ITB Journal Volume 3 No.1 September 2003

ABSTRACTS

Brunei Darussalam Journal of Technology and Commerce
Volume 3 - No.1, September 2003

An Empirical Study on the Uses and Benefits of DBMS
Mohd Noah A. Rahman, Afzaal H. Seyal and Hamdani Ibrahim
Institut Teknologi Brunei

Abstract

This paper reports on the use and benefits of DBMS in Brunei Darussalam. The majority of the literature described solely on the use of well advocated database systems, while a few studies are available that investigated influence of organisational attributes on the use and benefits of DBMS. Moreover, experiences of DBMS use within US and European organisations dominate IS literature, while reports from the Asian region are non-existent. Based on these rationales, a study was undertaken to examine the use of DBMS and its benefits among organisations in Brunei Darussalam. This model was empirically tested using 56 responses from various organisations. A two-staged normative model was also developed that brought six factors related to organisational attributes and IS profile. Out of the six variables, only two variables were significantly tested - organisational size and size of IS department in the first stage of the model. A further test in the second stage of the model proved insignificant. Results are discussed and conclusions drawn.

E-Commerce Diffusion: A Preliminary Model of Inhibitors and Facilitators
Hong Cheong Looi
Institut Teknologi Brunei

Abstract

The adoption of Internet technologies by business organizations is important to their on-going competitiveness. Yet, given the opportunities and benefits that Internet technologies can provide, it has been shown that many small and medium-sized organizations are relatively slow in adopting them. Using quantitative methods and basic research models, many researchers have suggested a number of reasons for the slow rate of diffusion. Critics have argued that quantitative research is deductive and is too preoccupied with sophisticated data analysis at the expense of producing good quality data in the first place. Qualitative method should also be included to determine the relevancy of factors and to identify new factors. This paper reports the results of a study that investigates the potential factors facilitating and inhibiting the diffusion of e-commerce. From a range of current technological, organizational and innovational literature, a comprehensive model of facilitators and inhibitors is proposed. The model will form a preliminary research model from which further qualitative and quantitative research can be carried out. The model thus serves as a basic framework for improving the overall quality of subsequent research.

Nonvolatile Memory Structures using Silicon Monoxide Layer
Dr. Hussain A. Abdul Kadir, Samah Abdul Kariem
Philadelphia University, Amman, Jordan

Abstract

Vacuum evaporated SiO film is used as a possible component in EEPROM nonvolatile memory device of MIOS structure. MIOS devices can be programmed to any value of threshold by controlling the voltage and duration of programming voltage pulse. The work also depicts minority carrier effects on the storage characteristic. The long-term stability of the memory charge is a function of the applied voltage after device writing, temperature and the depth of the trapped charge - To fully characterize retention behavior (without biasing voltage), the trapped carriers are discharged by two process (direct tunneling and thermal excitation) which is necessary to account thermal excursions during MIOS operation. The characterized retention after 10 years at 80°C is about 54% and 40% for the stored electrons and holes, respectively.

Emissions Reduction from Gas Burner System via Reburning
Mohammad Nazri Mohd-Jaafar, Gordon E. Andrews, M.C. MkPadi
University Technology Malaysia

Abstract

A burner system comprising of two flame tubes of 76 mm and 140 mm inside diameter, and 330 mm in length applying staged combustion, i.e., reburning, has been investigated. The system was fuelled via eight vane passage fuel nozzles of 3.5 mm diameter hole. This type of fuel injection helps in mixing the fuel and air better prior to ignition. The second stage was fuelled via wall fuel injection system at the dump expansion zone of the second combustor. Tests were carried out at 20 and 10 mmH2O pressure loss which is representative of gas burners for domestic central hating system operating conditions. Tests were also carried out at 400 K preheated inlet air temperature and using only natural gas as fuel. A 30 mm orifice plate was inserted at the exit plane of the swirler to enhance mixing of fuel and air prior to combustion. NOx emissions reduction of 68.6 and 68.4 per cent for 20 and 10 mmH2O pressure drop, respectively, were achieved at 30 per cent excess air at near equivalence ratio of 0.78 with lean/lean fuel staged combustion. Very low UHC and CO emissions, less than 10ppm, were achieved over a wide range of operating equivalence ratios.

Fingerprint Access Control with Anti-Spoofing Technique
Ahmed Baba Elmadani, Veeraraghavan Prakash, Borhanuddin Mohd. Ali, Abdul Rahman Ramli and Kasmiran Jumari
University Putra Malaysia

Abstract

With the introduction of electronic banking, e-commerce through private of public network, stored value cards (such as smart cards) and credit cards has made a big challenge for authentication and personal identification. Some of the existing personal identification methods such as password or PIN offer a very low security and can easily be compromised. Use of Biometric came into rescue, because it cannot be fogotten or stolen or guessed. In Biometric systems, fingerprint based identification has wider acceptance due to be a robust technique for personal identification until recently Matsumoto et al [1] demonstrated the weakness of the fingerprint identification / verification system based on gelatin. In this paper we propose a new algorithm to counter the attack.

Study of Biological Parameters during Composting of Sewage Sludge
Kabbashi, N. A, Fakhru'l-Razi Ahmadun, Azni bin Idris, K.B. Ramachandran
University Putra Malaysia

Abstract

The development of appropriate strategies for the treatment and disposal of sewage sludge is a major problem for all countries throughout the world. Sludge treatment and disposal not only represents about half of the total costs of municipal wastewater collection, but it is also strongly regulated, more so than almost any other forms of waste. The sewage sludge used in this study was collected from Taman Sri Nanding and Taman Koperasi Indah Water Consortium treatment plants Malaysia. The sludges had a high moisture content around 80% to 82% and a low C/N ratio of 7 to 8.5. Both sludges had more or less similar characteristics. However pH of sludge from Taman Sri Nanding was lower thatn that of Taman Koperasi. Sawdust had a low moisture content of 10-20% and a high C/N ratio ranging from 166.6 to 285. Hence sawdust was homogenized with the sludge to increase the C/N ratio of the sludge, which inoculated with a mixture of P.chrysosporium and Trichoderma harzianum. This also reduced the moisture content to the optimal level for composting. In a medium scale horizontal drum bioreactor, composting occurred for 21 days and one month curing, the biological parameters were monitored to evaluate the effect of sawdust on the composting process.

Higher Education and Unemployment: Some Observations on the Nature of Graduate Unemployment in Brunei Darussalam
Rafiqul Islam, Dr. Hajah Naemah binti Haji Basir, Hajah Rose binti Abdullah
and Noor Maya binti Haji Mohd Salleh
Institut Teknologi Brunei

Abstract

In this study an attempt has been made to examine the nature of employment among the graduates of University Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and the Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB). Also an endeavour has been made to find out the relation between personal characteristics and environment of the unemployed and their seriousness in seeking employment. The first part of this paper begins with an introduction of social and psychological consequences of unemployment, definition of unemployment and types of unemployment. The second part, first, presents the methodology used followed by data analysis and findings of the survey. Second, some ideas about the social and private costs and returns from higher education were outlined. Third, various measures undertaken by the Brunei Government were discussed. The final section includes summary and conclusion.

Electrostatics in High Voltage Equipment
Tarik R Al Khateeb, Martin Blundell and Anuar bin Musim
Institut Teknologi Brunei

Abstract

When applied with high voltage equipment, it is important to evaluate what the electrostatic potentials are in the different regions of high voltage equipment during operation.

With the availability of powerful microcomputers, it has become conceivable to do electrostatic calculations of moderate complexity.

In this work, the Finite Element Method (FEM) was used to analyse the electrostatic field problem. This method uses FEM to solve Laplace's and Poisson's equations and determine the electrostatic potentials within the region of interest.

The QuickField software allows the user to define t boundaries of the geometry of the problem, the boundary conditions, and the material dielectric properties. The advantages of this software are described and results are shown. These results demonstrate the usefulness of PC-based FEM software for electrostatic field analyses.

Backpropagation for Recognition of Invariants and Spatial Detectors of Constituents of Perceptual Patterns
Hanan H.A. Adlan, Abd Rahman Ramli, Adznan Jantan, Bachok Taib
University Putra Malaysia

Abstract

The work in this paper concern the investigation of invariants and spatial detectors for satellite image patterns, and the ability of a feedforward multi layer perceptrons neural network trained with backpropagation to recognize certain patterns in such a complex environment. Varying learning rates are considered, and the effects of hidden units are investigated as well.