Edisi Disember 2014 - Terengganu

THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Chief Editor(BM):
Name: Norkamruzita Saadon
Place of birth: Kuala Lumpur
Date of Birth: 1st January
Education background:
Master in Engineering (Chemical), Univ. Kebangsaan Malaysia
Master in Educational Technology, Univ. Putera
Malaysia
Bachelor in Chemical Engineering, Technical
University of Nova Scotia, Canada
Diploma in Engineering, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
Areas of interest: Renewable energy, Catalyst
engineering &Educational technology
Chief Editor (English):
Name: Halimaton @ Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof
Place of birth: Kuala Lumpur
Date of birth: 15th August
Education background:
MSc TESL, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Postgraduate Diploma in TESL,UiTM
Bachelor in Bus. Administration (Hons), UiAM
Areas of interest:
Communication skills, Computer-aided language
learning, Grammar and Educational psychology.
Editor (English)
Name: Wan Azrina Wan Azaman
Place of Birth: Kota Bharu, Kelantan
Date of Birth: 9th December
Education Background:
Master in Education TESL, Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia
Bachelor of Education (Hons) TESL, Universiti
Teknologi MARA
Areas of Interest:
Language Teaching Methodology, Grammar and
Education Psychology
Editor (Bahasa Melayu)
Name: Nursyazni Mohamad Sukri
Place of Birth: Kuala Besut, Terengganu
Date of Birth: 10th December
Education Background:
Master in Science Mathematics, Universiti Sains
Malaysia
Bachelor of (Hons) Science Mathematics , Universiti Teknologi MARA
Areas of Interest:
Computational Mathematics and Numerical
Mathematics
Editor (BM):
Name: Nurul ‘Uyun Ahmad
Place of birth: Batu Pahat, Johor
Date of birth: 23rd November
Education background:
Master in Bioprocess Engineering, Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia
Bachelor in Chemical-Bioprocess Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Areas of interest:
Sustainable material development, Food formulation and shelf-life study.
Editor (BM)
Nama : Helmisyah Ahmad Jalaludin
Tarikh Lahir : 23 Februari 1983
Tempat Lahir : Kajang, Selangor.
Pendidikan:
Masters of Science in Mechanical and Materials
Engineering, UKM.
Bachelor in Mechanical System Engineering,
Gunma University.
Areas of interest :
Pemindahan haba, Pendidihan, Tenaga,
Automotif, Tribologi.
Layout/Graphic/Editor(English)
Name : Hanith Iskandar
Date of Birth : 10th June 1967
Place of Birth : Kota Bharu,
Kelantan
Education Background :
Masters of Education (TESL),
Universiti Teknologi Mara
Bachelor In Education TESL
(Hons), Universiti Teknologi
Mara
Diploma In Education (TESL),
Institut Perguruan Sultan Idris
Areas of Interest :
Computer Assisted Language
Learning (CALL), Adult Education, Second Language Acquisition
and Teaching Methodology
16
B CUBE December 2014
B Cube
J
Editor (BM)
Nama : Mohamammad bin
Abdullah
Tempat Lahir : Kuala
Terengganu, Terengganu
Tarikh Lahir : 16 Mei 1963
Pendidikan ;
Masters of Science,UNiSZA
Bachelor in Chemical Engineering, UPM
Areas of Interest :
Editor (English)
Name:Mohd Ikram Bin Mohd
Nor Rizan
Place of Birth: Ipoh, Perak
Date of Birth: 9th May 1982
Education Background:
Master in Postcolonial Literature in English, Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia
Bachelor of Education (Hons)
TESL, Universiti Teknologi
MARA
Areas of Interest:
Nation and Naration, Popular
Culture, Orientalism as well
as Teaching Methodology and
Psychology
First Issue, 2014 December 2014 Edition
im Henson,
More blessings
Exclusive Memoirs:
the creator
are given to light
The Lady Who Starts the Ball Rolling at KRBB
of
“The
up her life with the
by:
Mupp ets”
addition of her ten
Dr. Khlipah Ibrahim, Nor Ashikin Yusof, Norkamruzita Saadon and Wan Azrina Wan Azaman
once
said,
“If
g r an d ch i l d re n ,
you care about
six
girls
what you do and work hard at it, there isn’t anything you can’t do if you and 4 boys. Despite her busy schedule, she never neglects her
want to” and that quotation reminds us to someone who does her work duty as a wife and as a mother. Her children’s success in education
with lots of care and passion and that person is none other than our proves that education is given a great emphasis in her family.
very own Assistant Rector of Kampus Rekreasi Bukit Besi (KRBB), When asked about the challenges that she has encountered in
Associate Professor Dr. Khlipah Ibrahim. The feeling of wanting to her life, she described the challenges in three categories: challenges faced
know more about her makes us to conduct this exclusive interview during her study for her doctorate, challenges to establish the campus
and regardless her busy schedule, she had given us the opportunity to and challenges in human resource development. While she was doing her
share our findings with the readers of B Cube (Bukit Besi Bulletin). doctorate, experiences in teaching the foundation courses of mathematics
Associate Professor Dr. Khlipah Ibrahim was born on 26th and statistics at UiTM Dungun did not equip her with enough knowledge
September 1960 at Kampong Seberang Tuan Chik, Kuala Terengganu. In for her PhD courses and she had to recall the formula and the symbols used
1967, she went to Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Tunggal and a year later, she in mathematics which she did not apply in her teaching for quite some
moved to LKTP Jerangau (currently known as Felda Jerangau) and went time. Furthermore, she did not have a strong foundation in conducting
to Sekolah Kebangsaan LKTP Jerangau for her primary education. For the a research and reporting it in written form and to make the situation
next three years, she attended Sekolah Menengah Sultan Sulaiman Kuala to be more complicated, there were no research and writing courses
Terengganu and in 1977 until 1978, she had her secondary education at offered before she furthered her study. Unlike in today’s situation, she
Sekolah Menengah Sains Terengganu, which is currently known as Sekolah feels that lecturers are very lucky because they are given courses in doing
Menengah Sains Sultan Mahmud. In 1979, she attended lower six at Sekolah research and reporting the research findings. Despite the challenges, she
Menengah Sains Kelantan, Pengkalan Chepa (known as Sekolah Menengah is very grateful to have a strong support from her husband and children.
Sains Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra at the
Holding the most important
present time) for a short period and when
position in KRBB, she realizes that she has
she received her MCE result, she was offered
to face challenges in establishing the campus.
to pursue her study in the United States. She
First of all, she wants to achieve KRBB aims
studied at Indiana State University for five years,
which one of them is, with the ambience
where she received her BSc in Mathematics
and the learning facilities provided at KRBB,
in 1982 and MSc in Mathematics in 1983.
to produce intellectuals who are healthy
When she returned to Malaysia,
physically and spiritually, and also to have
she served Diploma and Advanced Diploma
a stable emotion. Furthermore, initiatives
School of Engineering, ITM Shah Alam,
should be planned together, involving
from July 1984 until December 1990. Later,
all KRBB staff and students, in order to
in 1991, she got the opportunity to serve
achieve the standard of a recreational
UiTM Dungun as a lecturer at the Faculty of Computer Science and campus. Secondly, she hopes that KRBB, which is located in a rural area,
Mathematics and in 2009, she received her PhD in Operation Research could be the center of reference by people from all walks of life, especially
from Universiti Sains Malaysia. In July, 2013, due to her tremendous the people from the state government and the surrounding community.
performance, she was appointed to be the Assistant Rector at KRBB. Moreover, she needs to encourage research in learning and teaching in
Knowing her family helps us to understand more about her order to support the mission of UiTM Terengganu to be the East Coast MIT.
characters. During her sophomore year, or to be précised, on 8th January, The third challenge that she has to face is to develop human
1981, she got married to the love of her life, Associate Professor Hj. Ahmad resources. She is determined to ensure that all KRBB staff always adhere to
bin Hj.Aziz, who is also a lecturer at UiTM (Terengganu) Kampus Dungun the rules and regulations, including the working hours, work ethics and the
and they are blessed with three sons and four daughters. Her eldest son, who dress code. Moreover, she has to ensure that the staff always put efforts in
was born in May 1982, possesses a degree in Mechanical Engineering and enhancing their skills and expertise, hence to be more proactive and also to be
is currently working as an engineer at FMC, Singapore. Her second child, involved actively in all KRBB activities, regardless the activities are organized
a daughter, has a degree in Medicine and is serving as a doctor in Pusat by the staff, students or society. As far as the lecturers are concerned, she is
Kesihatan Mentakab. The third child, who is also a female, has a degree determined to see that lecturers are involved actively in research and writing,
in Electrical Engineering and is currently running her own business. The have the willingness to contribute their expertise in giving trainings to all the
fourth and the fifth children are both males and own a degree in Mechanical staff, and to be the role model to the students in the dress code and punctuality.
Engineering and Medicine respectively. The fifth child is currently serving Last but not least, she feels that it is a great challenge
at Hospital Sultan Ahmad Shah, Temerloh. The sixth and seventh children for her to see all KRBB staff could perform their duty sincerely
are females and possess a degree in Chemical Engineering and Accounting and to regard their duties, especially which are not in their job
respectively. The youngest child is currently working as an account executive. scope and are done outside the working hours, as their charity.
B CUBE December 2014
1
Advisor’s Column
Ass a lamu’a lai kum
wbr
to
all
B Cube readers,
Finally,
Kampus
Rekreasi Bukit Besi
(KRBB) has its own
in-house
bulletin
and I’m so thankful
to Allah for allowing
this dream to come true! Congratulations to all the
committee members of B Cube for all the countless
efforts that they have put forth in order to provide
an avenue for KRBB staff, specifically academicians,
to inculcate their writing and reading skills.
Indeed, having an in-house bulletin will help to boost
the writing and reading skills, which are very essential
skills needed in every academician. Time is one of
the greatest enemies that the academicians have to
fight with when writing is concerned and, I believe,
by having our in-house bulletin, the problem of “time”
Words from the Chief
Editors
“Let’s write, academicians!”
We are so thankful to Allah, the
most gracious and the most merciful, for
giving us the idea to come up with an inhouse bulletin for UiTM (Terengganu)
Kampus Rekreasi Bukit Besi, or known as
KRBB. The idea popped out when we just
moved to our new campus in June, 2013 and
only now, we managed to make it a reality!
The name was unanimously agreed by all the
Advisor PM Dr. Hjh Khalipah Ibrahim
2
can no longer be an excuse because the academicians
can contribute any article between one to two pages,
which will not demand a lot of time. The nature of our
bulletin, known as B Cube (Bukit Besi Bulletin), in
publishing short articles will allow the academicians to
share their thoughts and knowledge with everyone in
a simple, interesting and relaxing manner and at the
same time, their writing skills can still be cherished.
I pray and I hope that writing will be part of the
cultures in our campus and in shaa Allah, I will
give my greatest support to B Cube so that this
bulletin will be continuously published as planned.
Last but not least, let 2015 be filled with lots
and lots of writings and publications from all
of us in KRBB and may Allah bless all B Cube
committee members for all their hardwork.
Thank you.
B Cube Advisor,
Associate Professor Dr. Khalipah Ibrahim,
The Assistant Rector,
committee members, which in mathematical
symbol, it is known as “B3”, the acronym of
“Bukit Besi Bulletin”. The idea of having
an in-house bulletin on our own came up
when we realized that no matter where we
are, even in a quite remote new campus, we, as
academicians, need to have an avenue for us
to share our thoughts and ideas. Otherwise,
the knowledge will be lost! Academicians
cannot run away from “writing”, no matter
what the excuses are because through
writing, academicians can share and spread
their knowledge widely and the knowledge
can be used and developed further.
However, writing is an arduous task since it
requires knowledge, writing skills, time and
passion. In our opinion, for academicians,
the first two factors are not the obstacles
to write but the last two factors may be the
most obvious “enemies” but these two can be
encountered by having an in-house bulletin,
which allows academicians to share ideas in
a simple manner, where no rigid format is
required to be followed and the academicians
are given the choice of using either English or
Bahasa Malaysia in their writing so that they
can have the freedom to express their ideas
comfortably. Moreover, writing in a bulletin
does not require a lot of time because it is
only for one or two pages. Also, a bulletin
helps academicians to grow their interest in
writing because once we start writing, the
interest keeps growing, especially when we
see our writing is published and shared with
others…and that happened to us once in a
long time ago and we are so grateful that we
managed to develop our passion in writing
through our written work in the bulletin.
Therefore, we hope by having this “B
Cube”, KRBB lecturers will make writing
to be one of our cultures here. To our
patron, Dr. Khalipah Ibrahim, thank you
so much for the never ending support
and to all the committee members, who
have volunteered themselves to be in
the committee, thank you for your hard
work in making B Cube to be in existence.
Warmest regards,
Norkamruzita Saadon
The Chief Editor (Bahasa Malaysia) Halimaton @ Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof
The Chief Editor (English)
Chief Editor (English)
Editors (English) Halimaton @ Nor Ashikin Binti Mohd Yusof Hanith Bin Iskandar
Editors (Bahasa Malaysia)
Wan Azrina Binti Wan Azaman
Nursyazni Binti Mohamad Sukri
Mohd Ikram Mohd Nor Riza
Nurul ‘Uyun Binti Ahmad
Chief Editor (Bahasa Malaysia)
Helmisyah Bin Ahmad Jalaludin
Norkamruzita Binti Saadon
Layout/Graphic
Mohammad Bin Abdullah
Hanith Bin Iskandar
B CUBE December 2014
Classroom Interaction
by Mohd Ikram Mohd Nor Rizan
M
uch has been discussed and said about the importance of
classroom communication, but very little research, as well
as approaches, has been introduced in order to achieve it.
Old-fashioned approach in teaching usually puts the teachers as the
core of the learning process. The teachers act as the leader or dictator
who dictates the knowledge transfer and the pace of the process.
In contrast, students nowadays need to be confronted in different
ways. The learning process itself needs higher, more complex, level
of cognitive processing. This can be achieved by having tasks or
activities which include the students interact in class with their
teachers and among themselves to solve ill-structured problems
with several potential answers. These more complex learning tasks
require high-level cognitive processing; that is, critical thinking,
problem solving, and decision making. According to King (2002);
High-level cognitive processing involves making inferences, drawing
conclusions, synthesizing ideas, generating hypotheses, comparing
grammatically correct sentences” (p.3). “Socially acceptable speech”
in the quotation means that the context of discussion should be the
focus of the learning process. This is because, critical or high level
thinking needs the students to apply their own knowledge or point
of view to decide if something is right or wrong. But this does not
imply that students can be involved in the interaction by simply
giving ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Hence, explanation and elaboration of
the ideas should be encouraged with the guidance from teachers.
Teachers’ role in classroom interaction is quite limited as they act
more as the facilitator in the discussion. The idea is to make sure
that learning process is made by the students themselves, not fed
to them by teachers. Put differently, the answers to any situation or
question given are discovered by students rather than delivered to
them. This is important so the students can develop “the ability to
identify, interpret and apply appropriate tools and concepts from
participating disciplines relevant to the problem at hand and to an
adequate level for task completion” (Woods, 2007, p.859). In order
to accomplish this, rhetoric inquiries, which the answers are already
recognized by the teachers, are out of the question. Student’s thinking
and interaction should be dictated by a particular type of question
posed by teachers. Different kinds of question starters promote
different types of cognitive processing. According to King (2002);
The question starters are designed to prompt students to engage
in several forms of cognitive activity: review and consolidation
of their understandings, checking their comprehension,
constructing new knowledge, and monitoring how well they are
thinking and learning.” (p.35)
and contrasting, finding and articulating problems, analyzing and
evaluating alternatives, monitoring thinking, and so on. (p.33)
From the definition presented above, it is clear that interaction in the
classroom is the best possible way for the teachers to encourage higher
level thinking. This is because, certain patterns of communication
allow students to engage in the learning process while making sense
of the knowledge shared by their instructors. Hence, it is vital for the
teachers to be able to create a conducive communicative environment.
Good classroom communication should really be an interaction
among the students instead of all the individual students talking to
the teachers. Getting students to know each other is important as
it will stimulate their interaction with each other. The ultimate goal
of classroom interaction is for the students to construct knowledge
through meaning making, so it is important for the teachers to
focus on the idea presented by the students rather than the accuracy
of their language use. This is explained in context by Mehan (1990),
“communication involves the production of socially acceptable
speech, which includes, but is not limited to, the production of
In short, questions asked in starting an interaction for classroom
communication must be mind-provoking in a sense that they
are not memory-based where students are asked to recall
their memory. This is because, asking and answering thoughtprovoking questions compel students to actually think deeply
about the subject-matter, integrating it with prior knowledge
while engaging with new knowledge. Thus, the role of teachers
in classroom communication activities is as the facilitators
who guide students to perform high level thinking by asking
questions which will incite their aptitude and understanding.
References
King, A. (2002). Structuring peer interaction to promote high- level cognitive processing. Theory into Practice, 41(1), 33-39.
Mehan, H. (1980). The competent student. Anthropology &
Education Quarterly, 11(3), 131-152.
Woods, C. (2007). Researching and developing interdisciplinary
teaching: towards a conceptual framework for classroom
communication. Higher Education, 54(6), 853-866.
B CUBE December 2014
15
Tips for educators:Who are our learners?
THE EFFECT OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE PLASMA EXPOSURE ON SAPPHIRE GLASS SURFACE
By: Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof and Norkamruzita Saadon
Helmisyah Ahmad Jalaludin1, Shigeaki Inada2
1Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, MARA Univ. of Tech., Bukit Besi Campus, Terengganu.
2Inada Plasma Research Laboratory, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan.
A short cylinder of transparent sapphire glass with a diameter of about 30 mm and a thickness of 8 mm was used as a
stage of collision of a water droplet with a diameter of about 4 mm. The normal condition of sapphire was compared
with a hydrogen peroxide plasma exposed sapphire in term of the static contact angle by the droplet. The water droplet
was distilled and dropped with a temperature of 16oC from a nozzle at a height of 65 mm at room temperature.
Figure 1 Part of Experimental Apparatus
Figure 2 Contact Angle of Normal Sapphire (Angle: 45)
Figure 2 and 3 show the angle of the static contact angle of a water droplet taken on the horizontal side using
a camera. The angle of static contact of droplet was measured using angle software for the normal sapphire
and the sapphire irradiated with hydrogen peroxide plasma. Comparing the respective surface, sapphire
irradiated with hydrogen peroxide plasma has a greater contact angle rather than that of the normal sapphire.
It can be concluded that the sapphire irradiated with hydrogen peroxide plasma has a better surface wettability.
Figure 3 Contact Angle of Hydrogen Peroxide
Plasma Irradiated Sapphire (Angle: 30)
D
o you realize that being a lecturer promises you with lots of
challenges? Throughout our teaching experiences, we face
different kinds of “challenges”, which some people refer the
word as “problems”. However, we refuse to use the word “problems”
since the word reflects negative meanings, which eventually, will give
us stress and everyone knows that too much stress can harm our
health! By using the word “challenges”, we feel that we will be more
motivated to overcome the situation and the challenges give us more
benefits and make us to be wiser. Why are lecturers (or educators or
teachers) expected to encounter “challenges” in their career? This is due
to the nature of the job which deals with students, who have different
kinds of behaviour. Humans are created intricately, and each has
different attitudes and these attitudes will be reflected in the learning
process and can deter the acquisition of knowledge. Therefore, to
ensure that all learners are involved in the learning process, the
lecturers have to understand the learners and their style of learning.
What are learning styles? According to Ellis (1985), they are
consistent ways in which a person thinks, conceptualizes, organizes
and remembers information. In other words, learning styles are
simply different ways or approaches of learning that students
apply. Understanding our students will facilitate the lecturers to
prepare their teaching methods which can help learners to acquire
the knowledge easily. A well-known and widely-used model of
learning style is Fleming’s Visual-Auditory- Kinesthetic (VAK)
model, which discusses three types of learners and they are:
1)
Visual Learners
These learners learn through what they see. They need to see visual
displays, such as pictures, diagrams, power point slides, illustrated
textbooks, videos and other forms of visual aids in order to acquire
the knowledge easier and faster. They even learn through observing
their lecturers’ body language and facial expressions and this is the
reason for these learners to sit on the front line in their classes as
to avoid any obstructions, especially from their friends’ heads.
Therefore, having this type of learners in our class requires us to
prepare for visual aids and our body language and facial expression
also play an important role in our teaching. Otherwise, our visual
learners will get bored and the learning process may not be successful.
lecturers need to do activities like discussions and seminars in
order to help the auditory learners in their learning process.
3)
Kinesthetic Learners
These learners learn best by moving, exploring or doing something
and sitting still for a long period may deter the acquisition
of knowledge. They can get bored if no active movement is
done in the class. Hence, lecturers need to get the students
involved in the lesson by having activities which require the
students to move, for example, students are required to do a
demonstration or a role play for a particular topic. Doing some
movement activities helps this type of learners in their learning.
Why do we need to know our learners? When we know them, we are
able to prepare our lessons well and our learners will not feel bored in
the class and their interest in the subject can be instilled. As a result,
learners can excel in their learning and at the end of the semester,
we, as their teachers, can smile broadly to show our satisfaction in
helping our students. To all lecturers out there, before you go to sleep
today, recall all the behaviours that your students have demonstrated
in your class. Do you think that you know who are your students?
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Prof. Dr. Shigeaki Inada, Mr. Tadahiro Ishige, and Dr. Manabu Nakagawasai for
their supervisions and assistances in the research at Energy 2, Inada’s Laboratory, Gunma University.
Bibliography
Helmisyah, A.J. & Inada, S. (2008). Behaviour of bubbles generated on heating surface by droplet collision.
(Unpublished Thesis of Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical System Engineering). Gunma University.
Inada, S., & Yang, W.J. (2002). Heat Transfer in Two-Phase Flow, Experimental Techniques. Heat Transfer, 3, 89.
Inada, S., & Yang, W. J. (1993). Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 36(6), 1505.
14
B CUBE December 2014
2)
Auditory Learners
These learners learn through listening, for examples, through
discussions, lectures, seminars and talks.
They learn best
through listening to the tone of voice, the pitch and even the
speed of the speech. Written information alone may have little
impact on their learning. Thus, to help this type of learners,
References:
Ellis, R. (1985). Understanding second language acquisition. Oxford,
England:Oxford University Press.
B CUBE December 2014
3
........from page 8
BUMI BUKAN TONG SAMPAH KITA
Oleh : Nurul ‘Uyun Binti Ahmad
Pengenalan
Menurut Jabatan Sisa Pepejal Negara, Kementerian Kesejahteraan
Bandar Dan Kerajaan Tem-patan (KKBKT), “Sisa Pepejal”
ditafsirkan sebagai sebarang bahan sekerap atau benda lebihan
lain yang tidak dikehendaki kerana sudah pecah, lusuh, tercemar,
atau rosak. Sisa pepejal ini secara purata terdiri daripada 45%
sisa makanan, 7% kertas, 24% plastik, 6% logam, 4% kayu, 3%
tekstil, 3% kaca, 1% getah/kulit dan 7% bahan-bahan lain dan telah
dikenalpasti sebagai punca terbesar yang mengakibatkan masalah
kesan rumah hijau.
Penjanaan sisa pepejal perbandaran Malaysia
Di Malaysia, kadar penjanaan sisa pepejal semakin meningkat
disebabkan aktiviti komuniti seperti pasaran komersial, institusi
dan industri. Ia juga sangat berkait rapat dengan status ekonomi
masyarakat yang berbeza seperti setinggan, rendah, kelas sederhana
dan kediaman elit (Zaini, 2011). Kementerian Perumahan dan
Kerajaan Tempatan pada tahun 2012 melaporkan, sebanyak 25,000
tan sisa pepejal dihasilkan di Malaysia setiap hari. Oleh yang
demikian, secara purata, setiap rakyat Malaysia menghasilkan
800 gram sisa pepejal setiap hari. Jumlah ini bertambah besar jika
mengambil kira individu yang tinggal di bandar yang dianggarkan
menghasilkan 1500 gram sisa pepejal sehari. Menurut statistik
yang dikeluarkan, Negeri Selangor mendahului negeri-negeri lain
dengan penghasilan sisa pepejal sebanyak 2,955 tan sehari. Ini
diikuti dengan Kuala Lumpur (2,634 tan/hari), Johor (2,002 tan/
hari), Perak (1,596 tan/hari) dan Kedah (1,383 tan/hari).
Selain itu, Majlis Bandar Raya Kuala Terengganu (MBKT) turut
mengutip 300 tan sisa pepejal sehari dalam operasi pembersihan
di bandar ini dan dibawa ke tapak pelupusan sisa pepejal di
Sungai Ikan, Kuala Terengganu. Perbelanjaan sebanyak RM7.75
juta setahun diperuntukkan untuk urusan pembersihan kawasan
dan kutipan sisa pepejal di sekitar bandar membabitkan kawasan
seluas 4,291.31 hektar. Manakala urusan pembersihan dan kutipan
sisa pepejal di Pulau Redang pula menelan belanja RM557,280
setahun termasuk urusan pengangkutan sisa pepejal dari chaletchalet ke tanah besar (Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan
Tempatan, 2012).
4
B CUBE December 2014
Cohen, L.D. (1991). On Active Contour Models and
Balloons, Computer Vision, Graphics, and
Image Processing. Image understanding, 11-218.
Let α (s ) = α , β (s ) = β
Natijahnya, sisa pepejal berbentuk kertas mampu dikurangkan
kesan daripada kurangnya penggunaan dokumen di bank atau
resit-resit tranksaksi di mesin-mesin ATM. Selain itu, perbankan
internet bukan sahaja mampu mengurangkan penggunaan kertas,
malah perkhidmatan ini turut dapat mengurangkan pembebasan
gas karbon dioksida daripada kenderaan ke atmosfera, kesan
daripada kurangnya aktiviti memandu kenderaan untuk ke bank
atau sebaliknya.
Di samping itu, Projek 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) turut
dipromosikan oleh kerajaan dan sebilangan NGO kepada rakyat
Malaysia untuk mengurangkan jumlah sisa pepejal negara. Selain
pengurangan bahan (Reduce) dan guna semula bahan (Reuse),
kitar semula bahan (Recycle) dilihat sebagai salah satu penyelesaian
yang lebih praktikal dan boleh diterima oleh masyarakat kita dalam
mengurangkan masalah lambakan sisa pepejal. Menurut Akta 672
(Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal Dan Pembersihan Awam, 2007), kitar
semula bermaksud memungut dan mengasingkan sisa pepejal
bagi maksud menghasilkan keluaran pakai semula. Yang pastinya,
melalui projek ini sisa pepejal seperti kaca, besi, plastik dan kertas
dikumpul, diasingkan, dihantar ke pusat pemprosesan dan akan
bertukar aliran daripada sisa menjadi komoditi yang boleh diguna
semula. Tindakan mentransformasikan sisa pepejal ini dipercayai
memberi sumbangan besar untuk mengurangkan pencemaran
alam sekitar dan kesan rumah hijau sekaligus menjadikan bumi
sebagai tempat yang lebih baik untuk hidup.
Untuk buletin edisi kali ini, saya turut sertakan contoh projek
Green Job yang amat mudah dan boleh diamalkan oleh setiap
daripada kita iaitu Projek Kitar Semula dari Rumah dan Pejabat.
Namun, perlu diingatkan kepada semua bahawa projek ini bukan
sahaja memerlukan barang-barang yang boleh dikitar semula,
malah ia juga perlu disertakan dengan bekalan dua jenis sikap iaitu
FOKUS dan KOMITED. Fokus kita adalah menjadikan bumi ini
tempat yang paling bersih untuk kita menumpang hidup dan atas
sebab itu, kita perlu komited sebagai agen pembersihan. Selamat
beramal!
Menjelang tahun 2020, disasarkan sebanyak 40% sisa pepejal
yang dibawa ke tapak pelupusan dapat dikurangkan sekaligus
mendorong pengurangan pelepasan gas rumah hijau sebanyak
30%. Hal ini dapat dicapai dengan aktiviti-aktiviti pengurangan
pembuangan sisa pepejal ke alam sekitar. Selari dengan matlamat
tersebut, KKBKT, institusi pendidikan dan sejumlah Organisasi
Bukan Kerajaan (NGO) telah sebulat suara mengadakan beberapa
projek dan kempen bagi mengurangkan jumlah sisa pepejal
negara.
Operasi “Green Job”
Antara projek mega tersebut adalah Projek Green Job dan di antara
operasi Green Job yang telah berjaya dilaksanakan di Malaysia
ialah perkhidmatan “Internet Banking”. Melalui pelaksanaan
“Internet Banking” ini, masyarakat dapat menguruskan tranksaksi,
pembayaran bil atau pembelian ‘top-up’ untuk telefon bimbit
dengan hanya menekan tetikus komputer di rumah atau pejabat.
REFERENCES
and ∇ is gradient operator.
Gambar : Setiap sebulan sekali, penulis akan ke tapak kitar semula
di Dungun untuk menyerahkan kertas dan plastik yang telah
dikumpul kepada agen kitar semula, Encik Awie dan pekerjanya.
bersambung ke muka surat 6.........
1
(
)
1
2
α v s (s ) + E ext (v(s ))ds
2
0
E * snake = ∫
,
where the internal force discourages the
snake from stretching and bending by
pulling the snake towards the desired image
edges.
Cohen, L.D., Cohen, I. (1993). “Finite-element methods
for active contour models and Balloons for 2-D and
3-D images,” IEEE Trans. On PAMI, 15(11), 11311147.
Hiransakolwong, N., Hua, K. A., Vu, K., Windaya, P.
S. (2003). Segmentation of Ultrasound Liver Images:
An Automatic Approach. Multimedia and Expo, 2003.
ICME’03. Proceeding. 2003 International Conference
on 6-9 july 2003, Vol. 1, 1-573-1-576.
Hou, Z., Han, C. (2005). Froce field analysis snake: an
improved parametric active contour model.
Pattern Recognition Letter, 26, 513-526. www.elsevier.
com/locate/patrec
Houshmand, K., Tizhoosh, H. R. (2008). Increasing
Segmentation Accurancy in Ultrasound Imaging
using Filtering and Snake. IEEE, 001333-001336.
Kass, M., Witkin, A., Terzopoulos, D. (1988). Snake:
Active Contour Models. International Journal of
Computer Vision, 321-331.http://www.cs.ucla.
edu/~dt//ijcv88.pdf
Michailivich, O., Tannenbaum, A., (2007). Segmentation
of medical ultrasound images using active contours.
IEEE, V-513-V-516.
Xu, C., Prince, J.L. (1998). Snakes, shapes, and gradient
Vector Flow. IEE Transactions on image processing,
Vol. 7, No. 3, 1057-7149.
Menggamit kenangan di NACES 2013
N
Coretan oleh: Norkamruzita Saadon dan Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof
ational Chemical Engineering Symposium (NACES)
adalah sebuah program yang bertaraf antarabangsa
yang
melibatkan
penglibatan
pelajar-pelajar
kejuruteraan kimia di seluruh universiti di Malaysia. Program
ini menawarkan pertandingan di dalam pelbagai kategori
seperti “Power Point Presentation”, “Video Presentation”, “Case
Study”, “Chemical Engineering Challenges” dan “Plant Design”.
Program ini diadakan bertujuan untuk merapatkan hubungan
silaturrahim antara mahasiswa/i daripada pelbagai universiti yang
mempunyai pelbagai kaum iaitu Melayu, Cina dan India. Selain itu,
program ini diharap dapat melahirkan mahasiswa/i yang seimbang dari
segi jasmani, emosi, rohani, intelek, dan sosial di dalam diri mahasiswa/i.
Pada 8 November 2013, UiTM Pulau Pinang telah menjadi
tuan rumah bagi NACES 2013 dan UiTM (Terengganu)
Kampus Rekreasi Bukit Besi (KRBB) telah menghantar 26
orang peserta untuk menyertai di dalam kesemua kategori
yang dipertandingkan. Program ini dijalankan selama tiga hari
dan melibatkan seluruh universiti di dalam negara termasuk
institusi pengajian tinggi awam (IPTA) dan juga swasta (IPTS).
Walaupun pelajar-pelajar adalah pelajar-pelajar dari program
diploma, mereka tidak gentar bertanding dengan pelajar-pelajar dari
program Sarjana Muda dari unversiti yang lain. Semangat seperti ini
telah berjaya membantu pelajar-pelajar untuk memenangi hadiah di
dalam dua kategori, iaitu “Case Study” dan “Chemical Engineering
Challenge”. Di dalam kategori “Case Study”, Nur Amalina Binti Abdul
Halim, pelajar dari Fakulti Kejuruteraan Kimia semester 4, bersamasama dengan ahli kumpulannya (terdiri dari pelajar-pelajar dari
pelbagai universiti) telah berjaya mendapat tempat pertama di dalam
kategori ini. Walaupun beliau adalah satu-satunya pelajar KRBB di
dalam kumpulannya, Nur Amalina telah berjaya menunjukkan
keyakinan diri serta semangat berpasukan yang baik sehingga
berjaya meraih kemenangan di dalam aktiviti ini. Satu lagi kejayaan
telah dirangkul iaitu di dalam kategori “Chemical Engineering
Challenge” di mana pasukan KRBB telah berjaya mendapat tempat
ketiga. Kumpulan ini telah dianggotai oleh 4 orang pelajar iaitu
Mohamad Danial Benjamin Bin Mohd Radzuan, Amira Khairin Binti
Roslan, Anis Suhaina Binti Ishak dan Muhammad Aiman Bin Abdul
Rahman. Keempat-empat pelajar ini telah berusaha melalui setiap
pusingan dengan penuh bersemangat, walaupun mereka terpaksa
berhadapan dengan pelajar-pelajar dari peringkat Sarjana Muda
yang lebih berpengetahuan di dalam bidang kejuruteraan kimia.
Sepanjang program ini dijalankan, pelajar-pelajar KRBB telah
mendapat peluang mengenali pelajar-pelajar dari pelbagai kaum
serta universiti dan mengeratkan silaturrahim sesama mereka.
Program ini juga dapat melatih para pelajar melakukan kerja di
dalam pasukan bagi menyelesaikan sesuatu tugas dan mereka
telah belajar untuk bekerjasama dan bertoleransi sesama mereka
bagi mencapai objektif di dalam sesuatu tugasan yang diberi.
Selain itu,aktiviti ini telah membantu pelajar-pelajar KRBB untuk
meningkatkan kemahiran di dalam berkomunikasi, terutama
di dalam menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris. Sepanjang aktiviti
dijalankan, pelajar-pelajar KRBB telah mendapat peluang untuk
berinteraksi dengan pelajar-pelajar dari universiti yang lain,
dengan menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris dan pengalaman ini telah
membantu pelajar-pelajar KRBB untuk menjadi lebih berani
dan yakin di dalam menggunakan Bahasa Inggeris di dalam
perbualan mereka. Aktiviti yang telah dilalui ini telah memberi
satu pengalaman yang bermakna kepada semua pelajar yang
terlibat dan diharap, pelajar-pelajar ini dapat menggunakan segala
yang diperolehi melalui aktiviti ini di dalam membentuk jatidiri.
Pasukan yang memenangi tempat ketiga di dalam aktiviti
“Chemical Engineering Challenge”
B CUBE December 2014
13
ULTRASOUND IMAGE SEGMENTATION
U
ltrasound image segmentation is
an important process in medical
analysis and visualization. Since
ultrasound contains strong speckle
noise, it is difficult to automatically
segment this image (Hiransakolwong,
Hua, Vu & Windaya, 2003). Therefore,
several ways are identified to
segment the object in the image.
based on geometric active contours, the
computational complexity of parametric
active contour model is lower.
Active contour models have been widely
used in many applications of computer
vision and image processing. Hou and
Han (2005) stated that several methods
have been proposed such as pressure
force (Cohen, 1991), distance potentials
The objective of image segmentation (Cohen & Cohen, 1993) and GVF snake
process is to divide an image into
(Gradient Vector Flow Snake)
meaningful regions which
(Xu & Prince, 1998).
...The
correspond to certain
objective of image
part or whole
In 1991, Cohen
of an object
segmentation process is to proposed the
within
the
pressure
divide
an
image
into
meaningful
scene which
f o r c e
has
certain regions which correspond to certain w h i c h
u n i f o r m i t y. part or whole of an object within is
used
M u l t i p l e
to
push
the scene which has certain the surface
methods
for
segmentation
of
outward.
The
u n i f o r m i t y. . . .
ultrasound image have
potential is defined as
been proposed. Most of them
a function of image gradient
take advantage of deformable models points without explicit knowledge of
(Michailovich & Tannenbaum, 2007). these points. In the snake approach,
the data points are located directly by
Active contour, deformable or snake the curve through the minimization
models have been used in many of the potential. Moreover, all the
applications of computer vision in points of the curve are influenced by
image processing.
Active contours the attraction force from the image.
are curves and can be defined within
an image domain that is able to move In 1998, Xu and Prince proposed
under the influence of internal force another external force namely gradient
which comes from the curve itself and vector flow (GVF). The GVF snake is
external forces computed from the distinguished from nearly all previous
imaging data. Snake will conform to snake formulations as its external
an object boundary or other desired forces cannot be written as the negative
features within an image when gradient of a potential function. Because
internal and external forces are defined of this, it cannot be formulated by using
(Kass, Witkin & Terzopoulos, 1988). the standard energy minimization
framework. It is also specified directly
The active contour methods are from a force balance condition.
designed to find edges of colours or
other features which are significantly One of the advantages of GVF is its
different from the surrounding region. insensitivity to initialization and
Generally, there are two types of active its ability to move into boundary
contour models which are parametric concavities. Xu and Prince (1998) had
and geometric active contours (Kass et shown its initializations that can be
al., 1988). Parametric active contours inside, outside, or across the boundary
are represented explicitly as parametric of the object. Unlike pressure force,
curves, which is not only a simple method the GVF snake does not need prior
but also user-friendly. Furthermore, knowledge whether to shrink or expand
12
Hybridoma Technology
by : Nursyazni Binti Mohamad Sukri & Wan Azrina binti Wan Azaman
B CUBE December 2014
towards the boundary. The GVF snake
also has a large capture range as it
can be initialized far away from the
boundary. This increased capture range
is achieved through a diffusion process
that does not smudge the edge itself.
The external force model which is the
closest in spirit to GVF is the distance
potential force as being proposed
by Cohen and Cohen (1993). These
forces originate from an edge map
of the image and can provide a large
capture range. Unlike GVF, distance
potential force cannot move a snake into
boundary concavities. Xu and Prince
believed that this is a property of all
conservative forces that characterizes
nearly all snake external forces and
explores non conservative external force.
In 2005, Hou and Han presented new
active contour model by using force
field analysis (FFA) based on the
works of Cohen and Cohen (1993)
and Xu and Prince (1998). This work
is referred as distance potential force.
It also has captured range, and is
more insensitive to initialization and
has faster performance than GVF.
In 2008, Houshmand and Tzhoosh
proposed two ways of increasing
segmentation accuracy in ultrasound
imaging by using filtering and snake.
They stated that the snake is a commonly
used
method
for
segmentation
ultrasound images. However, the snake
cannot be converged to the outline of
the object in some cases. As a result, the
detected boundary will not be accurate.
Therefore, pre-processing method with
median filtering has been implemented
to help snake algorithm converges.
According to Kass et al in 1988,
the typical external energy is:
E ext ( x, y ) = − ∇[Gσ ( x, y ) * I ( x, y )]
2
where I ( x, y ) is a grey-level image and
Gσ ( x, y ) is two-dimensional Gaussion
function with σ as standard deviation
continue to page 9.........
By: Mohammad Bin Abdullah
Chemical Engineering Faculty
H
ybridoma cells (Figure 1) are cells that are
already modified to produce desired antibodies
fithat
are
called
monoclonal
antibodies.
aminopterin-thymidine (HAT) medium. The aminopterin blocked
the pathway that allowed for the synthesis of nucleotide. The
aminopterin in the myeloma cells die, as they cannot generate
nucleotides by the de novo or salvage medium blocks the pathway
that allows for nucleotide synthesis. Therefore the D cells and
unfused B cells died because they have a short life duration. There
was only B cell-myeloma hybrids survive, since the HGRT gene
coming from B cells is functional. This cell eventually produced
antibodies and is immortal. The clones of such hybridomas can be
cultured indefinitely and can secrete huge amounts of monoclonal
antibody (Knutton and Pasternak, 1979). Figure 2 showed the
monoclonal methods for developing anti-pathogen antibody.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 1 and 2: Scanning electron microscopy of H10 hybridoma
cells (Heilmann, Groth, Schossig, Lendlein & Micheel, 2007).
The hybridoma cells are produced by hybridoma
technology, which was first developed by Köhler and Milstein in
1975. The root of this technology formed a hybrid cell line by
fusing specific antibody-producing B-lymphocyte with myeloma
cell that is selected for its ability to grow in tissue culture. The
antibody that is secreted by B-lymphocytes are prepared by
immunizing a host such as mice or rabbit with the antigen of
interest (Samoilovich, Dugan & Macario,1987). In order to produce
hybridoma cells, the B cells are removed from the spleen or other
lymphatic tissue of the animal. Mice have been very popular for
Mab growth due to the production of hybridoma derived Mabs
(Berry, 2005). Once splenocytes are detached from the animal,
these B-cells then are fused with immortalized myeloma. Sp-2/0Ag14 (myeloma cell) is a murine fusion partner (Shulman, Wilde
& Kohler, 1978), as it doesn’t generate any of heavy or light chains
of its own. This property can allow the investigator to produce a
hybridoma cell with only secreted antibody encoded by genes
received from the B lymphocytes partner during a fusion of cells.
The fused cells can grow continuously in culture media
hypoxanthine-guanine–Phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) gene
using polyethylene glycol (PEG) or the Sendai virus (Kohler &
Milstein, 1975). The fused cells are then incubated in hypoxanthine-
Figure 2: The development of hybridoma (Adapted from Butler,
2003).
References
:
Berry, J.D. (2005). Rational monoclonal antibody development to emerging
pathogens, biothreat agents and agents of foreign animal disease: The
antigen scale. The Veterinary Journal, 170,193–211.
Butler, M. (2003). Hybridomas genetic engineering, Encyclopedia of
Physical Science and Technology (3rd ed.), 427–443.
Heilmann, K., Groth, T., Schossig, M., Lendlein, A. & Micheel B. (2007).
Modulation of hybridoma cell growth and antibody production by
coating cell culture material with extracellular matrix proteins.
Biochemical Engineering Journal, 35, 301–308.
Knutton, S. & Pasternak, C.A. (1979). The mechanism of cell-cell fusion.
Trends Biochem. Sci, 4, 22.
Kohler, G. & Milstein, C. (1975). Continuous cultures of fused cells
secreting antibody of predefined specificity. Nature, 256, 495-497.
Samoilovich, S. R., Dugan, C.B. & Macario, A. J.L. (1987). Hybridoma
technology: New developments of practical interest review article.
Journal of immunological methods, 101,153-170.
Shulman, N., Wilde, C.D. & Kohler, G. (1978). A better cell line for making
hybridomas secreting specific antibodies. Nature, 276, 269.
B CUBE December 2014
5
Boycott: A Worldwide Humanitarian Campaign yet an Individual Call
by: Marshahida M Yashim
O
n the very first day the Israel Defence Force launched a
series of attack on a densely populated Gaza strip under
the name of “Operation Protective Edge” (Wahab, 2014)
on last July, a massive ‘Boycott Israel’ campaign began to dominate
globally with citizens and companies choosing not to support the
Zionist entity, including our beloved country, Malaysia. The Gaza
Health Ministry reported that within 14 days of the so called
‘operation’ has caused 343 Palestinian casualties while another
2,600 injured mostly women and innocent children (Donia AlWatan, 2014, July 20). Saddening pictures of wounded mothers
and children added the heat to the boycott campaign. A few NGOs
have officially launched a boycott campaign onto McDonald’s
Corporation products whose company was reported by the Chicago
Jewish Community as a major corporate partner of the Jewish
United Fund (JUF)/ Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
T
he full steam was gathered nationwide on August 8th as it
was seen most when the McDonald’s outlets were filled
with angry people and called for a “National Boycott Mc
Donald’s Day”, or some called it “No McDonald’s Day”. However,
some of the protests and rallies have “crossed the line” and
affected the safety and emotions of its 12,000 staff. The attitude
shown during the protests are clearly against the manners which
should be portrayed and rebuked by many people and NGOs.
T
he boycott call has received a mixed response from all
spectrums of nation. Some were very sceptical on the
campaign and started to ask questions like “why don’t
we boycott the Facebook?” as the Facebook is owned by Mark
Zuckerberg who is a Jew. Dr. Hafidzi Mohd Noor, the chairman
for Aqsa Syarif (one of the major organisations supporting boycott
onto Israel-related Products) has explained that there is a difference
between Jewish and Zionist (Wahab, 2014). Boycotting a company
due to its owner, who is a Jew, is wrong in the first place. The
boycott was launched onto one organisation because it supports
Israel not because the owner is a Jew. If the owner of a company
that supports Israel is a Christian or even a Muslim, boycott
should be targeted onto the company too. He also urged that the
Nota : Panduan untuk Kitar Semula
Langkah awal kitar semula yang efisien adalah dengan mengetahui
jenis barang yang dibeli dan cara untuk mengitarnya semula.
Kitar semula mengikut jenis barang
Banyak barang yang boleh dikitar semula contohnya kertas,
plastik, logam dan kaca. Barangan lain seperti perabot, barangan
elektrik, bahan binaan dan kenderaan juga boleh dikitar semula
tetapi masyarakat kurang peka untuk memulakannya.
Beli produk yang boleh dikitar semula
Jika membeli barang di pasar raya, kita harus membeli barang
dalam bekas yang boleh dikitar semula seperti tin, bekas plastik
dan bekas kaca.
Beli produk yang dibuat daripada bahan kitar semula
Anda boleh mengetahui sesuatu produk itu mesra pengguna
daripada label produk tersebut.
Elakkan dari membeli barangan yang berbahaya
Produk yang mengandungi bahan berbahaya sukar untuk dikitar
semula. Salah satu cara untuk mengatasi masalah ini adalah
6
B CUBE December 2014
boycott campaign is also NOT a USA-boycott campaign yet it is a
humanitarian campaign. That’s why the campaign was joined by
millions around the world including Christian and JEWISH groups.
Does the boycott really work? This kind of question was always
lingering around during the boycott campaign. Yes it does!
Companies like Caterpillar Inc., Alstom, and Motorola are just three
of many examples of the boycott’s effectiveness. Recently, Israel’s
SodaStream closed their main store in the United Kingdom after 2
years of continuous boycott campaign. However, that is not the main
goal for a boycott campaign. One should understand the underlying
goal of boycott is not to force the company to close down but to gather
the move forcing the related company to change their policy towards
not funding the Israeli organisation. Boycotting on the hand is an
offensive move and it is the move which Israel fears the most right now.
I
t seems like the boycott campaign is a seasonal call especially
in our country. When the Gaza Strip was heavily attacked by
the Israel, we announced and joined the boycott campaign.
Since the news is less focused on the chaos in Palestine, we seem
very much back into our own business like saying ‘I rest my case’
forgetting the oppressive people in Gaza who are continuously
denied from freely accessing their water as well as facing food
and aid blockage. The boycott campaign seems to be receding
today. At the moment this article is written, Israel has already
launched a few series of crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque caused
a call for a temporary closure of the holy Mosque. After all, the
boycott campaign might find it difficult to stick in our society.
Reference:
Donia Al-Watan. (2014, July 20). Gaza toll hits 343 dead,
2,600 injured, Palestinian say. Retrieved from http:// english.
alwatanvoice.com/news/2014/07/20/569678.html
Wahab, A. (2014, July 21). Why ‘Boycott Israel’ Needs To
Happen Now. Retrieved from http://www.malaysiandigest.
com/features/509889-why-boycott-israel-needs-to-happennow.html
dengan tidak membeli produk yang mengandungi bahanbahan toksik.
Tong kitar semula dan pusat pengumpulan
Kenalpasti lokasi tong kitar semula atau pusat pengumpulan
yang berhampiran dengan kawasan anda bagi memudahkan
penghantaran barangan kitar semula.
Rujukan
Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan (KPKT). (2012). Lab
Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal 2012. Kuala Lumpur: Pencetak Kerajaan
.
Perbadanan pengurusan Sisa Pepejal dan Pembersihan Awam. (2007).
Portal Rasmi Perbadanan pengurusan Sisa Pepejal dan Pembersi
han Awam.
Zaini Sakawi. (2011). Pengurusan sisa pepejal perbandaran di Malaysia:
Penyelesaian mapan untuk pengurusan sisa. Jurnal Sains Gunaan
dalam Sanitasi Alam Sekitar, 6 (1), 29 – 38.
.........dari muka surat 4
An Anecdote from IIUM
Written by: Shamshad Begham Binti Othman
To my dearest one….
remember my Research Methodology lecturer, Dr NH once
said: If you call yourself a Muslim you must do your best in
everything. He is my most favourite lecturer and a teacher who
handles his class fantastically well. He is very knowledgeable and a
well-read man. He has a great love for books, be it novels or academic
articles. I cannot deny the fact that he is an avid reader. Another
point to add is that I was never bored or sleepy in his 3 hour class.
I always looked forward to attend his class every week for that first
semester. I remember one incident that happened in front of the
elevator near the English Department. I said: Dr NH I feel like giving
up your course. (This was due to the fact that I was really bogged
down with all the crazy assignments whereby only Allah knows all
the answers to them. The tension I felt was further aggravated by
having to meet deadlines and to make matters worse the final exam
was just around the corner. It was my first semester in IIUM and just
imagine what a nice way of getting introduced to the programme.
All these seemed not enough. To add to all the disasters that
I was facing at that time, my computer conked out). He answered:
Then you’ll get ‘C’ for the paper. I exclaimed: Oh! Dr NH, please…(I
could not postpone the submission of my assignment to a later date
because he did not allow it). He was very strict about it. The other
assignments were screaming at me wanting me to prioritize them.
I was also screaming and becoming hysterical with all the madness
that I had to face at that time. But my dear, if you were to see me at
that time, you would still see the same old me, relaxed and cool. My
blood pressure reading shot up and that would be the evidence of my
traumatized state during that semester and the semesters to come).
I
In another incident which happened in front of IIUM
Medical Centre. I asked: Dr NH, how come you gave me an ‘A’ for
my paper? He responded: I guess I was sleepy when I marked your
paper. I did not expect him to answer in that manner and we both
laughed. The following semester Dr NH taught another batch of
students. I came to know from some of the students that he showed
them my assignment as a sample and asked them to photocopy it.
He praised my work in their class and you can imagine how I felt
at that time. All my easily affected feelings rocketed sky high. I was
in a state of euphoria for days after I heard the unexpected news.
All the anguished nights and days that I spent on all my courses
were rewarded. I can still remember all those nights where I lay on
my bed getting unconsciously to become an insomniac. I had a lot
to think during those sleep forbidden nights and the most painful
would be getting very dizzy during the mornings and sometimes
this unexplained dizziness of mine would prolong into the nights.
During those nights you would be one of the characters that would
be affecting my sleep. Thinking of your fabulous stunts and your
unforgettable melodrama would make me awake for hours. I felt
useless because I could not help you due to the distance between us.
Helping you through the phone was ineffective because you were
quite harsh on me when it came to responding to my never-ending
fondness towards you. I had the feeling that whenever my voice
got through the phone it was like a bad omen to you. You neither
shouted nor screamed at me but the gentle tone of your voice or
the uncomfortable silences that you practised did hurt me deeply.
Every end of the conversation with you during those days
would send me plummeting down the mountain and becoming
morose for days and having sleepless nights. That was the experience
I had in finishing the ten courses in my Master’s Programme. Today as
you are reading this short story, I am in the midst of starting my thesis
and you my dear have become a much better person and I am glad.
Factors affecting Indoor Air Quality
Written by: Asiah Binti Ab. Rahim
There are a few factors which affect the indoor air quality:
1)
Toxic Gases
One of the factors is toxic gases. In monitoring indoor air quality, basic understanding of toxicity and hazards are required. Toxic substance
becomes dangerous in relation to the length of exposure, intensity of the dose, also the way in which it is introduced into the body.
Control procedures reduce or eliminate the level of toxicity, the dose or both, hence reducing hazard, or risk. Example of toxic gas is carbon
dioxide. Carbon dioxide levels are normally higher indoor than outdoor. The elevated levels indoor may due to combustion, leaking
compressed gases, animal respiratory by-product. In indoor air, carbon dioxide is primarily as indicator gas. It is an indicator of inadequate
fresh air or insufficient dilution of air contaminants generated in a building.
2)Ventilation
The other factor is ventilation which is usually used for temperature control. As in many countries, the indoor temperature is slightly higher
than the outdoor temperature for most of the year. In order to reduce high room temperature, ventilation can be used.Ventilation may cause
or prevent infiltration of pollutants from structures or adjacent spaces and also changes the pressure differences over the structure of building.
Ventilation is also in many cases used to control the thermal environment or humidity in buildings. Parameters to characterize ventilation
may include ventilation rates, ventilation system types, contaminants in indoor air, and physical characterization of indoor environment.
These factors affect human response through each other but also independently.
Some conclusions on the performance of ventilation in respect of human responses are:
a)
Reducing the prevalence of air borne infectious diseases when higher ventilation.
b)
Ventilation rates below 10 Ls-1 per person bare associated with a significantly worse prevalence of one or more health or perceived air
quality outcomes.
c)
Improved ventilation can be related in improving task performance and productivity.
References:
ASHARE Standards Committee (2004) “ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2004, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality” American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.Atlanta.
Fariborz Haghighat Lisa De Bellir (1998) “Material Emissions Rates : Literature Review, And The Impact of Indoor Air Temperature and Relative
Humidity” Building and Environment Vol-33, No 5.pp261-277.
John E.Yocom and Sharom M.Mc Carthing (1991): Measuring Indoor air Quality: A Practical Guide” (Principle and Technique in the Environmental
Sciences). John Waley & Sons Ltd.,Baffins Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1UD, England.
Kathleen Hess-Kossa (2002) “Indoor Air Quality: Sampling Methodologies). Regulatory Limits and Guidelines pp.7-10. Preliminary Investigation
p.20-22 TD890.H49 2001
B CUBE December 2014
11
POISON
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
OR
POISSON?
Written by: Sarah Yusoff
T
he pronunciation of these two words might be similar but the meaning is totally different.
In general, when we talk about poison, we will refer to something that can harm us but when
we discuss Poisson distribution in statistics matter, most of us will think that it might be a
complicated topic. In truth, I thought the same thing also when I learnt this topic from my former lecturer.
A throwback to the old days when I was a student, most of the times I wondered why it was named “the
Poisson distribution”. No one told me the originality of the name until I discovered through my reading.
Poisson distribution was created by a master of French mathematician named Siméon Denis Poisson. His
contribution to the probability theory is not confined to the distribution which bears his name or the expression
“Law of large numbers’ but also in various areas ranging from pure mathematics to the mathematics of
artillery. He used his name for his formula (Haight, 1967). Probably one day I could create a formula and name
it after my lovely name, “Sarah”. Perhaps, one fine day, you would see “Sarah distribution” somewhere…
P
oisson distribution is widely used for discrete data that are limited by certain time. To relate
with our lives, I love to share the latest statistics in Malaysia or other country with my students.
Recently, I read one article which discussed about the divorced issue in Malaysia. The facts really
surprised me. In every 15 minutes, a number of divorce cases for Muslim couples are reported (Utusan,
2011). Cases in Saudi Arabia were worse than those in Malaysia and other Gulf Region with the highest
percentage (79% of divorce cases) per day (Berita Harian, 2011). This article stated that in one minute,
there are 6 married couples divorced. Can you imagine what will happen in a week, a month, or a year?
The figure will be illogical and could make us worried. With this finding, I suggest the responsible persons
should take immediate action to identify and overcome the problem before it becomes a catastrophe.
Coming back to our main discussion of Poisson distribution, with the time interval, this distribution
uses a simple central tendency to measure the number of cases occurred in a certain time interval.
In that interval time frame, we prefer to measure average or means in order to represent the situation.
Nevertheless, to make it different, we use the lambda sign instead of the mean notation as a parameter
to measure the average. It is a very simple measurement to describe this kind of distribution.
By referring to the probability distribution function of Poisson distribution, we can estimate the possibilities
or chances of any occurring events. The expectation and the variance of any event which follow
P
oisson distribution are always an average value. I really enjoy teaching this topic to Chemical
Engineering students and this semester will be my last semester teaching them. I always hope
that one day, even though they are no longer attending other statistics class, they will remember
Poisson distribution which we had once discussed together.
References
Berita Harian. (2011, May 15). Enam minit sekali cerai di Arab Saudi. Berita Harian Online. Retrieved from http://www2.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/EnamminitsekaliceraidiArabSaudi/Article
Haight, F. (1967). Handbook of the Poisson Distribution. New York: Wiley.
Utusan. (2011, March 4). Rekod Jakim: Setiap 15 minit satu pasangan bercerai. Utusan On
line. Retrieved from http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=0304&sec=Dalam_
Negeri&pg=dn_11.htm (Harian, 2011; Utusan, 2011)
10
B CUBE December 2014
By: Haizuan Abd. Rahman
In general, structural material is divided into four categories of materials that are metals, polymers, ceramics and composites. However, current composite materials are
widely used in many engineering structures because they are well known to be light weight and high strength than metal and metal alloys[1-6].
One example of its applications is fiber reinforced epoxy composite material. This composite material is very useful in hovercraft construction[1]. Since hovercraft is
highly influenced by weight and operating in harsh environments, this makes composites superior to other materials. Instead of using aluminum in hovercraft construction
traditionally, some manufacturers choose composite materials as its alternative.
Composite material is defined as two or more separate materials which are combined in one structural unit at microscopic
and microscopic level [3-4]. Moreover, the material combination in composites is not soluble in each other [3] and typical
composites are made from the other mentioned common materials used in structural material, which are metals, polymers and
ceramics. Besides that, composites are divided into two phases, which are reinforcing phase and embedded phase that can be
called matrix.
Figure 1: Hovercraft construction using fiberglass by
Shanghai Ocean University [7]
Furthermore, composites are divided into two types that are based on the geometry of the reinforcing phase and the matrix[3]. In the reinforcing phase it’s divided by four
categories which are particulate, flake, fiber and nanocomposites as shown in Table 1. On the other hand, matrix phase is divided into four categories which are Polymer
Matrix Composites (PMCs), Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs), Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) and Carbon-carbon Matrix Composites.
In early days, man-made composites were usually macroscopic. However, when composite advanced in the last few decades, the size in reinforcement material of
composite materials becomes gradually decrease. In recent years, nanocomposites have received wide attention in engineering communities due to their nanometre sized
reinforcement such as carbon nanotubes[3-4].
TABLE 1
Classification of Composite Materials Based on Geometry Reinforcement[28]
No
Types of Geometry’s Reinforcement
Descriptions
Advantages
Examples
1
Particulate
Composites
• Particles immersed in
matrices
• Categorized as isotropi
due to immersed in matrices
randomly
2
Flake
Composites
• Consist of flat reinforcements • High out of plane in flexural
of matrices
modulus
• Increase in strength
• Low cost manufacturing
•
•
•
•
3
Fiber
Composites
• Reinforced by short and long
fibers or can be called discon
tinuous
and continuous fibers respec
tively
• Categorized as anisotropic
•
•
•
•
• Carbon
• Aramids
4
Nanocomposites
• Materials are scaled as na
nometer (10-9m).
• Allowed range of nanocom
posites is must less than
100nm.
• Different from bulk material
due to its small size,.
• Advanced nanocomposites
are micro scaled which is 106m
• Superior than micro scale but • Metal rubber
not all properties are better
• Olefin based nanocomposites
• In isolated cases, toughness
and impact strength of nano
composites can be decrease
• Weight reduction
• Surface quality improvement
• Improved strength
• Increased operating tempera
ture
• Oxidation resistances
Low density
High tensile strength
Low cost manufacturing
High impact resistance
• Alloys
• Aluminium particles in rub
ber
• Silicon carbide particles in
rubber
Glass
Mica
Aluminium
Silver
References:
[1] Amiruddin A.K. , Sapuan S.M. , and Jaafar A. A. , “Analysis of glass fibre reinforced epoxy composite hovercraft hull base,” Materials and Design, 24 July 2007.
[2] Voyiadjis G. Z., Damage in Composite Materials. Department of Civil Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA: Elesevier, 1993.
[3] Kaw A. K. , Mechanics of Composite Materials second ed.: Taylor & Francis, 2007.
[4] Gibson R. F., Principles of Composite Material Mechanics: Taylor & Francis Group, 2007.
[5] Daniel I. M. and Ishai O. , Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston,
IL: Oxford University Press, 2006.
6] Abd Halim H. I. , “Dynamic Characterization Of Fibre Reinforced Composite(S-Glass) In Rigid Armoured Vehicle,” Master of Science, Faculty of Mechanical Engi
neering, University Teknology MARA, August 2006.
[7] http://neoterichovercraft.blogspot.com/,2013.
B CUBE December 2014
7
EVENTS OF THE YEAR, 2014
GO GREEN 2014
MDS Jun 2014
MECHA-MECHA BOAT RACE
AUDIT PERJAWATAN
3R & HERBAL GARDEN
COMPETITION
MAULIDUR RASUL 2014
POSTER PRESENTATION
8
B CUBE December 2014
FYP FKM
B CUBE December 2014
9