Indoor Thermal Assessment of Medium-Cost House in Arid Climate

An environmental responsive design of building internal spaces is important criteria and should be taken into account in the pre-design stage of the residential buildings. This study aims to analyze the existing spatial spaces of a residential building in terms of thermal performance in a dry desert climate area. Temperature data loggers were utilized in the duplex house. Results indicate that wall exposure, window size, floor level and orientation play are the key to designing a friendly environment of internal spaces. The neighbourhood fabric has an important role in terms of shadows and time of direct exposure to radiation. Keywords: Indoor house, Arid climate, Air temperature, spatial design eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6i18.3076

Effect of pH, Sucrose Concentrations and Medium States on in vitro Root-ing of Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L) Merr) cv Queen

The effect of medium states (liquid, semi solid, solid), pH (5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5) and sucrose concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40 g/l) on in vitro rooting of pineapple cultured in full strength MS enriched with IBA at 0.5 mg/l were investigated. According to average overall sucrose concentrations, overall pH adjustments, and at each combination of equal sucrose and pH, liquid medium was always super than solid and semisolid. The tallest plantlets (66 to 71 mm) obtained in liquid medium enriched with sucrose at 10 and 20 g/l both adjusted to pH 6.0; sucrose at 20 g/l and adjusted to pH 6.5 and sucrose at 30 g/l and adjusted to pH 5.0. All of the above combinations except sucrose at 20 and pH 6.0 resulted in 100% rooting. Sucrose at 30 g/l and pH 5.0 resulted in two times more (11 roots per shoot) and three times longer roots (39 mm) than the other treatments (5 roots each about 14 mm long). Each rooting parameter had different optimum combinations of medium state, sucrose and pH adjustment. For any parameter, proper pH adjustment could reduce the optimal sucrose enrichment from 30 to 20 and even to 10 g/l. Hence, pH adjustment is suggested as an important approach for reduction of in vitro rooting medium cost.

Nitrogen excretion and oxygen consumption on hyper intensive tilapia Oreochromis niloticus culture using three different commercial diets

The fish feed used in aquaculture systems has many nutritional factors like protein, fat, fiber, ash, and humidity; from these factors, one of great importance is protein. The protein of fish feed is obtained from fish meal, and the demand for fish meal has increased; this induces to increase the price. Many pieces of research have been done about this topic to mitigate this problem. This research shows the differences between three commercial foods of the different processes with the same quantity of protein, using tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, to prove any difference between NO2-, NO3-, and NH4+. Nitrogen compounds were determined with HACH methods for the DR6000 spectrophotometer. Biometric data were registered throughout the growth of fish, along with measure aerobic metabolism. Results have shown that has better outcomes related to low excretion of nitrogen compound was medium-cost fish feed (MCFF). It also has sound effects associated with the length-weight relationship; that could be connected to these fish feed's protein sources.

Vertical living satisfaction of homeowners in a medium-cost residential building in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Purpose In Malaysia, a vertical residential building (VRB) is still facing challenges associated with property management. The lack of experience in property management resulted in the management, acting unprofessionally that cause a lot of problems to the homeowners and their properties. The findings demonstrated that maintenance of the facilities and common areas in a VRB is essential to ensure its optimal performance over its life cycle. This has to be carried out efficiently and professionally by the qualified property manager. Unfortunately, not every property manager can perform all the tasks efficiently and professionally. Thus, this leads to an increasing number of complaints by unsatisfied homeowners’ particularly on the maintenance and management of the buildings and facilities. To satisfy the homeowners, the issue of transparency is one of the area concerns that need to be emphasised in the property management system practiced in Malaysia. This case study area of Klang Valley poses as one of the urban areas that has the highest number of vertical buildings, especially the medium cost of VRB. The purpose of this study is to explore the satisfaction level of homeowners towards the management system, maintenance services and facilities provided by the management of the medium cost VRB in the Klang Valley. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quantitative approach. The survey method was used as an appropriate method for inquiry of the data. Face to face survey was conducted with respondents at a medium-cost residential building in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Findings The findings demonstrated that homeowners living in medium-cost VRB in Klang Valley are satisfied and faced issues with the management system, maintenance service and services provided by the management of the medium-cost VRB. The only issue confronted by the homeowners with the medium-cost VRB is the commitment of the management towards their involvement in organising the activities, problem-solving and taking action on residents’ reports or complaints. Practical implications The findings suggest that appointing qualified property managers who understand property management has increased the performance of the management team. Most importantly, qualified property managers are equipped with knowledge in managing people, especially to create awareness on a sense of responsibility and belonging. Originality/value This study has bridged the research gap on property management of the medium-cost of VRB in Malaysia. This will add value to the management of the medium cost of VRB.

Wireless Body Area Network using Cryptography

Network security has been great concern with recent technical advancement in wireless communication. And for that, a secured system is to be developed to provide data security over wireless transmission. This paper presents wireless body area network (WBAN) with cryptographic AES algorithm which monitors patient biomedical parameters based on sensors, Arduino and ZigBee. WBAN provides real-time measurements of patients health based on biomedical sensor. AES cryptographic algorithm is implemented for secure communication over wireless network by encryption and decryption of physiological parameters. Implementation of algorithm using Arduino has been communicated by ZigBee network to provide security to the encrypted data (cipher text) on medium cost devices. This ensures security of data for medical rehabilitation and monitoring of patients. The main purpose of this paper is to help a physician to treat patients during emergency by monitoring patients round the clock (24*7). This paper is helpful for elderly and disabled people with no assistance to measure and send the results to the doctor immediately

Tenants' Satisfaction in High Residential Building

High residential living in Malaysia has not been widely given a significant emphasises in literature despite its increasing scale and significance in the real estate market. The significance of high rise is mainly due the increasing rate of migration from rural to urban. It is estimated a total of 77.2 percent of the Malaysian population lived in urban areas in 2020. Approximately, 30 percent of this urban population lives in strata housing. These percentages are predicted to continue to increase in the future. The emergence of high residential building has been argued as confronting various problems which has considerable impact on this life style. Satisfaction is an important outcome of living in one’s dwelling, although it is not the only consideration. High residential building in Malaysia encountered numerous problems in term of management aspects, legislation aspects, and residents’ satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tenants’ satisfaction living in high residential buildings in Klang Valley. The questionnaires survey is conducted amongst 276 tenants at low cost and medium cost HRB using random sampling in HRB located at areas under jurisdiction Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), Majlis Bandaraya Subang Jaya (MBSJ), Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA), Majlis Bandaraya Subang Jaya (MBSJ), Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS) and Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ). The result from this study shows that tenant in medium cost residential building are more satisfied in term of facilities and management as compared to tenants in low cost residential building. Tenants also not disclosed to the existing act and procedure related to high residential building. In conclusion, this study suggested the Local Authority to emphasise the role of tenant. These recommendation hopefully will increase the level of satisfaction amongst the residents in HRB.

Using Medium-Cost Sensors to Estimate Air Quality in Remote Locations. Case Study of Niedzica, Southern Poland

The aim of this study was to assess air quality by using medium-cost sensors in recreational areas that are not covered by permanent monitoring. Concentrations of air pollutants PM2.5, PM10, PM1, CO, O 3 , NO 2 in the Niedzica recreational area in southern Poland were obtained. The research revealed that in cold weather, particulate matter concentrations significantly exceeded acceptable levels determined for PM2.5 and PM10. The most important factor that affects air quality within the studied area seems to be the combustion of poor quality fuels for heating purposes. The information obtained by the research presented could be a useful tool for local authorities to make environmental decisions, based on the potential health impacts of poor air quality levels on the population.

TR OPTIMAL CONDITIONS FOR β-MANNANASE PRODUCTION BY BACILLUS CIRCULANS NT 6.7

Optimum medium for mannanase production is very important and producing medium has been shown effective for mannanase production from Bacillus circulans NT 6.7 but expensive. This work aim to find low cost medium and optimum condition for mannanase production from Bacillus circulans NT 6.7. 1.5% concentration of defatted copra meal as carbon source in shake flask resulted in highest growth and enzyme activities of 10.51±0.53 Log CFU/ml and 12.84±4.38 U/ml at 18 hours accordingly. Also, 2% defatted copra meal in fermenter produced highest growth of 7.94±0.41 Log CFU/ml and enzyme activities of 32.07±2.94 U/ml at 15 hours. Using taguchi design, optimal conditions for inoculum, agitation and aeration were 1%, 600 rpm and 0.75 vvm, respectively. Under this optimized condition, the mannanase experimental yield (29.57±4.81U/ml) closely matched the yield predicted by the statistical model (24.15U/ml) with R2 = 0.75. Using mineral salts medium, slightly increased in mannanase product was observed compare to previously used producing medium. Also, the cost of using mineral salts medium (cost per liter) is 27 time lower than the cost of producing medium. Suggesting that, mineral salt medium provides an economically feasible medium for producing mannanase from Bacillus circulans NT 6.7.

Out-of-pocket costs are on the rise for commonly prescribed neurologic medications

ObjectiveTo determine out-of-pocket costs for neurologic medications in 5 common neurologic diseases.MethodsUtilizing a large, privately insured, health care claims database from 2004 to 2016, we captured out-of-pocket medication costs for patients seen by outpatient neurologists with multiple sclerosis (MS), peripheral neuropathy, epilepsy, dementia, and Parkinson disease (PD). We compared out-of-pocket costs for those in high-deductible health plans compared to traditional plans and explored cumulative out-of-pocket costs over the first 2 years after diagnosis across conditions with high- (MS) and low/medium-cost (epilepsy) medications.ResultsThe population consisted of 105,355 patients with MS, 314,530 with peripheral neuropathy, 281,073 with epilepsy, 120,720 with dementia, and 90,801 with PD. MS medications had the fastest rise in monthly out-of-pocket expenses (mean [SD] $15 [$23] in 2004, $309 [$593] in 2016) with minimal differences between medications. Out-of-pocket costs for brand name medications in the other conditions also rose considerably. Patients in high-deductible health plans incurred approximately twice the monthly out-of-pocket expense as compared to those not in these plans ($661 [$964] vs $246 [$472] in MS, $40 [$94] vs $18 [$46] in epilepsy in 2016). Cumulative 2-year out-of-pocket costs rose almost linearly over time in MS ($2,238 [$3,342]) and epilepsy ($230 [$443]).ConclusionsOut-of-pocket costs for neurologic medications have increased considerably over the last 12 years, particularly for those in high-deductible health plans. Out-of-pocket costs vary widely both across and within conditions. To minimize patient financial burden, neurologists require access to precise cost information when making treatment decisions.