacetylation) and method B (25°C on deproteination, 25°C demineralization, and 25°C deacetylation), required three steps to produce chitosan. Chitosan film was created by heating the synthesized chitosan in 1% acetic acid. Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrum (FT-IR), the functional group of chitosan and chitosan film was determined for this work. Thermal stability was studied using Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and weight loss on hydrolysis study. Char residue of chitosan at 650°C for method A is 18.8% and method B 32.2% while char residue for chitosan film method A is 23% and Method B is 0%. In hydrolysis study, the condition at 40°C of 5 days' dried in the oven gave 33% of maximum weight loss for chitosan film A and 29% maximum weight loss for chitosan film B. In addition, pH tests, solubility, yield percentage, and degree of deacetylation, were performed to assess the quality of chitosan and chitosan film produced by each method. The results show that method A has a higher yield (11.9%) and a higher solubility (100%). It also performed 89% degree of deacetylation, which was measured based on FT-IR wavelength compared to method B. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metals like nickel, chromium and copper have been excessively released into the environment due to rapid industrialization, which can cause a significant global concern. Despite numerous research on the removal of heavy metals, this study focuses on the application of glutaraldehyde-crosslinked chitosan (GCC) beads as highly effective bioadsorbents for the separation of nickel ions (Ni (II)). With increasing the extent of glutaraldehyde-crosslinking, the GCC beads showed enhanced adsorption selectivity and capacity toward Ni (II). The effects of pH, agitation speed, contact time, adsorbent dose, and initial metal ion concentration were studied in hatch adsorption systems. Under the optimum conditions, the adsorbent shows 91.97% for Ni (II) removal with good reusability till the third cycle. After eight cycles, adsorption capacity of GCC showed no noticeable decline. This study provides an economical approach as a sorbent for removing heavy metals from water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chi-square (X2) test is a nonparametric statistical analyzing method often used in experimental work where the data consists of frequencies or 'counts' for construction of any simulation model and improvisation needed to be made for any queuing service. Before a Queuing analysis can be performed, it is important to understand the distribution pattern of the interarrival and the service rate. For this reason, Chi-Square testing was conducted mainly to determine whether the distributions fit the exponential distribution. This is because the arrival rate and the service rate were previously has been related to exponential distribution besides Erlang and Normal distributions. This study was conducted at a healthcare center since Queuing has been a huge problem there. The result in this study shows that both interarrival and service rate at that healthcare follow an exponential distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased number of patients and a lack of staff and facilities contributed to long waits and overcrowding in the government hospital. As a result, this study aims to investigate the seriousness of the queueing at the government hospital's Psychiatric and Mental Health Outpatient Department (PMHOD) in Southern Peninsular Malaysia and to offer any acceptable solutions. Further, we determine the process flow of the patients getting full treatment in the outpatient department. This process includes patients arriving at the hospital, receiving treatment and medication, and leaving the facility. We then collected the data on the real-time spent by patients to complete the process flow. A replication model of this process flow was created using Arena simulation software. The queueing scenario in the PHMOD was then examined utilizing the real and simulated outcomes. The results suggest that the outpatient department's queueing system has a significant wait time. Based on the findings, a strategy to shorten patient wait times was presented. This study aided the outpatient department in analyzing and evaluating the current queueing mechanism without interfering with real-world events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we are interested in finding solutions to several porous medium equations with source terms using a new numerical approach. The general porous medium equation with a source term (PMES) will first be transformed into a corresponding nonlinear second-order ordinary differential equation using a wave variable transformation. Then, we employ the finite difference scheme to discretize the transformed equation into an approximation equation and utilize the Newton method to linearize the generated system of nonlinear equations. Furthermore, we use the Kaudd successive over-relaxation (KSOR) iterative method to solve the system of linear equations efficiently. After that, we compare the performance of the KSOR iterative method with the Gauss-Seidel (GS) iterative method based on their computational results. Based on the collected results, we can show that the proposed numerical approach can solve the PMES accurately and that the KSOR iterative method is an efficient iterative method to calculate the generated system of linear equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to establish an improved Newton iteration method for solving large-scale nonlinear constrained optimization problems. The proposed method simplifies the calculation of the Newton iteration direction in the form of a large-scale Hessian matrix to treat the nonlinear constrained optimization problems into the corresponding unconstrained optimization problems via the Lagrangian multiplier method. Due to the advantage of the block iteration method, the formulation of the proposed method combines the Newton iteration and the four-point Explicit Group Gauss-Seidel (4EGGS) iterative method namely as Newton-4EGGS iteration for solving the generated linear system during the implementation of inner iteration process. To illustrate the efficient calculation of the proposed method, the formulation and implementation of Newton-Gauss-Seidel (Newton-GS) and two-point Newton-Explicit Group Gauss-Seidel (Newton-2EGGS) iterative methods are also presented. Finally, numerical experiments have revealed its superiority with lesser iteration and faster time taken as compared with other two iterative methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of plant sciences, the tree's biophysical is understood as the natural characteristics of the plant during its growth. Moreover, it influences many biogeographical factors, including climatic, geographic, and edaphic. This study put considerable attention to the use of the aerial photograph in estimating the particular tree biophysical, such as tree canopy, height, and diameter, by optimising the standard band of an aerial photograph, namely the red, green, and blue (RGB) band, and enhanced by the green ratio index. This study aims to estimate the biophysical parameters of Terminalia catappa L., including tree diameter, canopy, and height, using the statistical analysis of linear regression. The result may compare both GRI and RGB bands of aerial photograph capability. These data are used together with the actual tree biophysical parameters previously collected from a field survey, including the diameter breast height (DBH), tree height, and canopy measurement of Terminalia catappa L. This study resulted in the green band as the most suitable dependent variable, followed by the red band and GRI to retrieve the Terminalia catappa L. tree biophysical parameters. Its robust technique offered the best accuracy for DBH and canopy at 5.89 meters square and 0.08 meters, respectively. While the GRI came as the reasonable variable to detect the tree height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topological index provides information about the overall structure of a molecular graph and is often used in quantitative studies of chemical compounds. Consider Γ be a simple graph, consisting of a collection of edges and vertices. The first Zagreb index of a graph is calculated by adding the squared degrees of every vertex in the graph. Meanwhile, the zero divisor graph of a ring 푅, denoted by Γ(푅), is defined as a graph where its vertices are zero divisors of 푅 and two distinct vertices 푎 and 푏 are adjacent if their product is equal to zero. For 푞 is an odd prime number and 푘 is a positive integer, the first Zagreb index of the zero divisor graph for the commutative ring of integers modulo 2푘푞 is determined in this paper. An example is given to illustrate the main results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sunscreens are normally based on synthetic chemicals with a high capacity to absorb sunlight at the region of UVB (320–290 nm) and UVA (400–320 nm) spectrum. In this study, Kaolin has been used as a physical material in sunscreen that will reflect UV light. Meanwhile, coffee bean oil is used as chemical material due to its properties that contain a high percentage of antioxidants and polyphenols. The UV analysis shows that the addition of kaolin and into emulsion give better results compared to the basic emulsion. Sample F7 gives the best result with the value of SPF 15. The F7 also gives a good value for a skin analysis (TEWL and Hydration test). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduces a novel watermarking scheme to enhance robustness and integrity in medical images using the Knight's Tour algorithm. Medical image digitization and sharing necessitate robust techniques for data security. Existing watermarking methods often lack resilience against attacks and maintain imperceptibility. To address these issues, the proposed scheme employs the Knight's Tour algorithm to determine the optimal pixel locations for watermark embedding. Extensive evaluations demonstrate its effectiveness against geometric attacks, specifically image rotation and scaling. The study's significance lies in providing a reliable solution for safeguarding medical image data, ensuring authenticity, and bolstering trust in healthcare applications. Moreover, the scheme's adaptability extends its significance to multimedia data protection and content authentication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in indoor navigation has transformed spatial awareness and user interaction. This research focuses on "AR@Campus," an AR app designed for campus navigation, aligned with Industry 4.0 principles. It leverages AR to enhance human perception and dynamic digital interaction. The primary goal is to provide an intuitive campus navigation experience using IndoorAtlas positioning technology. Key features include overlaying virtual elements like paths and landmarks onto real-world views, improving spatial understanding. The study covers software development, interface design, and user evaluation, utilizing the IndoorAtlas SDK and Android Studio for precise positioning. The user interface prioritizes ease of use and personalized experiences. User testing is integral, confirming the app's effectiveness, praised for its user-friendly interface and spatial awareness enhancements. AR@Campus represents a significant step forward in campus navigation, benefiting users by seamlessly integrating AR technology into their daily experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microservices architecture is a modern approach to software development that offers numerous benefits over traditional monolithic architecture, including increased agility, availability, and fault tolerance. However, migrating from a monolithic architecture to a microservices architecture, can be a complex and challenging process. This paper provides an overview of the key steps involved in migrating to a microservices architecture, as well as the four main metrics for estimating migration costs. By adhering to the suggested evaluation metrics while assessing the ten approaches, organizations can determine the most appropriate strategy for transitioning to a microservices architecture. This approach can harness the advantages of heightened agility, improve availability and enhance fault tolerance. Future research could focus on developing more sophisticated evaluation metrics and conducting case studies of successful microservices implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glass reinforced epoxy are widely known in oil and gas industry as glass reinforced epoxy pipe. However, glass reinforced epoxy has limitation such as demanding careful handling due fabrication, installation and transportation because of brittle nature itself and low compressive strength. The aim of this research is to characterize and study the effect of different geopolymer filler in the glass reinforced epoxy pipe composites. Filament winding method will be used in producing glass reinforced epoxy composite. Samples will be prepared with different weight percentage of geopolymer filler loading and different types of geopolymer filler which is fly ash-based geopolymer and kaolin-based geopolymer with 10wt% - 40wt% of geopolymer filler loading. Microstructure was obtained by using Scanning Electron Microscopy showed spherical shaped of fly ash raw material and plate-like structure for kaolin raw material. After undergoes the mechanical testing involved compressive test, pipe sample of glass reinforced epoxy filled with 20 wt% of fly ash-based geopolymer filler showed the best performances above them all. The compressive strength value was 43.05 MPa. Glass reinforced epoxy composite pipe filled with different geopolymer are not widely used in this research area. Therefore, by using geopolymer as a filler can improve the properties of glass reinforced epoxy composite pipe. Hence, a waste material like geopolymer can reduce the cost of material and improve the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shoulder press is a common exercise performed to increase shoulder muscles strength. This study aims to determine and compare the electromyographic (EMG) activation and performance during three sets of shoulder press exercise among untrained women. Thirty recreationally active, untrained women were recruited as study participants and were required to lift 80% of one repetition maximum (1RM). EMG activation was obtained from the anterior deltoid and triceps brachii during the shoulder press exercises. Performance was measured by the number of repetitions performed in the three sets during the exercises. Results showed that the number of repetitions and EMG activation decreased significantly in the second set. As the conclusion, among untrained women, it seems that performance in shoulder press exercise tend to decrease as early as during the second set. It is recommended for untrained women to perform more than a single set for each exercise in a resistance training to promote stimuli for muscular endurance adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to compare the difference in negative pressure values using a commercially available phlegm suction device. The device was modified to enhance its suction capability of performing up to 8 cups simultaneously. First, negative pressure was measured using an analogue gauge and the DP-100 vacuum sensor to detect any negative pressure loss. Next, the cupping therapy pressure was measured on a tile floor and on various spots on the body using 8 cups. The results show that there is an insignificant difference in negative pressure readings recorded in the analogue gauge and the DP-100 vacuum sensor, indicating no major loss in vacuum pressure. Using up to 8 cups, the maximum value of the pressure on the floor was measured to be up to -36 kPa, while the maximum pressure on the forearm, calf, and the back of the body measured was up to -48 kPa, -48 kPa, and -50 kPa, respectively. In addition, all data measured on various spots on the body up to 8 cups show that the values meet the minimum negative pressure of -40 kPa required to perform wet cupping. In summary, the fabricated device can therefore be utilized to perform cupping therapy with up to 8 cups simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the human population grows and demands more resources, environmental protection is becoming a priority. To support the achievement of sustainable design and eliminate environmental problems, the decision of designers on the selection of the right materials and joining methods are two crucial processes in product design. This is important to ensure the product can be easily recycled at the end of its life. The aim of this study is to develop an eco-design tool for co-selection of materials and deciding the best approach for joining methods considering the evaluation of environmental impact. The designed tool was developed by employing genetic algorithms (GA) to optimize the process of material and joining method selection. A case study was performed to validate the applicability of the designed tool. The result showed that the developed design tool can be used to select both identical and dissimilar materials and joining methods. This article also discusses the study's consequences and recommendations for designers to accelerate the product design process considering the environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to analyze the financial performance of industrial companies in the Iraqi environment in light of their exposure to the risks of Covid 19 and to identify the most important financial effects that resulted from those risks from the side of the financial position and business results. To achieve the goal of the study, the researchers reviewed the theoretical literature and previous studies related to the subject of the study. It also adopted the applied and analytical approach to determine the extent to which companies are affected by the risks of Covid 19 by relying on the financial statements of Al-Mansour Pharmaceutical Company and Al-Warith Industrial Company. The study concluded that the risks of Covid 19 greatly and unexpectedly affected the business environment, especially companies in the industrial sector, where their impact was positive on the one hand and a negative impact on the other, and this is due to the nature of the products in the market, so medical and preventive products were the most popular by people during that period, the pharmaceutical companies achieved high profits, while other industrial products were subject to stagnation and damage, and in the end, large financial losses. The researchers recommended that companies move to a policy of facing crises and unexpected risks as one of the main objectives of the company in order to maintain its position in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polysiphonia sp is the dominant epiphyticmacroalgae species in the K. alvarezii host on the Lombok cultivation centre. The existence of this epiphyte has a negative influence on cultivation activities and the resulted product. The dominance of this species is influenced by the anatomical characteristics of Polysiphonia sp, K. alvarezii and the content of metabolites found in the thallus surface of the host. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between Polysiphonia sp and K. alvarezii. The sample used was K. alvarezii, overgrown by the epiphyte Polysiphonia sp. Anatomical data obtained by making cross-sections were then stained with CBB. For the epiphyte anatomy, it was done by staining all parts of the thallus using the same dye. Surface metabolite data of K. alvarezii thallus were obtained by dissolved it in methanol as solvent for 30 second, and compound analysis was carried out using GCMS. Correlation analysis between Polysiphonia sp and K. alvarezii was carried out descriptively. The results showed that the thallus diameter of Polysiphonia sp was about 400-700 mm, 1-1.5 cm long. It had a rhizoid holdfast and could produce large amounts of spores. Host anatomy shows an uneven surface, with cortical cells forming a dome that can potentially increase the epiphyte attachment rate. The results of GCMS analysis showed that the infected K. alvarezii thallus obtained as many as 20 compounds, while in the healthy thallus, only ten compounds. One of the metabolites produced by infected thallus was Benzoic acid (CAS) retardex which plays a role in stimulating abiotic and antimicrobial stress tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivators that grow oyster mushrooms keep failing due to a of lack control in temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and concentration of carbon dioxide. In order to grow great oyster mushrooms and avoid crop failure, the temperature must be between 22 °C to 28 °C and the relative humidity must be between 85% to 90%. The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) needs to be controlled below 800 during its growth phase. Failure to meet those parameters will result in the mushroom drying out, slowing growth, or stopping. As a result, oyster mushroom cultivators will require a system that can control the surrounding temperature and humidity, soil moisture, and concentration of CO2 conditions in order to produce good-quality oyster mushrooms. An automated environmental control system is constructed to handle the problem. In this system, by means of a feedback control loop system that monitors and activates the actuators when necessary, promising results of the oyster mushroom cultivation system are produced and analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vision impaired individuals suffer from the lack of surrounding information which makes moving around very hard for them. In this work, a smart belt is designed to assist the blind in detecting obstacles and holes in front of them. Upon detection, the smart belt will notify the user by means of a textual audio message. The device utilizes a Raspberry Pie single-board computer as well as two ultrasonic sensors as the main component. Test results indicate that the system manages to provide accurate measurement of the distance to the obstacles with +- 1cm error. The system has been designed to cater gait movement as well as the variability of flat surface. This is important to avoid false positive and false negative alarm to the user. Using the belt is very convenient as compared to the white stick. It is easy to wear on the waist and once activated the device shall auto-calibrate its distance to the ground before obstacle/hole detection mode is activated automatically a few seconds later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sentiment analysis (SA) is the study of people's emotions and attitudes toward a particular topic. It is beneficial for monitoring and analyzing social media text in order to gather public opinion. Despite the fact that there are SA applications for monolingual text such as English and non-English languages like Hindi, Chinese and French, the Malay language has far fewer works, not to mention the mixed language such as Malay-English (also known as Manglish). Other than comments and posts from websites and social media, the emoji used by internet users can also help to provide better insights into how they truly feel about a particular topic. Our work focuses on Malay-English mixed language comments and posts on how Malaysians feel about daily new cases of Covid-19 in Malaysia. We proposed a neural network framework to perform SA on languages spoken by Malaysians, namely Malay, English, and Malay-English, by also taking into account the emoji used by internet users. The data was pre-processed to remove noises and then transformed into word vector representation using word embedding technique. Then we propose a framework that involves training and testing mixed language textual data along with emoji analysis by using bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (biLSTM) neural network. To compare with the proposed method, several machine learning models and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) with word vectorization was used. Finally, compared to the machine learning model such as Naïve Bayes and Logistic Regression, neural networks such as LSTM, the proposed method; biLSTM with tuned hyper-parameter for Malay-English mixed language achieved the highest accuracy of 76.6%, and macro F1-score of 69.6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple graph is a set of vertices, V(Γ) and a set of edges, E(Γ), where each edge 〈u − v〉 connects two different vertices u and v (there are no self-loops). In topological index, the general zeroth-order Randić index is defined as the sum of the degree of each vertex to the power of α ≠ 0. Given a ring R, let Γ(R) denote the graph whose vertex set is R, such that the distinct vertices a and b are adjacent provided that ab = 0 for the zero-divisor graph of a ring. In this paper, we present the general formula of the general zeroth-order Randić index of the zero-divisor graph for some commutative rings. The commutative ring in the scope of this research is the ring of integers modulo pn, where p is a prime number and n is a positive integer. The general zeroth-order Randić index is found for the cases α =1, 2 and 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple graph is a set of vertices, V(Γ) and a set of edges, E(Γ), where each edge 〈u − v〉 connects two different vertices u and v (there are no self-loops). In topological index, the general zeroth-order Randić index is defined as the sum of the degree of each vertex to the power of α ≠ 0. Given a ring R, let Γ(R) denote the graph whose vertex set is R, such that the distinct vertices a and b are adjacent provided that ab = 0 for the zero-divisor graph of a ring. In this paper, we present the general formula of the general zeroth-order Randić index of the zero-divisor graph for some commutative rings. The commutative ring in the scope of this research is the ring of integers modulo pn, where p is a prime number and n is a positive integer. The general zeroth-order Randić index is found for the cases α =1, 2 and 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a hybrid rule-based machine learning approach to produce a student profiling model for University Selangor (UNISEL) a state-owned private higher education institution in Malaysia. This project attempts to address UNISEL's interest by proposing a student profiling model that can assist in predicting student intake using existing data from a survey conducted by UNISEL among its current students. Maintaining a healthy student intake is vital to ensure the continuity of any private educational institution. Hence, this research aims to predict student intake towards academic entrance in UNISEL based current data profile using hybrid rule-based methods subject to past student intake data to improve better decision-making process. The two algorithm that had been selected using the hybrid rule-based machine learning approach combines rule-based (i.e., expert system) with multi-level machine learning (i.e., K-Mode's clustering and decision tree classification) to produce the final student profiler model. This paper first outlines the assumptions made before dividing the proposed approach into five main phases: data cleaning, feature extraction and selection, model formulation and model testing. Results shows that the project managed to propose a creative workaround that suited the use-case presented to produce the student profiler model in predicting student intake in UNISEL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molasses-based effluent discharge contains significant amount of nutrients (e.g. Fe, Mg, K), which has potential use as an organic fertilizer to fit into the waste-to-wealth plan. Apart from that, the presence of toxic heavy metals content should not be underestimated as it could somehow end up in the rice grains and into the food chains. Thus, in this present work, the concentrations of Al, Cr, Cu and Ni in paddy crops from three different plots irrigated with the molasses-based effluent from an ethanol distillery; Control Plot, Plot 1 (repeatedly irrigated) and Plot 2 (irrigated for the first time) were investigated. All the heavy metals were found to be within the limits indicated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for the reuse of wastewater for cultivation, Standard B in the Fifth Schedule, Environmental Quality (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009, and the Malaysia Ground Water Quality Standard (MGWQS) for Agricultural 2019 by the Department of Environment Malaysia. The results postulated that the rice yield in Plot 2 was higher compared to the other plots. The study also revealed that the concentrations of the heavy metals in the paddy plants decreased when mobilized from the roots to the rice grains for all sampling plots (p < 0.05). The bioconcentration factor (BCF) for Cu and Ni showed the highest values of 2.01 and 4.89, respectively in Plot 1. As the heavy metals concentration in wastewater were within the allowed limit, metals present in the paddy plant parts could be mobilized from the metals readily present in the soil. These results indicated that the molasses-based distillery's effluent could be a source of plant nutrients as the rice yields improved and have potential to be used for paddy irrigation, as long as it is contained from leaching into water reservoirs.xc [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to fit the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution to the annual maximum rainfall at several sites of the West Coast district in Sabah. We compare the stationary and non-stationary GEV models to fit the annual maximum rainfall with a linear function of temperature as a covariate in the location parameter. In addition, the available observations at each site were limited; therefore, the generalized maximum likelihood estimation (GMLE) was applied to estimate the parameters of GEV distribution. Since the GEV was fitted independently at each site, therefore we applied the sandwich estimator to adjust the standard error. It was found that the additional covariate has no impact on the GEV parameter. Hence, the return level of each station has been obtained by using the stationary GEV model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Training machine learning model may involve a huge amount of data with a variety of variables, be it numerical variable or categorical variable. Using all the variables in a dataset may cause model complexity and could potentially reduce accuracy. Concerning the possibility of accuracy reduction related to the number of variables, one of the methods introduced that aids in model's efficiency is feature selection which is one of the feature space dimensionality reduction method. Feature selection aids in selection variables that contributes to the prediction variables. Therefore, this paper compared several methods such as ANOVA, Random Forest Feature Importance, Mutual Information Feature Selection and Univariate Regression Test, in feature selection that successfully rank the important parameters that suits the numerical and categorical target of VDSL2 Technology Network dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, solar energy from the sun is one of the most useful renewable energy to generate electricity with many advantages that has contributed a lot in discovering new technologies to generate energy supplies for the good uses around the world. Currently, solar panel is installed with a fixed position. This causes the panel to be unable to absorb sunlight energy optimally. Therefore, in this paper a prototype solar panel system is designed which can track the position of the sun. The Mamdani type fuzzy logic controller is applied to ensure the position of the solar panels is always perpendicular to the sunlight. Real Time Clock (RTC) sensors are applied as input variable for controller and to be able to provide the right input signal to the controller, several light sensors are used and installed in an array. Besides that, this system also can be controlled through IoT using Blynk Application and can be accessed through smart phone. Using this mechanism, the solar panel system can acquire energy maximally. Based on real time experimental tested on two weather conditions from 7.00 am to 4.00 pm, namely sunny and during the cloudy, it can be seen that on a sunny day this system can absorb a total energy of 94.7W and cloudy day is 33.3W. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a twisted copper cable fault design using replication of an actual architecture network topology VDSL2 17a technology for ITU-993.2 in the Malaysia network. It focuses on the suburban area for the performance degradation capacity using MSAN and EXFO test gear instruments. Various cable faults emulate the Distribution Point (DP) that replicate in the disconnection module was made. The acquisitions data from MSAN and EXFO test gear based on the Loop Line Testing (LLT) parameters, especially in RC parameter on the correlation of the measurement of these two instruments, was collected. The emulation on the disconnection module based on the TDR for validity data range to MSAN was measured. The TDR signal result shows the wave based on cable faults and the correlation between MSAN and EXFO test gear. The network line or cable faults are classified into four conditions which are ideal, Bridge Tap (BT), short and open conditions. The faults were emulated and introduced in the network line with 100 m, 200 m, and 300 m distances between MSAN and Customer Premises (CP). The validity and data trend for its respective cable faults on RC parameter and observability of the MSAN and EXFO was produced. For open fault condition, the trend and pattern of the capacitance parameter shown that as the transmission line is added in capacitance properties, the capacitance series will also increase. Meanwhile, for short fault condition, the resistance properties were the main highlight. As short fault condition is introduced between Tip [A] and Ring [B], the resistance obtained is the lowest. The correlation between MSAN and EXFO results can significantly input the guideline when imposing cable fault in machine learning algorithm applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides affected million people and caused deaths as particularly vulnerable to landslides. The alternate way for access road to Ranau during landslide is to build a new road instead of widening. Therefore, this study is to analyse a suitable GIS-based alternative route planning during landslides in Sabah, Malaysia. The data such as landslide historical data, satellite images, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and other spatial data were obtained from spatial open sources. A GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach with the extension of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) used for estimating the criteria weights of the landslide. The criteria included lithology, slope, aspect, rainfall, land use or land cover (LULC) and proximity from stream for produced the Landslide Susceptibility Index (LSI) map, while the landslide prone-areas map was produced based on the NASA-landslide historical data. The study found the most contributing factors of the local landslide occurrences were lithology, slope and aspect. An alternative safe route map was proposed from the source location (Pinausuk) to destination location (Kundasang) based on the selected criteria and the safest route characteristics. The proposed alternative safe route map in the district is beneficial to the authorities and it could be shared to public thereby they know which route could be used for safer alternative access during the landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road access is crucial in any location since it promotes more comfortable transportation for people. However, the seasonal monsoon can cause water to overflow and affect to local transportation accessibility. Thus, the aim of this research was to provide analternative route map for safe travel from Kota Marudu to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah during the floods using a geospatial approach. The flood vulnerability map was produced based on selected local criteria which are the slope, rainfall, land cover/land use (LULC), distance from river and river density, while network analysis used for the path analysis. The dominants factors were the LULC and the distance from river which have the equal rank from Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) evaluation. The vulnerability map showedthere were two alternative route available during the flood in the study area. When compared, one of it could be used as an applicableroute during the flood. Since the flood extent was only based on estimation, thus the flood only could be predicted and sometimes will cause unexpected disaster. New road should be proposed which it should be a good idea to establish road at the higher part of the district. With this alternative route map, user may be informed to choose a safer route when the rainy season arrived as cautious during the season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Batam Island has abundant natural resources in the sea area. This is due to the fact that Batam Island is surrounded by the ocean. However, the potential of this great natural resource has not been fully exploited by people on Batam Island, especially by the fishermen. This is due to the lack of information regarding the distribution value of chlorophyll-a which is required to determine the potential location of various biodiversity in piayu waters. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the distribution of chlorophyll-a in Piayu waters. The data processing method used was the extraction of Terra Modis image data using Ocean Data View (ODV) software. From this research, a map of the distribution of chlorophyll-a in Piayu waters was produced. The results showed that the highest distribution of chlorophyll-a occurred in May 2019 with a chlorophyll value of 2,462 mg/m3. The lowest distribution of chlorophyll-a in this study was in December 2018 with a value of 1,612 mg/m3. The content of chlorophyll-a is more abundant in the surface layer near the mainland waters of Piayu, Batam, while the closer it is to the sea, the lower the chlorophyll-a content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]