This research purposely conducts to identify Malaysian role in port bilateral diplomacy in ASEAN. Malaysia known as role leader in ASEAN and commit with excellence, drive the country among ASEAN since 1969. The research included Malaysia role within maritime working group where this forum or organization discuss and negotiate any issue related maritime sector in ASEAN. The research also highlights in Port Enhancement and Malaysia Port Strategic whereas Port Development in Malaysia that contribute to Port Bilateral, Port Alliance and Port in ASEAN. The objective includes i) to identify the issues and challenges in bilateral diplomacy in port shipping, ii) to identify Malaysian marine department role toward integrating ASEAN Maritime Working Group, iii) to find out Malaysian initiative for enhancement Malaysian Port Development through ASEAN port alliances, iv) to formulate Malaysia Port Strategic Plan toward the development of national port ASEAN port Alliances. For the literature review in this research is refer to five keywords which is Port Alliances, maritime working group, Malaysia contribution, Malaysia Port Development and Port Strategic Plan. This research is using qualitative method that refer to previous research, article, and journal. The collecting data consist of text transcribe form interview session into verbal and text written. There are selected organization such as Ministry of Transport and Port Authority. The interview process through online using Webex. The coding process take afterward for analysis and conclusion data. The theory formulation of relation diplomacy for this research is propose the objective to formulate Malaysia port strategic plan toward the development of national port ASEAN. Finally, the finding of this research that Malaysia plays significant role in port operation through ASEAN regional. The ministry of Transport plays as policy maker and drive the actor form Malaysia Marine Department and Port Authority in operation and regulatory. The recommendation is to increase the effectiveness of communication and enhance the efficiency of relation toward port bilateral.

Underwater heritage is the term commonly used to mean material found underwater. Many states have heightened of underwater heritage remains unprotected. The UNESCO 2001 convention on the protection of the underwater cultural heritage is the foremost international legal reference for the protection or salvage of underwater heritage. To conduct a literature review for this thesis, five keywords were chosen such as UNESCO, under water cultural heritage, marine salvage and sovereignty, exploration, and investigation. The objective is; i) To ensure Malaysia underwater heritage is being well enforced by respective enforcement authorities.; ii) To create an awareness and protection to public and relevant parties.; iii) To identify the relevant implementation of legal enforcement from the respective Malaysia authority) To formulate Malaysia underwater cultural heritage strategic framework for enhancement sustainability development of underwater assets and wealth, and sovereignty. And for the problem statement, i) Lack of proactive measures from operational patrol of underwater cultural heritage for the enforcement from maritime authority,; ii) lack of public disclosure on the importance and existence of underwater heritage in Malaysia by stakeholders,; Iii) Lack of procedures and legal aspects for implementation of underwater cultural heritage in Malaysia water,;iv) None of national underwater cultural heritage strategic framework for sustainability of underwater assets and wealth in Malaysia. Specifically, the component of the underwater heritage is outlined for the protection and conservation of artifacts which have been partially or totally underwater. Qualitative method as main method and data collection from research book, journal article, publish and non-publish report. While expert interviewed via Webex within expert from academician and operational as supportive for this research. Text transcribed has been used for this research and coding system functioned for reference during discussion and findings. This thesis also uses theory of formulation and marine salvage as well as underwater cultural heritage law as a main reference. Finally, underwater cultural heritage strategic framework has been formulated regards to enhancement sustainability development of underwater assets and wealth, and sovereignty. thereby, it shown the Malaysian government commitment and concern to remain national maritime sovereignty.

Spent Calgon Filtrasorb activated carbon (SAC) from glycerine deodorization unit was evaluated for the removal of methylene blue (MB). The SAC was used without further modification. The SAC was characterized for BET surface area, pH, pHpzc and FTIR to determine the textural and chemical properties of SAC. The batch adsorption study of MB was carried out under different initial concentrations (5–500 mg/L), pH (2–11) and contact time (0–200 h). The SAC was found to have high BET surface area, pore volume and average pore diameter of 735 m2/g, 0.292 cm3/g and 2.56 nm, respectively. The properties of SAC contributed to high MB adsorption capacity of 283 mg/g. The equilibrium data fitted well with Langmuir model, indicating monolayer adsorption; while the activation energy (Ea) of Dubinin–Radushkevitch (D–R) model is lower than 8 kJ/mol, signifying physisorption. The adsorption kinetics was best illustrated by pseudo-second-order model, while the intraparticle diffusion and Boyd models suggested that film diffusion is the rate-controlling step. These findings showed that Calgon Filtrasorb SAC from glycerine deodorization unit can be potentially reused an adsorbent for the removal of dyes.

The synthesis of graphene and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) employing various approaches with a range of precursors, chemicals, and parameters has been reported. Most of the top-down and bottom-up techniques employ strong and hazardous chemical environments, complicated and tedious procedures, are time-consuming, and often require special equipment. Another drawback of the techniques reported is the production of agglomerated, inhomogeneous, and non-dispersible graphene in aqueous solvents or organic solvents, thus limiting its application. This work specifically and comprehensively describes the electrochemical exfoliation of graphene and GQDs, which is often considered as a simple one-step, facile, non-hazardous, and highly efficient technique yet favourable for mass production. A brief discussion on the advantageous and challenges of the electrochemical technique and applications of the electrochemically exfoliated graphene and GQDs is also presented.

Marina is a small port located along a coastline that provides facilities and services for small boats and yachts. The main facilities of marina are pontoon, freshwater, and power supplies. Marina also provides service for boat maintenance and service, and security. In Malaysia, the marina is operated by private companies and Marine Department Malaysia. All the marinas in Malaysia provide the same facilities and services, however they are not operating at the same level. Few marinas had closed their operation due to insufficient number of boats arrived to their marina. The reason of this issue is lack of study about marina operation and management in Malaysia. Further study should be done in this field to overcome this issue and increased the growth of economy for marina. Therefore, the objective of this study to determine the factors to establish a marina in Malaysia and to identify the reason certain marina less performed. This research focused on the marina operators on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The literature review was used to identify the factors to establish a marina. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach was used to analyse the data. This method had ranked the crucial factors from the highest to the lowest percentage. Four main criteria to establish a marina had been identified, namely locations, facilities, services, and promotion. Besides that, there also the sub-criteria for all the main factor to describe it. All the identified factors had been analysed to find the most important factor. The consolidate result showed that geography, security, berthing, purpose, boat chandlery and boat service are the highest percentage among other factors. It concludes that it is the most important factor to establish a marina. These results can be used to improve the operation of marina in Malaysia by focusing on these aforementioned factors.

Maritime sector has played a critical role for the growth and development of the Malaysia in facilitating global trade. Malaysia rely on the sector for the import and export of goods as around 90% of the nation trade is carried through maritime transportation. Although there are increasing in trade performance, Malaysian maritime industry is still facing a hard times to safeguard Malaysia's economic interests and to retain its competitive advantage as a leading maritime nation. Therefore, this paper aims to identify, analyses and evaluate the factors that influencing Malaysian maritime industry in remaining sustainable in global trade. In order to explain how the influencing factors affect the Malaysian maritime industry, a systematic hierarchical structure was developed. Then, by employed Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique, the priorities among various criteria was determined through the judgments of experts using a set of scales. The results of this study will assist the shipping entities to cope with those challenges and for Malaysia maritime sector to remain a key enabler of international trade.

The multilateral trade relations between Malaysia and MERCOSUR is a new market. This study focuses on automotive policy areas towards the MERCOSUR regime which focus on trade ties. The purpose of this study is to expand national automotive policy to penetrate the automotive sector in the MERCOSUR. While it create opportunities to penetrate the automotive sector in MERCOSUR where Malaysia needs to enhancement national trade performance of FTA potential within MERCOSUR regime especially on investment and trade. The main issue is the lack of progress and process are restrictions on Malaysia's within MERCOSUR in the automotive field. Malaysia does not pursue trade within respective nation but in statistical shows have a large and positive market economy with the southern continent of America, especially the automotive industry and lack of performance of Malaysian counterparts and MERCOSUR and unsuccessful automotive investment and exporters. This research uses qualitative research methods, data collection, interviews, and content analysis methods for this study. Expert from respective agencies as interviewees such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Malaysia Trade Relations Division (MATRADE), the Department of Robotics and the automotive trade policy of Malaysia and the IoT Institute. Coding techniques are used for coding processes in content analysis. Hereby, the analysis by using the Economic Integration theory with SWOT Analysis to find out the implementation of Malaysia FTA within the MERCOSUR .Hence, research findings show that Malaysia's multilateral within MERCOSUR relations have a potential to be strengthened with a variety of positive and initiatives from the Malaysia government.

The present work is aimed at evaluating the kinetics and dynamic adsorption of methylene blue by CO2- activated carbon gels. The carbon gels were characterized by textural properties, thermal degradation and surface chemistry. The result shows that the carbon gels are highly microporous with surface area of 514 m2/g and 745 m2/g for resorcinol-to-catalyst ratios of 1000 (AC1) and 2000 (AC2), respectively. The kinetics data could be described by pseudo-first-order model, with a longer duration to attain equilibrium due to restricted pore diffusion as concentration increases. Also, AC1 exhibits insignificant kinetics with fluctuating adsorption with time at concentrations of 20 and 25 mg/L. However, AC1 reveals a better performance than AC2 in dynamic adsorption due to concentration gradient for molecules diffusion to active sites. The applicability of Yoon–Nelson and Thomas models indicates that the dynamic adsorption is controlled by external and internal diffusion.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the dielectric properties of impregnated and activated palm kernel shells (PKSs) samples using two activating agents, potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), at three impregnation ratios. The materials were characterized by moisture content, carbon content, ash content, thermal profile and functional groups. The dielectric properties were examined using an open-ended coaxial probe method at various microwave frequencies (1–6 GHz) and temperatures (25, 35, and 45°C). The results show that the dielectric properties varied with frequency, temperature, moisture content, carbon content and mass ratio of the ionic solids. PKSK1.75 (PKS impregnated with K2CO3 at a mass ratio of 1.75) and PKSN1.5 (PKS impregnated with NaOH at a mass ratio of 1.5) exhibited a high loss tangent (tan δ) indicating the effectiveness of these materials to be heated by microwaves. K2CO3 and NaOH can act as a microwave absorber to enhance the efficiency of microwave heating for low loss PKSs. Materials with a high moisture content exhibit a high loss tangent but low penetration depth. The interplay of multiple operating frequencies is suggested to promote better microwave heating by considering the changes in the materials characteristics.

Current marine navigational practice relies less on long-range visual marine signals such as lighthouses for reference purposes. This is due to the availability of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), which are integrated with other navigational aids on ships. Therefore, the objective of this study is to review the function of Pisang Island lighthouse and to propose the most relevant use of Pisang Island for current navigational needs. The function of the lighthouse was reviewed according to the IALA Navigational Guide and the AIS data image. The result showed that the most suitable navigational use of the lighthouse is to act as a reference for Line of Position (LOP). The AIS data image indicated that mariners are not using Pisang Island lighthouse for LOP. The trend in the Straits of Malacca (SoM) was compared with the trend in the Straits of Dover, UK. The selected experts verified that LOP was not practised there. As a specific example, a tanker ship route in the South China Sea was used to further support that LOP was not practised. This evidence supported the view that Pisang Island lighthouse is less relevant for current navigational practice and does not directly support the coastal state VTS operation and the establishment of the marine electronic highway. Furthermore, the existing shore-based VTS radar has limitations on range and the detection of targets near Pisang Island. Therefore, this study proposes the establishment of a new radar station on Pisang Island at the existing site of the lighthouse. The proposed new radar station on Pisang Island will add to the existing coverage of the VTS radar, bridging the coverage gaps to overcome the weakness of the existing shore-based radar and improve the safety and security of marine navigation in the SoM.

Long-range visual marine aids to navigation are not required for current marine navigational practices. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a minimum luminous range for major lighthouses that are still in existence to sustain the operation of the lighthouses in the future. Two steps were involved in the determination of the minimum luminous range, namely the modification of the existing geographical range formula, and the finding of a strong linear correlation between the light intensity and the luminous range with the lowest gradient possible in a graph. The application of the minimum luminous range would eliminate the loom of light beyond the geographical range of the lighthouse. This approach was applied to seven major lighthouses in Peninsular Malaysia, which resulted in a minimum luminous range of between 12 nm to 14 nm, which was a reduction from the existing range of 18 nm to 25 nm. The validation of the minimum luminous range was performed in two ways; using a Full Mission Ship Simulator (FMSS), and matching the proposed minimum luminous range with the lighting system available. The results of the validation by using the FMSS between the luminous range of 25 nm and 14 nm showed that the light could be sighted and identified at 58.7 nm and 58.6 nm, respectively, which was, therefore, not significant. The validation by matching with the lighting equipment available in the market showed that the eight-tier VLB-44, which has replaced the rotating lighting system in the US since 2008, was highly matched with the proposed minimum luminous range. This further validated the minimum luminous range. The minimum luminous range is sufficient for current navigational uses and may reduce the costs for procuring and maintaining lighting systems, and will be able to sustain the operations of lighthouses in this GNSS age.

In the tanker industry, there are a lot of uncertain conditions that tanker companies have to deal with.For example, the global financial crisis and economic recession, the increase of bunker fuel prices and global climate change. Such conditions have forced tanker companies to change tankers speed from full speed to slow speed, extra slow speed and super slow speed. Due to such conditions, the objective of this paper is to present a methodology for determining vessel speeds of tankers that minimize the cost of the vessels under such conditions. The four levels of vessel speed in the tanker industry will be investigated and will incorporate a number of uncertain conditions. This will be done by developing a scientific model using a rule-based Bayesian reasoning method. The proposed model has produced 96 rules that can be used as guidance in the decision making process. Such results help tanker companies to determine the appropriate vessel speed to be used in a dynamic operational environmental.

Mobile phone makers compete for market shares through domination in media advertisements. These include domination of advertisements (Ads) in TV and the internet. However, the abundance and complexity of the competitions of Ads in TV does not guarantee advertising success which can influence consumers’ emotion and the purchase intention towards the brand. This research analyses the case of a directional model on Attitude-towards-the-Ad model as a baseline into a new proposed correlation models (MacKenzie, Scott, &Lutz, 1989). The survey targets the involvements of Asian smartphone owners’ attitude on advertisements, brands and purchase intentions. CFA (Confirmatory factor Analysis) was used in the research experiments, including hypothesis testing, the outcome of model fit which revealed significant levels and were successful. The study revealed that all three paths have consistently high coefficient paths (Attitude to Ads – Attitude to Brands – Purchase Intention), showing significant value of (β=>.80), which supported each correlation factors. Therefore, this structural model, could set standards for creative managers and advertising teams to improve the brands visibility and build strong influences on attitudes in advertisements and improve purchase intentions.

Chilling resistance at sowing is pre-requisite to avoid high temperature stress at terminal stage of spring planted maize crop. Seed priming offers promising solution to improve crop resistance against low or high temperature stress. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the role of seed priming in improving the performance of spring planted maize under various sowing dates. Seeds of hybrid maize FH-810 were soaked in aerated solution of CaC}z (2.2%), moringa leaf extracts (MLE, 3.3%) and salicylic acid (SA, 50 mg L- 1 ) while dry and water soaked seeds (hydropriming) were used as controls. Both primed and untreated seeds were planted on 02 and 22 Feb, and 14 March. Late planted maize observed notable decline in mean emergence time than early planted crop owing to high temperature at planting. Both low and high temperature in early (02 Feb) and late (14 March) planted maize resulted in reduced seedling growth and tissue water status accompanied with elevated membrane electrolytes leakage. Moreover all the priming techniques improved the studied parameters of crop compared with control at all planting dates. Seed osmopriming with SA improved crop stress resistance by earlier emergence, increased seedling dry weight, tissue water status and improved membrane stability followed by osmopriming with CaC12.

Weeds are the major hindrance in the adoption of conservation agriculture in a rice wheat cropping system. There exists a conflict in the agronomic and soil requirements between a conventional rice production system and the following wheat crop. Puddling in the conventional rice productions system helps in controlling weeds in rice and following crops, but disturbs the soil structure resulting in poor stand establishment of the following wheat crop. This study was conducted to monitor the soil properties, weed dynamics and stand establishment of wheat grown by conventional and conservation tillage options after different rice production systems. Maximum soil bulk density and root penetration resistance was observed after a conventional flooded rice system with the lowest values in aerobic rice culture. Wheat stand establishment was impeded following flooded rice system; however this was quite better after the aerobic rice. However, after flooded rice, wheat stand establishment was improved with deep tillage. Hydropriming was better in improving the stand establishment than osmopriming. Weed biomass was highest after the aerobic rice; however it was a minimum after the flooded rice. Amongst the tillage systems in wheat, maximum weed flora was observed in zero tillage; however that was a minimum in bed sowing. Conservation agriculture may help in improving the stand establishment in rice wheat cropping system by improving soil physical properties, but weeds are still a major threat to adopting this form of agriculture.

foam is an important engineering material because of its exceptional high-temperature stability, low thermal conductivity, good wear resistance, and stability in hostile chemical environment. In this work, foams were designed to control the microstructure, porosity, and cell size by varying different parameters such as the amount of amphiphile, solid loading, and stirring speed. Particle stabilized direct foaming technique was used and the particles were partially hydrophobized upon the adsorption of valeric acid on particles surface. The foam stability was drastically improved when these particles were irreversibly adsorbed at the air/water interface. However, there is still considerable ambiguity with regard to the effect of process parameters on the microstructure of particle-stabilized foam. In this study, the foam with open and closed-cell structure, cell size ranging from to having single strut wall and porosity from 75% to 93% were successfully fabricated by sintering at for 2 h in air.

NPF Islamic banking needs to be resolved because it affects banking performance in terms of income and the quality of its productive assets. This study aims to solve problems of non-performing financing and assess and analyze whether the implementation of the Islamic Humanity model can reduce the problem of financing at Bank Syariah Mandiri Indonesia. The study uses qualitative method with Miles and Huberman approach for analizing data through four steps which are; (a) data collection (b) data reduction (c) data display, and (d) conclusion drawing/ verification. The results of the study found non performing financing can be reduced with using a new approach namely the Islamic Humanity Approach, which is an interaction between several aspects, namely (a) spiritual aspects, (b) economic aspects, (c) social aspects, and (d) justice aspects. The Islamic humanity model carried out in problem-solving activities at Bank Syariah Mandiri Indonesia includes a friendly approach, communication and deliberation in a family, respect for people, empathy, the concept of justice, and the concept of prayer. Islamic humanity approach shows success in reducing non-performing financing. The research concluded Islamic humanity as a new approach to reduce non-performing financing at Bank Syariah Mandiri Indonesia and it can be implemented to all Islamic banking in Indonesia.

The aim of this paper is to understand the nature of transformation of the Chinese economy. China’s approach to the process of economic development in the aftermath of the reforms in the late 1970’s has been a success story and a phenomenon of great significance. It helped millions of people move out of poverty and achieve an acceptable standard of life. The economic policy of China was more effective than India’s; we measured this effectiveness in terms of two fundamental approach: first, growth was fundamental for ensuring and increasing the wellbeing as it increases total output in China compare to India; second, growth was pro-poor in China, but not in India, during the period 2000-2011. In this paper, we seek to explain how China reduced extreme poverty through reforms, and this reform experience of China stands out for three reasons. The first is renewed thrust on the rural economy and private sector, second is decentralized planning, and third is investment in human resource development. This experience of China’s reform success offers a significant lesson for most of the developing countries, especially India, since India has more similarities with China. Therefore, this experience is particularly insightful for India.

Investors from the whole world are looking for those stock markets that are less affected by interest rates. Pakistan is a good place to invest and the investors from the whole world are considering Pakistan for future ventures. The current study, therefore, aims to analyze the factors affecting investors’ decision making in Pakistan with the interaction effect of locus of control. The primary data are gathered from 300 respondents. Structural equation modelling (SEM-PLS) is used to analyze the interactions among variables. The study finds positive impact of availability and representative biases on investment decision making. The study could not find any moderating role of locus of control. The results imply that decisions made by Pakistani investors are driven by the most easily or currently available information and they trust on the information obtained from family and friends without any authentication and verification. One possible description of insignificant moderation effect of locus of control can be the sample traits used in the study, e.g., personal characteristics, that change from culture to culture. Another description of these findings may be the association between heuristic biases, including availability, representative and psychological biases and decision-making regarding investment is not personality specific.