Perspective on Forest Conservation: A Case Study of Community at Gana Resettlement and Integrated Development Project (GRID), Sabah, Malaysia

Hardawati Yahya,Roszehan Mohd. Idrus,Hamimah Talib,Eunice Fong 강원대학교 산림과학연구소 2012 Journal of Forest Science Vol.28 No.3

This study was carried out in Gana Resettlement and Integrated Development (GRID) Project as a pioneer model for Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) in Sabah, Malaysia. The GRID project is developed to improve community livelihood as well as to promote community involvement in CBFM and at the same time to lessen community encroachment and traditional farming practices inside the forest conservation area. The objectives of this study are: (i) to identify the dependency of local community on forest resources; (ii) to examine local community’s roles in conserving forest resources and, (iii) to analyze their views on GRID project in conserving forest. Interviews were conducted with randomly selected 130 households at the GRID project using semi structured questionnaires comprising closed and open-ended questions. The study reveals that community dependency on forest resources have lessened after the resettlement of the GRID project. The community shows positive perspective on their contribution for conserving the forest resources. However, the community’s willingness to contribute as well as their real contribution can be further improved. The study recommends the government to create more effective training and relevant activities to improve the livelihood of community as well as to increase their positive perception on forest conservation efforts. Further research to strengthen the relationship between local community and forest governance through forest conservation is also recommended.

Perspective on Forest Conservation: A Case Study of Community at Gana Resettlement and Integrated Development Project (GRID), Sabah, Malaysia

Yahya, Hardawati,Idrus, Roszehan Mohd.,Talib, Hamimah,Fong, Eunice Institute of Forest Science 2012 Journal of Forest Science Vol.28 No.3

This study was carried out in Gana Resettlement and Integrated Development (GRID) Project as a pioneer model for Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) in Sabah, Malaysia. The GRID project is developed to improve community livelihood as well as to promote community involvement in CBFM and at the same time to lessen community encroachment and traditional farming practices inside the forest conservation area. The objectives of this study are: (i) to identify the dependency of local community on forest resources; (ii) to examine local community's roles in conserving forest resources and, (iii) to analyze their views on GRID project in conserving forest. Interviews were conducted with randomly selected 130 households at the GRID project using semi structured questionnaires comprising closed and open-ended questions. The study reveals that community dependency on forest resources have lessened after the resettlement of the GRID project. The community shows positive perspective on their contribution for conserving the forest resources. However, the community's willingness to contribute as well as their real contribution can be further improved. The study recommends the government to create more effective training and relevant activities to improve the livelihood of community as well as to increase their positive perception on forest conservation efforts. Further research to strengthen the relationship between local community and forest governance through forest conservation is also recommended.

Ammonia removal by adsorptive clinoptilolite ceramic membrane: Effect of dosage, isothermal behavior and regeneration process

Mohd Ridhwan Adam,Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman,Siti Hamimah Sheikh Abdul Kadir,Muthia Elma,Tonni Agustiono Kurniawan,Ahmad Fauzi Ismail,Mohd Hafiz Puteh,Azeman Mustafa,Mukhlis A. Rahman,Juhana Jaafar,Hud 한국화학공학회 2021 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.38 No.4

This work investigates the effectiveness of ammoniacal nitrogen (NH4 +-N) removal from contaminated water by adsorptive hollow fiber ceramic membrane (HFCM) derived from naturally made clinoptilolite. The technological value of this work is the simple mechanism of the adsorptive HFCM in removing gaseous ammonia in water by combining adsorption and separation. To test the technical feasibility of this proposed technology, clinoptilolite HFCM was fabricated via phase inversion-based extrusion/sintering technique and characterized by SEM and water permeation flux. The produced HFCM corresponds to the desired morphology of the asymmetric structure (dense and void formations) with outstanding adsorption performance of NH4 +-N. The effects of the HFCM’s operational parameters on its removal are examined in terms of membrane dosage and isothermal studies. The adsorption isotherm behavior exhibited that the adsorption process fitted the Freundlich isotherm model with outstanding removal performance even at trace concentration of ammonia. The low amount used by HFCM (4.75×104m2) resulted in over 96% ammonia removal, indicating a low cost of adsorption process. The regeneration of saturated HFCM suggests an outstanding recovery of the HFCM for its subsequent use for NH4 +-N removal. This study also reveals the potential of adsorptive HFCM as a simple and cost-effective technology for ammonia removal from wastewater.

Synthesis and performance evaluation of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 membranes deposited onto alumina hollow fiber for desalination

Nizar Mu’ammar Mahpoz,Norfazliana Abdullah,Mohamad Zahir Mohd Pauzi,Mukhlis A. Rahman,Khairul Hamimah Abas,Azian Abd Aziz,Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman,Juhana Jaafar,Ahmad Fauzi Ismail 한국화학공학회 2019 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.36 No.3

This work describes the development of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) membranes on modified alumina hollow fiber for desalination by forward osmosis. Effects of different seeds (ZnO, NiO and PDA) and sodium formate on in-situ deposition of ZIF-8 were studied in relation to the membrane’s morphology and performance. XRD result shows that ZIF-8 was successfully synthesized in the presence of sodium formate. FESEM images showed PDA modified support was unsuccessful in producing well defined and dense ZIF-8 membrane layer even after another ZIF-8 re-deposition due to its minimal amount. The NiO modified support was also found unsuccessful, as ZIF-8 crystals were formed in clusters. On the contrary, dense ZIF-8 membrane was successfully prepared on ZnO modified support with SF-1 synthesis solution producing bigger ZIF-8 crystal and thinner ZIF-8 membrane than as of SF-2. Water flux performance in forward osmosis showed that NiO/ZIF-8, PDA/ZIF-8 and PDA/ZIF-8 (re-deposition) membranes gave negative water fluxes of 50 kg/m2·h, 5.2 kg/m2·h and 1.7 kg/m2·h with reverse solutes of 42.66 mol/m2·h, 27.42mol/m2·h and 3.22 mol/m2·h, respectively, indicating the solute from draw solution diffused into the feed solution. However, ZIF-8 membrane prepared using SF with molar ratio of 1, on the ZnO modified support had a water flux of 13.3 kg/m2·h, reverse solute of 0.95 kg/m2·h and salt rejection of 52.1%. When the SF ratio was increased to 2, the ZIF-8 membranes showed a water flux of 12.5 kg/m2·h, reverse solute of 1.64 kg/m2·h and salt rejection of 54.9%. The moderate salt rejection could be associated with defects in the ZIF-8 membranes due to poor grain boundaries.

Fabrication and characterization of robust zirconia-kaolin hollow fiber membrane: Alkaline dissolution study in ammonia solution

Mohammad Arif Budiman Pauzan,Siti Khadijah Hubadillah,Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman,Nurul Jannah Ismail,Mohd Hafiz Puteh,Huda Abdullah,Suriani Abu Bakar,Siti Hamimah Sheikh Abdul Kadir,Wong Keng Yinn 한국화학공학회 2021 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.38 No.12

Kaolin has been found to be a more economical alternative in ceramic hollow membrane fabrication compared to alumina, silica, and zirconia despite having similar properties. However, it was discovered that apart from having high mechanical strength and the ability to withstand high operational temperature, the kaolin membrane has the tendency to dissolve in a high alkaline solution. Hence, in this study, zirconia (ZrO2) was imposed to kaolin suspension as co-starting material due to its stable hexagonal properties with kaolin to overcome this drawback. To study the dissolution property of the modified kaolin-based membrane, a phase inversion technique was used to fabricate zirconia- kaolin hollow fiber membrane (ZKHFM) followed by immersion in ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) as an alkaline solution. Ammonia was aptly chosen for it being considered as one of the pollutants to be removed from wastewater. The mechanism, morphology and properties of the membrane were investigated in terms of sintering temperature, morphology, mechanical strength, pore size and porosity The results showed that ZKHFM with 10 wt% (ZK-10) with sintering temperature of 1,200 oC had the best performance in terms of having high mechanical strength (21MPa), excellent permeation flux (~1,600 Lm2/h) and lowest dissolution (0.01 g dissolute) at pH 13, indicating the ability of ZKHFM to be used in alkaline solution.

Health-Seeking Behaviors and Treatments Received for Menopause Symptoms: A Questionnaire Survey among Midlife Women Attending Primary Healthcare Clinics in Malaysia

Anusha Manoharan,Megat Muhammad Haris Megat Zainal,Beh Hooi Chin,Koh Wen Ming,Zamzurina Asmuee,Norafini Salamon,Peter Jerampang,Nadia Hamimah Kamaludin,Chandrashekhar T Sreeramareddy 대한폐경학회 2023 대한폐경학회지 Vol.29 No.3

Objectives: This study aimed to assess menopause symptoms, treatment-seeking behaviors, treatments received, and factors associated with seeking consultation from healthcare providers (HCPs).Methods: Using a self-administered Menopause Quick-6 in the Malay language (MQ6[M]) questionnaire, we surveyed 349 women aged 40–60 years attending primary healthcare clinics in four states in Malaysia for their menopause symptoms. Health-seeking behaviors for menopause symptoms were assessed using questions regarding HCPs consulted and treatments prescribed. Binary logistic regression was employed on factors associated with seeking consultation for menopause symptoms.Results: Using MQ6(M), we observed that 125 (31.3%) women reported at least one menopause symptom, with joint pains (42.8%), menstrual changes (39.5%), and hot flashes (29.3%) being the most frequent symptoms. Furthermore, 60% of the women were prescribed vitamins, and only 13% were administered Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Medical comorbidities, the presence of at least one gynecological condition, menopause status, and MQ6(M) score were associated with seeking consultation with an HCP. For women with medical conditions, the odds of seeking consultation increased by a factor of 1.34 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11–1.76) for every additional comorbidity. The odds of seeking consultation from an HCP increased by a factor of 1.26 (AOR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.04–1.47) with a unit increase in MQ6(M) score.Conclusions: Most women had menopause symptoms but favored the use of complementary and alternative medicine over HRT. Screening and awareness of menopause treatments need to be improved at primary healthcare clinics.