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Recruitment is a process of identifying individuals who have the potential to create a quality staff that will ensure the achievement of a company's goals and mission. Many employers are interested in recruiting capable graduates. However, there are still employers who do not offer a salary equivalent to the student's qualifications. Accordingly, this study aims to determine the recruitment pattern for Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) graduates from 2015 until 2020.  It identifies graduates of UTHM, a public technical university who receive salaries equivalent to their qualifications at the Diploma level. It also aims to identify employers who consistently hire UTHM graduates from the designated years. This empirical study analyzed raw data from the Graduate Tracer Study online system administered by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia. The respondents consisted of 1302 diploma graduates at UTHM. The results of the study show that only 32% of graduates receive a salary commensurate with their diploma qualification. This shows a high mismatch between the job salaries and qualifications of graduates. Further results also found that there are 43 companies consistently recruiting UTHM Diploma Graduates from 2015 to 2020. Attentively, JST Connector (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd is the most consistent company in recruiting UTHM Diploma graduates with a total of 15 employees in that period.

There was  range of disadvantages in the informal roadside metalwork fabrication apprenticeship practice in north western Nigeria that includes the lack of appropriate technical skills to better serve the society.  The purpose of this research was to identify those technical skills needed for the informal roadside metalwork fabrication apprenticeship practice in Nigeria. To this effect an investigation was carried out through a survey research, using questionnaire instrument and interview as entailed by methodological triangulation. The survey research was conducted using 140 population of master craft persons from sampled workshops in seven states of North West geo-political zone of Nigeria, using a structured questionnaire instrument. Interview of 10 participants was made, who were randomly selected from, industry-based trainers, lecturers and instructors within the seven states in north western Nigeria. The interviews were conducted to ensure a balance result. Open coding was made, followed by Axial coding. Selective coding was lastly made and the results were interpreted as it complemented the descriptive results which entailed the methodological triangulation method. To validate the results obtained from methodological triangulation, eleven Delphi panel of experts were involved. Binary analysis and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (Kendall’s Wa) were used to measure and determine the consensus of the experts on the technical skills items. Positive results were obtained because the level of consensus between the participants was 0.621. The results also indicated inter-judge reliability. Suggestions were made for the improvement of the sector, as the appropriate and valid technical skills needed were outlined. Keywords: Technical skills, apprenticeship practice, validation, improvement, needs.

Performance assessments such as laboratory practice in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) are difficult to measure because they are subjective in their characteristics, which can cause bias. The use of a rubric scoring scale is suitable for measuring students’ practical competency as it could translate the qualitative criteria into quantitative forms on a grading scale. The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of rater severity for the performance of component installation of an electronic circuit project using Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM). Nine raters have examined the competency performance of 68 students using a four-point rating scale rubric consisting of 16 items. This study was conducted at three vocational colleges. The results showed that all raters measured with different severities but very high consistency. The effect of rater severity did not exist at the group level but exhibited at the individual level. It can also be examined that all raters were biased on the item and also towards students, either by being severe or lenient. Thus, the rubric cannot eliminate the effect of bias during the assessment. However, it can help raters to be consistent so that they have the same understanding when translating the rubric. These findings have implications for the psychometric quality of the electronic circuit project performance assessment.

A novel approach for the low-cost bioadsorbent for the removal of leachate pollutants is presented herein. In this study, limestone is combined with zeolite in order to fabricate biocomposite media with different ratios. Results revealed that limestone-zeolite biocomposite adsorbed ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) and COD, which could possibly be used for the adsorption of NH3-N and COD efficiently from leachate. The optimum mixing ratio by means was carried out using series of batch experiments for limestone and zeolite to measure the remediation of NH3-N and COD in a stabilized leached. The optimum ratio for limestone and zeolite in the remediation of NH3-N and COD obtained were at 25:15 (82%) and 30:10 (75%), respectively. Indeed, the prepared limestone-zeolite biocomposite is a low-cost and effective adsorbent was potential used to derive the NH3-N and COD for a promising adsorption efficiency from stabilized landfill leachate.

Kitchen wastewater that is discharged to the environment is one of the contributing factors to water pollution in developing countries. Adsorption is one of the emerging technology of biological treatments that is an environmentally friendly for the removal of pollutants. Banana trunk fiber with chitosan as an adsorbent was investigated for minimizing COD and ammonia from the kitchen wastewater. The raw kitchen wastewater sample used in the study was collected from the Arked food court located in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia in Johor (Malaysia). The optimum of ratio, pH, shaking speed and contact time for COD and ammonia removal were determined. The result indicated the optimum mix ratio of fiber with chitosan, pH, shaking speed and contact time respectively was 50:50, pH 7, 125 rpm and 120 minutes based on the adsorption of COD (87%) and ammonia (90%) by banana trunk fiber with chitosan. Kinetic study of the results gave a pseudosecond order the R2 was closed to unity which was 0.998. It will significantly be considered for efficient removal of organic and nutrient pollutants present in kitchen wastewater treatment.

Leachate are very high strength wastewaters that contain a variety of pollutants that pose a serious threat to the environment if appropriate control measure is ignored. Composite adsorbent is an emerging, interesting and attractive alternative to conventional adsorbents and having the ability to act as catalysts due to their high reactivity and excellent selectivity towards specific pollutant compounds. This study investigated the potential of biocomposite adsorbent made from a combination of chitosan, feldspar and zeolite (CFZ) for the treatment of Iron (Fe) from leachate wastewater. Leachate characterization and batch adsorption experiments was conducted to determine the optimum conditions for pH, dosage and contact time parameter in the removal of Fe. The result shows that the concentration of Fe was 15.82 which exceeded the recommended limit. The optimum conditions also occurred at pH 5 with 6 gram of biocomposite dosage and at 180 minutes contact time. The corresponding removal efficiency for Fe is 90% with 0.0127 mg/g uptake capacity

Plant waste such as Delonix Regia Pods (DRP) have the potential to be used as adsorbents. A study of lignocellulose delonix regia pods was carried to assess ammoniacal nitrogen removal from natural rubber wastewater. Sample wastewater was taken from the rubber processing industry and characterization was carried out. Outcomes from the analysis shows that the ammoniacal nitrogen concentration was 66 mg/L and higher than the recommended wastewater discharge standards. Batch experiments were conducted on the effect of dose, pH, shaking speed and contact time parameters for optimum condition. The results revealed that the optimal dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time is 4.5 g, pH 8, 150 rpm and 120 minutes with ammoniacal nitrogen removal efficiency of 74.3 % and the adsorption capacity of 1.22 mg/g. Pseudo second order kinetic model was found to fit the data better and the R2 obtained was 0.9992. From the study, it can be concluded that the media can be used for the removal of ammoniacal nitrogen in natural rubber wastewater and subsequently reduce environmental pollution. Hence, it can be sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Plant waste such as Delonix Regia Pods have the potential to be used as absorbents. A study of activated carbon derived from delonix regia pods was carried out for the removal COD in natural rubber wastewater. Sample wastewater was obtained from the rubber processing industry and characterized to determine the level of pollutant content. Results of the analysis of wastewater characterization shows that the COD value was 5196 mg/L which is above discharge standards. Laboratory experiments was conducted to determine the optimum dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time using response surface methodology. The results showed that the optimal dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time were 4 g, pH 8, 150 rpm and 100 minutes with COD removal value of 70.65 %. The model F-value obtained for COD was 68.27 with the Prob. > F value of < 0.0001 indicating the significance of the model. The predicted versus the empirical data were relatively close to each other, therefore the developed models sufficiently described the response and variables interaction in the adsorption process. The results also indicate the suitability of the adsorbent for application in a sustainable wastewater treatment. It is recommended that further study be carried out to assess its application for other pollutants derived from non-rubber industries.

Waste paper sludge (WPS) is produced by the paper industry during the wastewater treatment process of paper production. The disposal techniques of WPS pose a great concern for the environment. This study focuses on the evaluation of WPS as an alternative absorbent material to activated carbon (AC) for the removal of contaminants from stabilized landfill leachate. Ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were identified as the two major contaminants in landfill leachate. Both AC and WPS were mixed together in different ratios. The optimum replacement for the absorbent was determined using the batch technique. The adsorption batch study was carried out under the optimum pH of 7, with a shaking speed of 200 rpm and a contact time of 120 minutes. The adsorption isotherms indicated that the Langmuir model was better fitted to the experimental data as it was found to have the highest regression values. The Langmuir adsorption capacities for COD and NH3-N were 32.26 mg/g and 21.60 mg/g, respectively. The optimum replacements were initially at two different ratios of 2:2 and 3:1 based on the optimum removal of COD and NH3-N, respectively. However, the final optimum replacement for the absorbents (AC: WPS) in this study was the ratio of 2:2 due to the higher removal of COD (85.9%) and NH3-N (49.3%).

The optimal conditions for the reduction of COD and NH3-N using cockle shells (CS) from a stabilised landfill effluent were analyzed. The influence of two variables (adsorbent dosage and pH) were analysed through the application of response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD). Quadratic models were developed for the removals of COD and NH3-N parameters. The optimum conditions for removal of 65.6% and 53.6% for COD and NH3-N respectively was achieved at pH 6.34, adsorbent dosage of 20.21 g having 0.888 desirability value. The model F-value obtained for NH3-N removal Prob. > F value of 0.0001 with F-value of 104.21 was obtained. Similarly the Prob. > F value of < 0.0001 for COD with F-value of 82.74 was obtained, these P-values confirmed the significance of the model. The predicted response versus the experimental response depicted that the experimental data were relatively close to the predicted data. Thus, the generated models significantly enclosed the correlation between the process variables and the response.   GMT Detect languageAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSesothoSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZulu AfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGerm

Natural rubber processing wastewater contains high concentration of organic compound, colour, nitrogen, and other contaminants. This study evaluated a chitosan bead as an adsorbent in adsorption process for natural rubber wastewater treatment. The effects of adsorbent dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time and adsorption isotherm on colour adsorption onto chitosan beads were evaluated using batch experiments. Meanwhile, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to validate the experimental data. Maximum removal of 71.5%, for colour was observed for an adsorbent dosage 4.5 g, pH 7, and shaking speed 150 rpm. Equilibrium was achieved in 120 min. The equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir isotherm model when compared with Freundlich isotherm models.

Performance assessments such as laboratory practice in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) are difficult to measure because they are subjective in their characteristics, which can cause bias. The use of a rubric scoring scale is suitable for measuring students' practical competency as it could translate the qualitative criteria into quantitative forms on a grading scale. The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of rater severity for the performance of component installation of an electronic circuit project using Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM). Nine raters have examined the competency performance of 68 students using a four-point rating scale rubric consisting of 16 items. This study was conducted at three vocational colleges. The results showed that all raters measured with different severities but very high consistency. The effect of rater severity did not exist at the group level but exhibited at the individual level. It can also be examined that all raters were biased on the item and also towards students, either by being severe or lenient. Thus, the rubric cannot eliminate the effect of bias during the assessment. However, it can help raters to be consistent so that they have the same understanding when translating the rubric. These findings have implications for the psychometric quality of the electronic circuit project performance assessment.

Abstrak: Pentaksiran prestasi seperti amali dalam pendidikan teknikal dan vokasional (PTV) sukar diukur kerana subjektif dan boleh menyebabkan bias.  Penggunaan skala pemarkahan berbentuk rubrik dikatakan sesuai untuk mengukur kompetensi amali pelajar kerana telah menterjemahkan kriteria kualitatif kepada bentuk kuantitatif secara skala penarafan. Namun begitu pembinaan rubrik bukanlah perkara yang mudah terutamanya dalam menentukan skala penarafan. Oleh itu satu kajian telah dijalankan untuk menentukan kesesuaian skala penarafan yang digunakan dalam pembinaan rubrik kompetensi amali berdasarkan analisis kefungsian skala bersandarkan model Pengukuran Rasch Pelbagai Facet (MFRM). Kajian ini telah dijalankan di tiga buah Kolej Vokasional. Seramai sembilan pemeriksa telah memeriksa kompetensi amali pelajar elektronik dengan menggunakan rubrik empat mata yang telah dihasilkan ke atas 68 orang pelajar.  Analisis kefungsian skala menunjukkan taburan frekuensi bagi setiap kategori adalah tidak teratur. Walau bagaimanapun, nilai fit pengukuran menghampiri 1. Selain dari itu juga nilai ambang dan nilai fit masih lagi berada di dalam nilai yang diterima. Secara keseluruhannya skala penarafan yang digunakan di dalam rubrik sesuai dengan sedikit penambahbaikan pada deskriptor yang paling ekstrem.   Abstract:  Performance assessments such as laboratory practice in technical and vocational education (TVE) are difficult to measure because they are subjective in their characteristics, which can cause bias. The use of a rubric scoring scale is suitable for measuring students’ practical competency as it could translate the qualitative criteria into quantitative forms on a grading scale.  However the development of rubric is not easy especially in determine the rating scale. Therefore the study was conducted to determine the appropriateness of rating scale used in the construction of rubric based on the analysis of scale functionality of Many Facet Rasch Mea

The objective of this study was to identify the performance of empty fruit bunch (EFB) to assess its use as potential adsorbent in treat ammonia nitrogen in natural rubber wastewater. The adsorption method was employed to investigate the effect of a number of factors, namely, adsorbent dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time. The results revealed that the removal of ammonia nitrogen up to 79.5% from natural rubber wastewater. The adsorption efficiency of EFB fibre was maximum at 3.5 g dosage, pH 7, 150 rpm shaking speed and 120 min contact time. The results proved that EFB fiber are good alternative low cost adsorbent for the removal of ammonia nitrogen from natural rubber wastewater. The Langmuir isotherm (R2=0.9923) described ammonia nitrogen adsorption slightly better than the Freundlich isotherm (R2 = 0.9450), suggesting a monolayer adsorption behaviour of the adsorption processes.

Leachate is a liquid generated due to rainwater percolation through the wastes in a landfill or dumping site that may contain high levels of organic matter including both biodegradable and non-biodegradable which major source of water pollution. In this research work, landfill leachate has been characterized and found to contain very high COD and color. Adsorption process was performed to find out the performance of different combinations ratio between limestone (LS) and zeolite (ZEO). The removal efficiencies of different ratios were examined for reduction of COD and color. The optimum mixture ratio of adsorbents (LS:ZEO) at 10:30 and 15:25 were found to be more effective in reducing COD and color respectively as compared with the use of individual media. The highest removal percentage were found at approximately 55% of COD and 76% of color with 120 minutes of contact time, 200 rpm in shaking speed at pH7. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm model exhibited a better fit with high correlation R2=0.9991 for COD and R2=0.9827 for (color) respectively, which implies that the adsorption of leachate in this study onto LS-ZEO is homogeneous with monolayer. It was observed that limestone and zeolite mixture provides an alternative medium for removing COD and color at a considerably lower cost.

Transportation is a critical factor in the economic growth and development. Inadequate transport system limits a nations ability to utilize its natural resources, distribute goods and other finished goods. Hence transportation is the most bases for economic growth and development in most societies. This study examines the Impact of Transportation on Economic Development of Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State. The study covered five villages which were selected using multistage sampling technique. About 105 respondents were also selected and administered a set of questionnaires using random method. Descriptive statistics were used foe analysis of data gathered. The findings of the analysis revealed that 44.79% of the respondents are farmers. It also shows that the most common means of transportation in the study area is motorcycle and lack of good roads makes it difficult for the respondents to access good markets for their farm produce as more than 65.63% of roads in the area are in bad condition which leads to rise in cost of transportation. This was discovered to have affected the economic activities of the people thereby increasing the level of poverty in communities in the study area. The construction of new roads and maintenance of existing ones is therefore recommended to reduce cost of transportation of goods and services thereby reducing poverty and boosting economic growth and development.

Leachate is one of the major problems to overcome in managing the landfill. Low cost treatment, less maintenance and environmental friendly are considered as the best practices to treat leachate. Without a proper treatment, leachate could give a negative effect to the environment and become a pollutant. This research focused on the effectiveness of Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket on leachate treatment using reactor tank in lab-scale. The effectiveness of this system was evaluated by comparing the percentage of nutrient removal. Moreover, leachate characteristic was conducted to determine the nutrient content. Five (5) main parameters were selected to be monitored which are Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solid (TSS), Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP). Experiments were run for 30 days and  the readings were recorded every 3 days. Results show that the capability of UASB in the removal several parameters. This UASB had a greater ability in removal of Total Phosphorus and TSS with 89% and 81% average removal each. COD removal shows encouraging removal graph more than 70%. While BOD, 64% and Total Nitrogen as 50%. Results showed that UASB system was capable to remove major pollutants from landfill leachate.

This paper reported the optimization of COD and NH3-N reduction from a stabilised leachate by zeolite (ZE) and moringa oleifera leaf powder (MP) mixture using response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD). Quadratic polynomial equations were obtained for the removal process. An initial experiment was conducted to establish the optimum mixed ratio between ZE:MP and resulted in a ratio of 24:16. Independent variables investigated in the subsequent optimization experiments include pH ,dosage and contact time. The results revealed that the optimal reduction of COD and NH3-N from landfill leachate was considerable at pH 5.9 , optimal time of 113 minutes and 100gL-1 of adsorbent dosage with desirability value of 0.917. The upper limits for the actual versus predicted reduction were 70.14 against 69.13%Â and 86.94 against 86.55 % respectively for COD and NH3-N which defined that the experimental values were relatively close to the predicted values. The study also revealed that ZE:MP mixture has a very high potential for the remediation of COD and NH3-N from a stabilized leachate.

Natural rubber processing wastewater contains high concentration of organic compound, colour, nitrogen, and other contaminants. This study evaluated a chitosan bead as an adsorbent in adsorption process for natural rubber wastewater treatment. The effects of adsorbent dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time and adsorption isotherm on colour adsorption onto chitosan beads were evaluated using batch experiments. Meanwhile, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to validate the experimental data. Maximum removal of 71.5%, for colour was observed for an adsorbent dosage 4.5 g, pH 7, and shaking speed 150 rpm. Equilibrium was achieved in 120 min. The equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir isotherm model when compared with Freundlich isotherm models.

Landfills generate leachate that contains elevated concentration of contaminants and is hazardous to human health and the ecosystem. In this study, the mixture of granular feldspar and cockle shells was investigated for remediation of COD and ammonia from landfill leachate. All adsorbent media were sieved to a particle size between 2.00 and 3.35 mm. The results revealed that the optimum mixing ratio of feldspar and cockle shells was 20:20, shaking speed was 150 rpm, pH level was 6, shaking time was 120 min, and dosage was 30 g. The adsorption isotherm analysis reveals that the Langmuir isotherm yielded the best fit to experimental data as compared to the Freundlich isotherm. The media produce encouraging results and can potentially be used as a good and sustainable adsorbent.

The potential of Empty Fruit Bunch obtained from palm oil tree as a low-cost adsorbent is a sustainable approach in wastewater treatment. The objective this study to investigate the capability of EFB for removal colour from natural rubber wastewater as well as the influence of adsorbent dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time. The results of the analysis show that all selected factors exhibit significant effect on removal of colour. Maximum removal (87.1%) for colour was achieved at 3.5 g of adsorbent dosage, pH 7, 150 rpm of shaking speed, 120 min of contact time. The Langmuir isotherm (R2 = 0.9913) described colour adsorption slightly better than the Freundlich isotherm (R2 = 0.9805), suggesting a monolayer adsorption behavior of the adsorption processes.

Pulp and paper production from wood material as their main resources have a total capacity about more than one million tons per year. Malaysia has a high scale of deforestation based on the main resource for pulp and paper-based industry. Malaysia as its rate is accelerating faster than any other tropical countries in the world. This problem also affects the economic losses of some countries that face deforestation. To overcome this, Napier grass as a substitute material from non-wood material had been choose for pulp and papermaking industry. This study through the full fibre analysis and morphological characterization, pulpability at kappa number via soda-AQ pulping and the characteristic. These conclude that Napier grass had a high percentage of pulp yields; with a low screening rejects; good mechanical properties by TAPPI method. Thus, Napier grass has a potential to be substitute material for becoming waste-wealth product especially for Malaysia’s pulp and papermaking industry.

Leachate are very high strength wastewaters that contain a variety of pollutants that pose a serious threat to the environment if appropriate control measure is ignored. Composite adsorbent is an emerging, interesting and attractive alternative to conventional adsorbents and having the ability to act as catalysts due to their high reactivity and excellent selectivity towards specific pollutant compounds. This study investigated the potential of biocomposite adsorbent made from a combination of chitosan, feldspar and zeolite (CFZ) for the treatment of Iron (Fe) from leachate wastewater. Leachate characterization and batch adsorption experiments was conducted to determine the optimum conditions for pH, dosage and contact time parameter in the removal of Fe. The result shows that the concentration of Fe was 15.82 which exceeded the recommended limit. The optimum conditions also occurred at pH 5 with 6 gram of biocomposite dosage and at 180 minutes contact time. The corresponding removal efficiency for Fe is 90% with 0.0127 mg/g uptake capacity.

Plant waste such as Delonix Regia Pods (DRP) have the potential to be used as adsorbents. A study of lignocellulose delonix regia pods was carried to assess ammoniacal nitrogen removal from natural rubber wastewater. Sample wastewater was taken from the rubber processing industry and characterization was carried out. Outcomes from the analysis shows that the ammoniacal nitrogen concentration was 66 mg/L and higher than the recommended wastewater discharge standards. Batch experiments were conducted on the effect of dose, pH, shaking speed and contact time parameters for optimum condition. The results revealed that the optimal dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time is 4.5 g, pH 8, 150 rpm and 120 minutes with ammoniacal nitrogen removal efficiency of 74.3 % and the adsorption capacity of 1.22 mg/g. Pseudo second order kinetic model was found to fit the data better and the R 2 obtained was 0.9992. From the study, it can be concluded that the media can be used for the removal of ammoniacal nitrogen in natural rubber wastewater and subsequently reduce environmental pollution. Hence, it can be sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Leachate are very high strength wastewaters that contain a variety of pollutants that pose a serious threat to the environment if appropriate control measure is ignored. Composite adsorbent is an emerging, interesting and attractive alternative to conventional adsorbents and having the ability to act as catalysts due to their high reactivity and excellent selectivity towards specific pollutant compounds. This study investigated the potential of biocomposite adsorbent made from a combination of chitosan, feldspar and zeolite (CFZ) for the treatment of Iron (Fe) from leachate wastewater. Leachate characterization and batch adsorption experiments was conducted to determine the optimum conditions for pH, dosage and contact time parameter in the removal of Fe. The result shows that the concentration of Fe was 15.82 which exceeded the recommended limit. The optimum conditions also occurred at pH 5 with 6 gram of biocomposite dosage and at 180 minutes contact time. The corresponding removal efficiency for Fe is 90% with 0.0127 mg/g uptake capacity.

Waste paper sludge (WPS) is produced by the paper industry during the wastewater treatment process of paper production. The disposal techniques of WPS pose a great concern for the environment. This study focuses on the evaluation of WPS as an alternative absorbent material to activated carbon (AC) for the removal of contaminants from stabilized landfill leachate. Ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were identified as the two major contaminants in landfill leachate. Both AC and WPS were mixed together in different ratios. The optimum replacement for the absorbent was determined using the batch technique. The adsorption batch study was carried out under the optimum pH of 7, with a shaking speed of 200 rpm and a contact time of 120 minutes. The adsorption isotherms indicated that the Langmuir model was better fitted to the experimental data as it was found to have the highest regression values. The Langmuir adsorption capacities for COD and NH3-N were 32.26 mg/g and 21.60 mg/g, respectively. The optimum replacements were initially at two different ratios of 2:2 and 3:1 based on the optimum removal of COD and NH3-N, respectively. However, the final optimum replacement for the absorbents (AC: WPS) in this study was the ratio of 2:2 due to the higher removal of COD (85.9%) and NH3-N (49.3%).

The objective of this study was to identify the performance of empty fruit bunch (EFB) to assess its use as potential adsorbent in treat ammonia nitrogen in natural rubber wastewater. The adsorption method was employed to investigate the effect of a number of factors, namely, adsorbent dosage, pH, shaking speed and contact time. The results revealed that the removal of ammonia nitrogen up to 79.5% from natural rubber wastewater. The adsorption efficiency of EFB fibre was maximum at 3.5 g dosage, pH 7, 150 rpm shaking speed and 120 min contact time. The results proved that EFB fiber are good alternative low cost adsorbent for the removal of ammonia nitrogen from natural rubber wastewater. The Langmuir isotherm (R2 =0.9923) described ammonia nitrogen adsorption slightly better than the Freundlich isotherm (R2 = 0.9450), suggesting a monolayer adsorption behaviour of the adsorption processes.

The optimal conditions for the reduction of COD and NH3-N using cockle shells (CS) from a stabilised landfill effluent were analyzed. The influence of two variables (adsorbent dosage and pH) were analysed through the application of response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD). Quadratic models were developed for the removals of COD and NH3-N parameters. The optimum conditions for removal of 65.6% and 53.6% for COD and NH3-N respectively was achieved at pH 6.34, adsorbent dosage of 20.21 g having 0.888 desirability value. The model F-value obtained for NH3-N removal Prob. > F value of 0.0001 with F-value of 104.21 was obtained. Similarly the Prob. > F value of < 0.0001 for COD with F-value of 82.74 was obtained, these P-values confirmed the significance of the model. The predicted response versus the experimental response depicted that the experimental data were relatively close to the predicted data. Thus, the generated models significantly enclosed the correlation between the process variables and the response.

Micro-peat (M-P) was demonstrated in the present study as a potential low cost natural adsorbent for the removal of COD and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) from landfill leachate. A series of batch experiments were carried out under fixed conditions and the influence of mixture ratio was investigated. The characteristics of leachate were then determined. Results indicated that leachate is non-biodegradable with high concentration of COD (2739.06 mg/L), NH3-N (1765.34 mg/L) and BOD5/COD ratio (0.09). The optimum ratio for activated carbon (AC) and M-P in the removal of COD and NH3-N obtained were at 2.5:1.5 (87%) and 1.0:3.0 (65%) respectively. The low-cost natural adsorbent used in the present investigation is an attractive alternative to the conventional adsorbent (AC). Thus, M-P can be appropriated for use in leachate treatment that could be cost-effective due its local availability and adsorption property.

Employability skills are the skills required by students to prepare them for the employment. However, there is limited study conducted in the training institution such as community colleges. Therefore, this study is conducted to identify the application of the 'employability' skills that frequently implemented by lecturers at community colleges in Johor. This study is also to understand the skill that is mastered the most by the students, and the problems faced by the lecturers in inculcating this skill. The skills elements studied included the seven key elements of employability skills which are; communication, leadership, teamwork, problem solving, ethical and professional and business skills. The study is a survey study using a questionnaire as the main instrument. Questionnaire was distributed to 140 students and 44 lecturers from three community colleges in Johor. The data were collected and analyzed using the Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0 to obtain mean score and standard deviation. The findings indicated that the frequent skill employed by lecturers in teaching and learning process is bussiness skill. The most mastered skill by students is also the business skill. Among challenges that need to be faced by lectures are lack of computer skills as well as lacking skills in using technology. It is important for lecturers to emphasize employability skills equally in their teaching. Whereas, students need to work to master the employability skill as a platform to prepare them for the workplace. This study is hoped to help lecturers and students prepare to enhance their employability skills.

Kajian ini adalah tentang penggunaan kaedah KAD JAHIT dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran Reka bentuk dan Teknologi . KAD JAHIT adalah kertas manila kad yang telah ditebuk untuk membentuk lubang-lubang yang sebaris sama saiz. Objektif kajian ini secara umumnya adalah untuk meningkatkan kemahiran pelajar dalam menjahit jahitan mata asas iaitu jahitan kia , jahitan jelujur kasar dan jelujur halus dengan menggunakan kaedah KAD JAHIT dan juga memperbaiki amalan pengajaran dan pembelajaran guru. Secara khususnya pula adalah untuk memastikan 100% pelajar dapat menghasilkan jahitan asas . Seramai 12 orang pelajar Tahun 4 yang terdiri daripada 8 orang pelajar lelaki dan 4 orang pelajar perempuan terlibat dalam kajian ini. Tinjauan awal telah dilaksanakan melalui penelitian dokumen dan soal selidik. Hasil tinjauan menunjukkan murid-murid mengalami kesukaran untuk menghasilkan jahitan asas kerana kali pertama mempelajari kemahiran menjahit , di samping mempunyai perasaan takut dan bombing sewaktu sesi pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Setelah mengaplikasikan kaedah KAD JAHIT , didapati pelajar memberikan lebih tumpuan terhadap aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran dan 90% pelajar mendapat gred A.

It has been observed that the rekindling of the values of apprenticeship has been one of the most significant trends in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in recent years, by organizing the youths to undergo apprenticeship training in various vocational fields which could make them independent on the completion of such skill acquisitions but, this is usually faced with multiple of problems. This paper intends to review the inception of apprenticeship practice and Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) in Nigeria. It expounded on the Development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) after independence and the role of technical and vocational education in nation building. Problems and prospect were outlined to suggest way forward in line with the global needs for sustainable self-employment strategies especially among the youths.