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Volume 4, Issue No 3, September 2017 <<Previous Volume II Next Volume>>
Issues in Volume 4 Cover Page and Table of Contents Full Articles
Phyisco-Chemical Properties of the Semi-Enclosed Coastal Water System in Salut-Mengkabong Lagoon, Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia
Nurrul Fazlina Osman; Justin Sentian; Ejria Saleh; Leong Wan Vun. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 183 - 193 Abstract Over the past decade, urbanization has impacted the water bodies of coastal areas of Sabah. Since much development has occurred near the coastal line, water properties may change along with changes in the surrounding environment. The water quality of Salut-Mengkabong Lagoon was chosen to conduct a study with the aim of determining the status of selected water properties. The water properties examined at 11 stations include dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, salinity (‰), temperature (°C) and nutrient- nitrate (NO3) and phosphate (PO4). Also considered are spatial and temporal nutrients (NO3 and PO4) distribution. The measurements were conducted at different tidal cycles in semi-enclosed system at Salut-Mengkabong Lagoon. Then, the results were compared with the Malaysia Interim Marine Water Quality Criteria and Standards (IMWQS) and ASEAN Marine Water Quality Criteria (AMWQC) to determine the status of water quality in the lagoon. Sampling was performed between October 2015 and August 2016. The results show that most DO concentrations decrease when going towards the inner lagoon, especially during flood tide. The pH, salinity and temperature showed small variations (<5%) between stations. As for NO3 and PO4 concentrations, showed that NO3 fluctuates in concentration in the inner lagoon, while PO4 shows an increasing trend approaching the inner part of the lagoon, with only slight fluctuation in the middle for both tidal cycles. In comparison with the IMWQS and AMWQC, the water quality in the lagoon does show an indication of possible serious pollution, with high nutrient input in station 11. This suggests that the developments surrounding the lagoon, including aquaculture activity, industrial, and residential areas, are actually affecting the water inside the lagoon. However, water quality may change after high input of freshwater during heavy rainfall. It is suggested that sampling need to be conducted continuously during different seasonal monsoons to better determine patterns of pollution. View article
Bond Between SSTT Confined Concrete and Ribbed Steel Reinforcement Bar
Muhd Fauzy Sulaiman; Faisal Amsyar Redzuan; Chau Khun Ma; Abdullah Zawawi Awang; Wahid Omar. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 194 - 201 Abstract A study about bond strength of normal strength concrete (NSC) and Steel Strap Confining Technique (SSTT) confined NSC was presented. A series of 8 specimens pull-out test were carried out to investigate the bond strength of short embedment (5Db) in SSTT confined NSC. The concrete compressive strength was about 45 MPa meanwhile the 12mm diameter reinforcement tensile strength was about 500 MPa were used in the pull-out specimens. In order to determine the effects of lateral confinement pressure of steel strapping, three groups of different steel strap gap distance pull-out test were conducted and compared with control specimens and previous theoretical bond stress equation. It was found that SS-B pull-out specimen exhibited highest bond strength and about 40 percent higher compared with Cont-B specimen as lowest bond strength pull-out specimen in this study. View article
GO@ZIF-67/PAN Mixed Matrix Membrane for the Adsorptive and Photocatalytic Removal of Methylene Blue
Von Fei Cheong; Rosli Wong Suzanna; Ka Ping Lim; Weng Fung Ng; Pak Yan Moh. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 202 - 208 Abstract GO@ZIF-67/PAN mixed-matrix membrane (MMM) was prepared using casting method. The adsorption and photocatalytic activity of GO@ZIF-67/PAN MMM towards the removal of methylene blue dye (MB) in water was evaluated. It was found that the MMM performs better when GO@ZIF-67 composite with higher amount of GO were used as the filler. The GO@ZIF-67/PAN MMM with 25 wt% of GO in the composite was able to remove about 72.9%, 90.5%, and 86.4% of MB in dark, UV-A, and visible light, respectively, within 9 hours of reaction time. The photocatalytic removal of MB by GO@ZIF-67/PAN MMM was well fitted to Langmuir-Hinshelwood pseudo-first order reaction kinetics model, which indicates that the removal process requires the adsorption of MB on the surface of MMM followed by the photocatalytic decomposition of MB on the surface of GO@ZIF-67/PAN MMM. Besides, the results also revealed that GO@ZIF-67/PAN MMM can be photoexcited under UV-A and visible light irradiation. This study opens a new pathway for the exploration of MMM in pollution control under a wider light responsive range, i.e. UV-visible regions. View article
Tuning Optical Properties of Erbium-doped Zinc-Sodium Tellurite Glass via Incorporation of Gold Nanoparticles
Reuben Ho Chee Wui; Asmahani Awang; Alvie Lo Sin Voi; Chee Fuei Pien; Noraini Abdullah; Jedol Dayou. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 209 - 217 Abstract Glasses with composition of 70TeO2-20ZnO-10Na2O-0.5Er2O3-(x) Au where x=0.0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.4 mol% are synthesized via melt-quenching technique. Optical characterization is performed using UV-Vis spectroscopy. Ten absorption peaks are evidenced at 379 nm, 406 nm, 443 nm, 452 nm, 489 nm, 522 nm, 544 nm, 653 nm, 800 nm and 975 nm correspond to Er3+ transitions of 4I15/2→4G11/2, 4I15/2→2H9/2, 4I15/2→4F3/2, 4I15/2→4F5/2, 4I15/2→4F7/2, 4I15/2→2H11/2, 4I15/2→4S3/2, 4I15/2→4F9/2, 4I15/2→4I9/2 and 4I15/2→4H1/2, respectively. Direct band gap (Edir), indirect band gap (Eindir) and Urbach energy (EU) are estimated to be 3.403-3.420 eV, 3.131-3.198 eV and 0.152-0.180 eV respectively. The Edir, Eindir and EU parameters vary as gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are incorporated into glass matrix and this leads to the generation of non-bridging oxygen, subsequently changing the structure of glass. View article
Development and Operational Implementation of a Novel method for Production of Ozonated Water
Nur Syahirah Zainuddin; Fuei Pien Chee; Jackson Hian Wui Chang; Jedol Dayou. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 218 - 223 Abstract The effectiveness of ozone is well established, yet, not applicable in several treatments due to some limitations. This causes existing industry up-to date is still using ozone gas in several treatment due to the difficulty of ozone to dissolve in water and even if dissolved in water, ozone has a relatively short half-life and the concentration is limited to several treatment. Therefore, in this study a novel system was developed to produce ozonated water with higher concentration and longer half-life by increasing the diffusion efficiency of ozone in water. This system utilizes the parameter with combination of high pressure and flow. The efficiency of mass transfer of ozone into water for both bubble diffuser and venturi injection technique were tested and compared in this research. The concentration of ozone water was examined using dissolved ozone analyzer. It was found that the production of ozone water applying venturi injection technique facilitates the production of higher concentration of ozonated water with higher ozone transfer efficiency. Moreover, the efficiency of the developed system is 2 times higher than the conventional method. View article
Biochemical Content of Two Sweet Potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) Cultivars Under Dry Heat and Moist Heat Treatment
Amir Husni Mohd Shariff; Wong Mei Mei; Adibah Yahya; Madihah Mat Salleh; Nida Iqbal; Wan Rashidah Wan Abdul Kadir; Rozita Ahmad; Sharifudin Md. Sharaani; Mariam Firus Mat Nordin; Mona Zakaria. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 224 - 231 Abstract Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the important nutritious crops in Malaysia classified as high-energy and capable to sustain populations for multiple generations. The aim is to analyse and compare the composition of biochemical compounds in two cultivars of sweet potatoes under different treatments. All the readings except pH were expressed as sampled percentage and on dry mater basis. The moisture content of moist sweet potatoes ranged from 71.43 to 74.63%, whilst dry heat at 64.11-72.59%. The pH of moist heat sweet potatoes is approaching alkaline values (6.20-6.32), whilst dry heat samples are acidic (5.68 to 6.20). The crude ash (2.34 to 2.67%), crude fiber (3.25 to 3.91%), crude protein (3.51 to 3.40%), digestible protein (2.44 to 2.72), non-digestible protein (0.79-2.09) and total carbohydrates (26.57 to 16.52) content were significantly higher dry heat sweet potatoes compared to moist heat sweet potatoes. Digestible protein is significantly higher in dry heat treatment than in moist heat sample and the reverse was true for non-digestible protein. Dry heat sweet potatoes were found to be more nutritious, compared to the moist heat sweet potatoes and findings are discussed. Orange fleshed sweet potato cultivar is more nutritious compared to Purple fleshed cultivar, under dry heat treatment and also under moist heat treatment; albeit at some lower degree. The amount of biochemical compositions in sweet potatoes is seen to be influenced by cultivars, heat treatment, geographical location, climate, weather and terrestrial factors when compared with data elsewhere. View article Invited
DBPedia Based Meta Search Engine
Kim Soon Gan; Kim On Chin; Patricia Anthony; Vooi Keong Boo. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 232 - 251 Abstract Retrieving information on the web has become more challenging due to the overwhelming growth of online data. Consequently, even a good ranking algorithm is not able to deliver a precise search result. Traditional search engines work based on keyword search rather than the meaning of the keyword being searched. The main problem with keyword search is that it cannot solve the synonym and polysemy problems. Semantic search engines address this problem by focusing on the meaning of the query rather than considering it as a mere search phrase (keywords). In this work, we propose MEOW, a semantic meta search engine that utilises the power of a traditional search engine and enriches the search results by trying to understand the meaning of the search query. The proposed meta search engine uses DBPedia as its knowledge base and Google to generate the search results. The search results classify which semantic concept for a given query is used for different context. The main idea of this work is to transform non-semantic search results into semantic results by extending the search query to get more quality results based on the meaning of the search query. View article
Three Elemental Regenerated Cellulose Piezoelectric Energy Harvester
Jongbeom Im; Seung-Ki Min; Hyun Chan Kim; Jaehwan Kim; Jedol Dayou. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 252 - 261 Abstract Harvesting ambient vibration energy using piezoelectric cantilever beam or piezobeam was found to increase substantially by splitting a given piezobeam into several pieces with equal width, and then combined them in parallel connection. This increase was reported as mainly contributed from the reduction of the piezobeam damping when the width was reduced and therefore increasing the displacement amplitude to produce higher harvesting power compared to single beam with the same total width. The finding is further investigated in this paper by considering load resistance and impedance matching in conjunction with using up to three elements of regenerated cellulose piezobeams. Two connection modes were examined, parallel and series, in terms of their harvesting capability at resonance frequency. It was found that series connection generates even higher power output than parallel connection in both two and three piezobeam elements. It is further revealed that series connection has more allowance in impedance matching than parallel connection, which offers additional flexibility when fabricating piezoelectric-based energy harvester. Preview article Corrigenda
Corrigenda: Removal of Methylene Blue by Iron Terephthalate Metal-Organic Framework/Polyacrylonitrile Membrane
Mohd Hadi Mohd Tahir; Szea Err Teo; Pak Yan Moh. 2017. Transactions on Science and Technology, 4(3), 262 View article This article corrects: |