Alias Abdullah

Fabrication of Fucoxanthin-Loaded Microsphere(F-LM) By Two Steps Double-Emulsion Solvent Evaporation Method and Characterization of Fucoxanthin before and after Microencapsulation

Microencapsulation is a promising approach in drug delivery to protect the drug from degradation and allow controlled release of the drug in the body. Fucoxanthin-loaded microsphere (F-LM) was fabricated by two step w/o/w double emulsion solvent evaporation method with poly (L-lactic-coglycolic acid) (PLGA) as carrier. The effect of four types of surfactants (PVA, Tween-20, Span-20 and SDS), homogenization speed, and concentration of PLGA polymer and surfactant (PVA), respectively, on particle size and morphology of F-LM were investigated. Among the surfactants tested, PVA showed the best results with smallest particle size (9.18 µm) and a smooth spherical surface. Increasing the homogenization speed resulted in a smaller mean F-LM particle size [d(0.50)] from 17.12 to 9.18 µm. Best particle size results and good morphology were attained at homogenization speed of 20 500 rpm. Meanwhile, increased PLGA concentration from 1.5 to 11.0 (% w/v) resulted in increased F-LM particle size. The mean particle size [d(0.5)] of F-LM increased from 3.93 to 11.88 µm. At 6.0 (% w/v) PLGA, F-LM showed the best structure and external morphology. Finally, increasing PVA concentration from 0.5 to 3.5 (% w/v) resulted in decreased particle size from 9.18 to 4.86 µm. Fucoxanthin characterization before and after microencapsulation was carried out to assess the success of the microencapsulation procedure. Thermo gravimetry analysis (TGA), glass transition (Tg) temperature of F-LM and fucoxanthin measured using DSC, ATR-FTIR and XRD indicated that fucoxanthin was successfully encapsulated into the PLGA matrix, while maintaining the structural and chemical integrity of fucoxanthin.

Sustainable urban planning mapping using remote sensing and GIS in Malaysia

This study discusses the applicability of remote sensing and GIS techniques to classify urban land uses in Malaysia based on object-oriented classification, in order to extract the three components of urban areas, namely residential, commercial and industrial. The areas of interest in this study is Kuala Lumpur. The satellite data of SPOT 5 with fine spatial resolution of 2.5 meter and temporal resolution are tested. E-cognition software develops the rule sets of thematic layer attributes to extract the types of land use. The result shows that the three land use types are clearly identified, with low standard deviation of the classification. The variation is not too dispersed from the mean which proves that the result is acceptable. The findings also show that there have been some changes in the total acreage of recent classification due to the rapid development in the study area. Finally, the application of the object-oriented classification confirms the effectiveness of using remote sensing and GIS techniques in classifying urban land uses. This study also put forth some questions for future researches, which can help strengthen the potentials of remote sensing applications, especially in regards of further explorations of urban issues at various administration levels.

Collaborative Decision Support for Spatial Planning and Asset Management: IIUM Total Spatial Information System

Although geographical information system (GIS) is being used as a tool in Malaysian development process, this is being limited to the planning and design stage of the process. There have been very few Malaysian initiatives to further the usage of GIS into the operation and post-operation phases of the development process. This paper looks at the effort by International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in developing GIS-based system to assist the management of her campus.

HISTORICAL URBAN FORM: A CASE STUDY OF MELAKA

Understanding the urban form is crucial in determining the structure of a city in terms of physical and nonphysical aspects. The physical aspects include built-up areas that can be seen on the earth surface, and the nonphysical aspects include the shape, size, density, and configuration of settlements. The objectives of this study are to (i) analyse the elements of historical urban form that are suitable for the site and (ii) to study on the elements of urban form in Melaka. Content analysis was adopted to analyse the literature of urban form and Melaka. Results show that the following four elements of urban form are suitable to be used for historical urban form analysis: (i) streets, (ii) land use, (iii) buildings, and (iv) open space. The findings also indicate that the selected urban form has successfully delineated in the historical of Melaka as the selected urban elements can be specifically scrutinized with the content analysis. Further study will focus on the historical urban form within the Malay Peninsula. . Keyword: urban form, historical built environment, Melaka Illyani Ibrahim, Alias Abdullah, Mansor Ibrahim, & Fatin Farhana Murtaza Historical Urban Form: A Case Study of Melaka

Controlling leapfrog sprawl with remote sensing and GIS application for sustainable urban planning

This paper aims to measure and characterise urban sprawl development in Kuala Lumpur city using leapfrog geospatial indices. The researcher utilised remote sensing satellite data such as Landsat and Spot images for two different times. The remote sensing application was subsequently integrated with GIS database to detect changes and analyse the pattern of growth for urban areas in Kuala Lumpur. From the finding of land use change detection, the leapfrog sprawl index was calculated by using geospatial indices formula. The results proved that Kuala Lumpur is the most highly developed city in Malaysia with new development is leapfrogging towards the periphery of the city and infill development pattern seemingly increase vastly filling up the leapt areas cause by leapfrog sprawl. Improper planning will create this type of urban sprawl that is predicted to expand beyond the border towards other states locating adjacent to Kuala Lumpur which is now called Greater Kuala Lumpur. The current scenario has become an absolute threat towards Malaysia planning goal to achieve sustainable urban planning development.

Tropical Urbanism: Greenery and Walkways in Mediating Identities

This chapter focuses on the role of shaded walkways and greenery in defining what is meant by tropicality. Theories of ideas concerning tropicality in urban design and city spaces are a recent attempt towards defining elements of urbanism characterised by the elements of a tropical region. It is put forth that both shaded walkways and greenery have a key role in constituting cultural tropes in defining a regional version of universal ideas and frameworks of tropicality. The two tropes are the role of the shaded walkway and the greenery. The absence of urbanist histories and past models underscores the difficulties and dilemmas in outlining locally derived positions including conceptualising the urbanist and spatial organisation of new cities.

UAV/drone zoning in urban planning: review on legals and privacy

The use of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in commercial applications has the potential to dramatically alter several industries, and, in the process, change our attitudes and behaviors regarding their impact on our daily life. This paper attempts to review a legal and privacy in urban planning context regards to the use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)/drones provided by international and local approached. It is including studied an impacts of these existing policies to the usage of drones in the urban planning context. The review consists of comparing an existing law, prohibition, restriction, and guideline in drone operation to preserve safety and security of the people, property, and environment. Few items need to be measure in designing the zones such as safety, security, and privacy based on the technical and airspace aspects. Thus, by evaluating existing laws and regulations practiced in countries around the world, it will assist in designing drone zoning especially in Malaysia which able to manage urban planning practices and to regulate a general guidelines of zoning drone based on banned/prohibited, restricted, and allowed/controlled zones within the urban context and ensuring the livability and resiliency of cities.

Constructing and Modeling 3D GIS Model in City Engine for Traditional Malay City

Malay urbanization is one of the oldest urbanization in the human history. Traditional Malay also refers to the Malay races which full of custom, heritage, and also full with decency values while Traditional Malay City refers to the Malay City which establish before the British colonial era. Traditional Malay City have their own way of socioeconomic aspect without adapting the Western influence. The formation of the Malay settlement and Malay Traditional Cities has their own uniqueness and specialty in terms of social life and integration between the land uses and building. Rapid development and uses of geographic information system (GIS) as a tool in urban planning nowadays have pushed the GIS technique further in visualization and presentation of urban planning data. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to study on the formation and constructing the existing Traditional Malay city.

Sustainable well-being objective indicators: Basic necessities, complementary needs and desired opportunities

Abstract Purpose: This study assesses the theories and approaches to sustainable well-being in developing objective social indicators to recognise the all-inclusive wellness of Malaysians. Problem: Currently, in Malaysia, well-being is measured by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) Malaysia through the Malaysian Quality of Life Reports and Malaysian Well-being Report. The reports cover the social progress of Malaysians through a set of indicators categorised under economic well-being and social well-being. The three main issues found in the current approach include (1) a lack of output indicators for some components, which makes it impossible to interpret the true performance of well-being, (2) the absence of a hierarchy of needs to identify more prioritised components and indicators, and (3) a narrow understanding of progress due to a strong reliance on the correlation with GDP growth. Approach: This study employs a literature review and document analysis. Findings: A new approach is necessary to improve the current approach to measuring well-being in Malaysia. Based on the theory of the hierarchy of needs, the objective indicators are categorised into specific components of three dimensions of sustainable well-being – necessities, complementary needs, and desired opportunities. Through reconsideration and re-coordination of the existing indicators and selected additional indicators, the elements that constitute well-being as well as the data appear consistent and transparent. Significance: Sustainable well-being indicators will prioritise what is most important to the citizens. The model recognises the progress of the survival requirements of human beings, the moral basis of happiness, and the greater life prospects of Malaysians.

Developing dengue index through the integration of crowdsourcing approach (X-Waba)

This research aims at improving the existing dengue indices by developing an algorithm that would use the variables affecting positively the vector’s lifecycle and monitoring them daily to generate an improved Dengue Index that would help forewarn on the high possibility of a dengue outbreak. Researchers attempted to identify the factors influencing the behaviour of the mosquito carrier of the virus in the epidemiological context by generating indices based on the number of mosquitos caught in a given number of traps set within a small urban area or based on the number of mosquitoes found in a household. The House (premises) Index (HI), the Container Index (CI) and the Breteau Index (BI) have been described as not effective in predicting dengue outbreaks. The main drawback of these methods is the fact that they do not consider other variables associated with the vector’s lifecycle, landing habit and geographical extents. The developed index would use crowdsourcing data as an additional tool for the citizens to get involved in providing spatial information and specific attributes for more accurate predictions. Using the data published by the ministry of health Malaysia in the years of 2014 and 2015 for the state of Selangor, the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya compared with other data; namely, the temperatures, rainfall and moon cycles. Our findings using the time series method of the improved dengue index show a correlation with the dengue cases time series. The crowdsourcing app would in the future further enhance the identification of the hot spots with high dengue fever probabilities. In conclusion, displaying spatially on a map such forecasts approximately 50 days before the occurrence of the outbreak would be beneficial for authorities to carry out preventive measures.