Development of Hard Water Sensor using Fluorescence

Development of Hard Water Sensor using Fluorescence Ph.D. Thesis: Dibyendu Dey Development of hard water sensor using fluorescence resonance energy transfer 7.1. Introduction â€Å"Hard water† has high mineral content in compare to â€Å"soft water†. Generally the hard water is not harmful to one’s health, but can cause serious problems in industrial settings, where water hardness should be monitored to avoid breakdowns of the costly equipments that handle water. The hardness of water is determined by the concentration of multivalent cations in water. The most common cations found in hard water include Ca2+ and Mg2+. The presence of dissolved carbonate minerals (CaCO3 and MgCO3) provide a temporary hardness in water, which can be reduced either by boiling the water or by addition of lime (calcium hydroxide) [1, 2]. On the other hand the dissolved chloride minerals (CaCl2 and MgCl2) cause the permanent hardness of water that can not be removed easily, as it becomes more soluble as the temperature increases [3]. In that sense it is very important to identify the permanent hardness of water before use. The FRET phenomenon may be very effective tool for the designing of hard water sensors. Based on the FRET between two laser dyes here we demonstrated a hard water sensor. To the best of our knowledge this could be the first attempt, where FRET process has been used for the detection of the hardness of water. FRET between two molecules is an important physical phenomenon, where transfer of energy from an excited fluorophore to a suitable acceptor fluorophore occurred [4, 5]. This technique is very important for the understanding of some biological systems and has potential applications in optoelectronic and thin film devices [6–10]. Combining FRET with optical microscopy, it is possible to determine the approach between two molecules within nanometers. The main requirements for the FRET to occur are (i) sufficient overlap between the absorption band of acceptor fluorophore and the fluorescence band of donor fluorophore and (ii) both the donor and acceptor molecule must be in cl ose proximity of the order of 1–10 nm [4, 5]. The intervening of solvent or other macromolecules has little effect on the FRET efficiency. If the distance between the donor and acceptor changes then FRET efficiency also changes. In this chapter of the present thesis we tried to investigate the effect of Mg2+ or Ca2+ or both on the FRET efficiency between two fluorophores, Acf and RhB in presence of nanoclay sheet laponite. Here we have chosen Mg2+ or Ca2+ because the presence of these two cations mainly determines the extent of hardness of the water. Our investigation showed that FRET efficiency decreases with increasing salt concentration. It has also been demonstrated that with proper calibration, FRET between Acf and RhB can be used to sense the hardness of water. 7.2. Experimental 7.2.1. Solution preparation Both the dyes Acf and RhB were used in our studies are cationic in nature. The clay mineral used in the present work was Laponite. Dye solutions were prepared in Milli-Q water. For spectroscopic measurement the solution concentration was optimized at 10−6M. In order to check the effect of hard water components (Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions) on spectral charecteristics, MgCl2 and CaCl2 were added to the dye solution. The clay dispersion was prepared using Millipore water and stirred for 24 h with a magnetic stirrer followed by 30 min ultrasonication before use. The concentration of clay was kept fixed at 2 ppm throughout the experiment. To check the effect of clay on the spectral characteristics the dye solutions (Acf and RhB) were prepared in the clay suspensions (2 ppm). In order to check the effect of salt on spectral characteristics in presence of clay, first of all the salts were added in the clay dispersion at different concentration. Then the dyes were added in the salt mixed clay dispersions. In all cases the clay concentration was 2 ppm and the dye concentration was 10−6M. 7. 3. Results and discussion 7.3.1. Sensing of Hard Water by FRET FRET between Acf and RhB has already been studied and the results are shown in details in chapter 5 of this thesis. Here in this chapter we have used this same FRET pair for the sensing of water hardness. Our main purpose is to detect CaCl2 and MgCl2 or their mixture as a permanent hard water component in aqueous solution by using the FRET process between Acf and RhB. Fluorescence spectra of aqueous solution of Acf-RhB mixture in presence of MgCl2, CaCl2 and their mixture (CaCl2+MgCl2) have been studied (figure 7.1). For all the cases, the concentration of CaCl2/MgCl2/their mixture was kept at 0.06 mg/ml, which is the initializing concentration of hard water known as moderately hard water. Fig. 7.1. Fluorescence spectra of Acf+RhB (1:1 volume ratio) in water solution (1), with MgCl2 (2), CaCl2 (3), and CaCl2+MgCl2 (4), pure Acf (5), pure RhB (6). Dye concentration was 10-6M and salt concentration was 0.06 mg/ml. It was observed that the transfer of energy from Acf to RhB decreased in presence of salt (shown in table 7.1). The FRET efficiencies are calculated by using the Fà ¶rster theory. The introduction of cationic Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions in the solution may cause an increase in the electrostatic repulsion between cationic Acf and RhB molecules which can result in a large intermolecular separation. Accordingly, the FRET efficiency decreases. Samples E% Acf+RhB 11.37 Acf+RhB+ CaCl2 1.7 Acf+RhB+ MgCl2 5.2 Acf+RhB+ MgCl2 +CaCl2 4.38 Acf+RhB+clay 78.17 Acf+RhB+ CaCl2 with clay 37.78 Acf+RhB+ MgCl2 with clay 51.59 Acf+RhB+ MgCl2 +CaCl2 with clay 48.18 Table 7.1 Values of energy transfer efficiency (E %) for Acf and RhB mixture (1:1 volume ratio) in different conditions. The salt concentration was 0.06 mg/ml (moderately hard water). Fig. 7.2. Fluorescence spectra of Acf+RhB (1:1 volume ratio) in clay suspension (1), with MgCl2 (2), CaCl2 (3), and CaCl2+MgCl2 (4) pure Acf with clay (5), pure RhB with clay (6). Dye concentration was 10-6M and clay concentration was 2 ppm and salt concentration was 0.06 mg/ml. In the present study our aim is to design a sensor which can sense the presence of Ca2+ or Mg2+ or both by observing the change in FRET efficiency. Accordingly it is very important to have large FRET efficiency between Acf and RhB as well as noticeable change in FRET efficiency between Acf and RhB due to the introduction of hard water components (Ca2+ or Mg2+), so that we can use it as a hard water sensor with minimum error level. Accordingly in order to enhance the FRET efficiency, we have incorporated nano clay laponite in Acf-RhB mixture (figure 7.2). It has been observed that the FRET efficiency increases in presence of laponite particle. The reason of increase in FRET efficiecy in presence of clay has been explained in details in chapter 5. It was also observed that the transfer of energy from Acf to RhB decreases quite remarkably due to the introduction of CaCl2/MgCl2/their mixture for the concentration of 0.06 mg/ml in presence of clay. It was observed that the transfer of ene rgy is much smaller due to the presence of CaCl2 in compare to MgCl2. (Table 7.1 summarize the calculated efficiencies). Fig. 7.3. Schematic representation of FRET between Acf and RhB in presence of clay and salt. The decrease in FRET between Acf and RhB in presence of hard water components, must involve the reaction of the cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) present in hard water with the clay minerals through cation exchange reaction. In general, this bonding energy is of the order: Ca > Mg > K > H > Na. Thus the probability of adsorption of Ca2+ in clay suspension is more than Mg2+. The tendency of Ca2+ ion to interact with the negatively charged clay layers is more compared to Mg2+ ion of same concentration of both clay suspension and salt solution. Accordingly, most of the negative charges in the clay surfaces are neutralized by Ca2+ ion compared to Mg2+ ion and there exists very few unoccupied negative charges on the clay surface for the cationic dye molecules to be adsorbed. As a result the separation between the cationic dye molecules increases more in CaCl2 solution rather than MgCl2 leading to a less FRET in presence of CaCl2 compare to MgCl2 (shown schemetically in figure 7.3). 7.3.2. Variation of salt concentration In order to check the extent of hardness on the FRET efficiency, we have measured the fluorescence spectra of Acf+RhB mixture with different salt (MgCl2, CaCl2, and MgCl2+CaCl2 mixture) concentration in presence of clay laponite and the FRET efficiency have been calculated. It has been observed that the FRET efficiency decreases with increasing salt concentration of either MgCl2 or CaCl2, or their mixture (figure 7.4). This result suggests that it is possible to sense the hardness of water by observing the change in FRET efficiency with salt concentration. Fig. 7.4. The fluorescence spectra of Acf–RhB mixture in presence of clay with varying amount of salt (MgCl2+CaCl2 mixture) concentration viz. 0.05 mg/ml (1), 0.06 mg/ml (2) and 0.12 mg/ml (3). Inset shows the variation of FRET efficiency as a function of salt concentration of either MgCl2 or CaCl2, or CaCl2+ MgCl2 mixture from 0.03 mg/ml to 0.20 mg/ml. Salt concentration (mg/ml) FRET efficiency (E%) in presence of MgCl2 CaCl2 MgCl2+CaCl2 mixture 0.03 78.52 64.27 73.73 0.05 71.55 55.32 68.34 0.06 51.59 37.78 48.18 0.08 32.47 18.75 21.57 0.12 19.67 10.54 13.48 0.20 11.34 5.67 07.38 Table 7.2 Values of energy transfer efficiency (E %) for Acf-RhB mixture (1:1 volume ratio) at different salt (MgCl2, CaCl2, MgCl2+CaCl2 mixture) concentration in presence of clay. MgCl2 and CaCl2 mixture were prepared by adding 1:1 volume ratio of individual salts of same concentration. 7.3.3. Design of sensor In the process of hard water sensing first of all clay (laponite) dispersion will be prepared using the sample water followed by addition of dyes (Acf and RhB). By observing the FRET efficiency between Acf and RhB it would be possible to sense the hardness of the test water. Fig. 7.5. FRET efficiency of Acf-RhB mixture for the different concentration of CaCl2 + MgCl2 in presence of clay (values of FRET efficiencies were calculated from spectra of Fig. 7.4). From figure 7.5 it has been observed that the FRET efficiency for 0.06 mg/ml and 0.12 mg/ml concentration are 48.2% and 13.5% respectively. If the FRET efficiency is observed to be higher than 48.2%, then the water will be recognized as soft water whereas, if the efficiency lies in between 13.5% and 48.2% then the water will be recognized as moderately hard. On the other hand if the observed FRET efficiency is less than 13.5% then the water will be recognized as very hard. Therefore with proper calibration it is possible to design a hard water sensor which can sense hard water very easily. 7.4. Conclusion In order to demonstrate hard water sensor based on FRET, we have investigated the FRET between Acf and RhB in presence of salts CaCl2 or MgCl2 or both. It was observed that the presence of hard water components Ca2+ or Mg2+ or both affected the FRET efficiency to a large extent. In presence of CaCl2 or MgCl2 the FRET efficiency is decreased to 37.78% and 51.59%, respectively. With suitable calibration of these results it is possible to design a hard water sensor that can sense the water hardness within the range 0.03–0.2 mg/ml. Here the incorporation of clay platelate laponite enhances the sensing efficiency.

Obesity Is a Disease

Obesity Is A Disease Obesity is a disease that affects one in three members of the American population. The trend of obese Americans has continually increased since 1960, and is not showing signs of slowing down. More than half of the adults in America are considered overweight or obese, and about thirty-four percent of the total population in the U. S is either overweight or obese. One is considered â€Å"overweight† if the body mass index, or BMI, is twenty-five to twenty-nine kilograms. â€Å"Obese† is any number thirty or greater (Hateweight. com). Obesity is the cause of at least 300,000 deaths in the U. S every year, second only to smoking (American Obesity Association). There are many causes of obesity, some of which are environmentally related and others are geneticly related. Genetics from an obese relative can be passed from generation to another; this form of obesity is hard to control without proper treatment (Hateweight. com). The American culture has been the biggest cause of obesity. All of our surroundings and social environments have greatly influenced obesity. Most social events revolve around food or drinks, which are usually unhealthy for the body. Food itself has become a reward; young children are often rewarded for good behavior with a â€Å"treat† (American Obesity Association). This treat is often a child’s favorite candy or sweet. Adults also use food as a reward. Successful business transactions between companies are often celebrated with food and drinks. Employees often stop after work to have drinks and possibly dinner to celebrate. Alcoholic drinks are very high in fat and have no nutritional value. Also, most restaurant food is high in fat and calories. Another factor which is the cause of this disease is lifestyle. People are no as physically active as they should be. They have become more dependent on someone else to do their work for them. An example if this would be fast food restaurants. Why make dinner when you can go up the street and have someone else cook it for you? Most meals from fast food restaurants have almost fifty percent, if not more calories than a person needs for one day. Another cause of obesity would be a person’s mental state. People cope with life changing experiences differently, such as a death of a family member or the loss of a job. These types of events cause some people to over-eat and, over time, become overweight. Obesity has many effects on a person both psychologically and physically. Psychologically, obesity may cause a person to become depressed and even become suicidal. Not only that, but it can also cause low self esteem (Hateweight. com). Physically, obesity has a greater effect, because it is known to cause many other health related issues. Arthritis may occur in the hands, hips, back, and knees from the extra weight a person would be carrying around. Seventy-five percent of people with hypertension are obese. The risk of developing hypertension is five times greater in an obese person than compared to a non-obese individual. Obesity is also the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic venous insufficiency, daytime fatigue, deep vein thrombosis, diabetes type 2, infections following wounds, infertility, liver disease, lower back pains, obstetric and gynecologic complications, sleep apnea, stroke, and surgical complications(American Obesity Association). Not only does obesity cause all of those diseases, but it also increases an individual’s chance of getting many different types of cancer. Breast cancer, esophagus and gastric cardial cancers, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, and renal cell cancer all have been linked to obesity in one way or another (American Obesity Association). Treatment for obesity comes in many forms. One form is called dietary therapy, were a doctor will devise, a diet which an individual should follow to lose weight. The diet usually consists of more healthy foods with low calories and smaller portions. Along with a diet plan the doctor recommends physical activity, which is another treatment. Physical activity could be anything from working out at a gym or playing sports to just moving around the house more. Behavior therapy is a combination of both dietary and physical therapy in which the doctor comes up with new diet and physical activity habits to promote weight loss (Hateweight. com). The treatment with the biggest risk is surgery. An individual may have their stomach stapled so they will eat smaller portions of food and, which causes the body to burn the fat cells faster because there are fewer calories coming in. Obesity is a serious matter because of all the risks that follow it. The only way to stop obesity is to become more informed and more knowledgeable of the foods we consume, and to become more physically active. Obesity is the second leading cause of unnecessary deaths in the U. S. Despite its death toll is has not received the attention it needs from the government. Bibliography www. hateweight. com www. obesity. org www. nlm. nih. gov/medlineplus/obesity. html http://www. obesity-online. com/ http://www. cdc. gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/

The Fallacy of the False Dilemma

ENTREPRENEURIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND COMMITMENT IN THE HERITAGE INDUSTRY - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3517 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Heritage industry are a new approach for Malaysian government to establish in several sectors which are related to the needs of idea development in art composition through creativity, like craft, batek, songket, wood curving, furniture, music, and film. Most of creative entrepreneurs in a Malaysian heritage industry are categories under small and medium scale industry. As the heritage industry grows from the producing sector into more complexes in industrialization, entrepreneurship will draw more attention to the need for emphasizing on creative industry. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "ENTREPRENEURIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND COMMITMENT IN THE HERITAGE INDUSTRY" essay for you Create order Therefore, entrepreneurship becomes as a main factor to develop personality traits among creative entrepreneurs in their business commitment, in term of self-development based commitment and profit based commitment. Personality traits also become both fashionable and popular as an explanation of entrepreneurial characteristics and motivation toward the business commitment in heritage industry. Previously, heritage industry become as a main sector in United kingdom which is contributed to the gross domestic product in an economy, where the growing rate is faster than any other economic sector in a year of 1997 to 2003 (Einarsson, 2002). In fact, it had expanded by an average of 6 percent per annum compared over the period of time that only 2 percent per annum (Carey, Naudin, 2006). Nowadays, Malaysia also gives a positive feedback toward the development of heritage industry as well as in UK (Hatta Azad Khan, 2006). Therefore, entrepreneurial characteristics play an important role t o develop the commitment among creative entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship of entrepreneurial characteristic significantly affected to the commitment among creative entrepreneurs in Terengganu. Malaysian Heritage Industry The successful entry of the heritage entrepreneurs into global markets for consumer goods such as music, textile, furniture and craft in early 2000s clearly evidenced that Terengganu heritage entrepreneurs could no longer depend on local market as the primary source of economic growth. The sector become potential for growth and its ability to enable innovation and improved productivity across other sectors within the economy. The heritage industry currently highly contributes to gross domestic products (GDP), and also growing at a faster rate in economy as a whole. In fact, heritage industry is identified as one of the keys to transform the Malaysian economy. Therefore, creative entrepreneurs in heritage industry in Terengganu or even in Malaysia is considered as industry in transition to move from social activity into profit oriented, also highlighted an essential of entrepreneurship skill in heritage industry. Although numerous descriptive studies and some valuable empirical r esearch have been undertaken in this regard, but there is a guarantee that are less in guidelines derived from the research which are contribute to the development of heritage industry in Malaysia. One of the most exciting new developments towards the promotion and development of entrepreneurial-oriented competencies in heritage industry is the publication of a several policies which are dealing with the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, and Ministry of Entrepreneurial Development and Cooperation. A key issue emphasis by Ministries is the proper development of skills, as required by the market place, with specific reference to entrepreneurial skills and business skills. Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia (Malaysian Crafts Development Agency) also known as Kraftangan Malaysia is an agency under Kementerian Perpaduan, Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan (Ministry of Unity, Culture and Heritage) has a mission to make Malaysia a leader in the heritage industry (Kraftangan Malaysia, 2008). It plays a vital and important role in the promotion of traditional skill and craftsmanship; development of the handicraft industry; assisting craftsmen towards the use of modern methods of production; and promotes the marketing and export of handicraft products. A variety of program has been introduced by Kraftangan Malaysia to develop and promote the local creative product into international market. Kraftangan Malaysia has nine divisions to manage all the activities in the Malaysian heritage industry. However, only three divisions at Kraftangan Malaysia are responsible for the development of entrepreneurs in the heritage industry, which includes; the handicraf t industry development division, the market and promotional development division and the research and development division. The handicraft industry development division is responsible in providing the facilities, technology, and training program to develop the technical expertise of the local creative entrepreneurs. The market and promotional development division is given the task to manage various marketing and promotion programs to encourage more creative entrepreneurs to participate in domestic or international promotional activities, such as in-store promotion, theme promotion or trade exhibition. The purpose of this planning is to introduce local craft producing into foreign market, to increase the level of craft producing in term of creative and innovative, and also get to know the consumer behaviors which are contribute to the market demand. Furthermore, the research and development department at Kraftangan Malaysia is very concern on the product development in the context of product design, packaging, craft inventory and interior design; technological study in productivity and quality; identifying the substitute material in craft production and to produce high quality craft products. Creative Entrepreneurs in the Terengganu Heritage Industry Terengganu is well known for its strength and riches in traditional culture heritage in Malaysia. Therefore, Terengganu state government has set their own policy planning regarding culture heritage toward the tourism industry based on their strengths and advantages in an industry. This policy will make the state government to anticipate global market and also to improve their performance in meeting the need of global standard. However, the number of creative entrepreneurs in Terengganus heritage industry who understands and committed to their business and government policies remains unknown. Furthermore, in order to help these entrepreneurs, the Terengganu State Government took the responsibility to ensure that the positive development of heritage industry in Terengganu becomes a reality to support the local tourism industry (Penggalakan Pelancongan Negeri Terengganu, 2004). Hatta Azad Khan (2006) suggested three main components have to highlight to develop creative entrepreneur in heritage industry in Malaysia, which include the knowledge of entrepreneurship, creativity and innovativeness in art and technology awareness. These three components are crucial in developing the character of entrepreneurship especially for those who are involved in the heritage and creative industry in Terengganu. Literature Review The most comprehensive studies in a concept of entrepreneurship are describe the significance of individual entrepreneurs toward the face of risk and uncertainty for the purpose of achieving profit and growth by identifying opportunities with its surrounding by a business challenging (Zimmerer et al, 2005). In studies the concept of entrepreneurship, it also possible to discriminate factors that influence entrepreneurial characteristics, these influence by individual factor, social factor, and environmental factors (Gurol Atsan, 2006). Koh (1996) also agree with Gurol Atsan (2006) where there highlighted that individual factors are widely known as the trait model focus on personality characteristics of entrepreneurs. Nowadays, many factors have been proposed to study the characteristic frequently exhibited the concept of entrepreneurship. According to Gurol Atsan (2006), six personality characteristic are used to conceptualized the entrepreneurship, there are; need for achiev ement, locus of control, risk taking propensity, tolerance for ambiguity, innovativeness, and self confidence, as well as highlighted in independent variables in this study. Meanwhile, Shane, Locke and Collins (2003) identified several factors of human motivations that influence the entrepreneurial process; there are need for achievement, risk taking, tolerance for ambiguity, and locus of control, self efficacy, and goal setting. McKenna (2005) suggested that most small entrepreneurs in Singapore are involved in the management of their own business. According to him, the development and growth of small businesses is linked to the way entrepreneurs managed their business and their understanding of the degree of commitment such entrepreneurs felt towards their organization. Previous study has looked into the theory of commitment from different angles of business management, such as; an application of commitment in a relationship marketing (Young et al, 1995); a rigorous analysis of the facets of work commitment (Carmeli et al, 2006); the nature of managerial commitment to strategic change (Lamsa et al, 2000); an employee commitment in organizational policies (Foote, 2005); and organizational commitment in a small enterprise (McKenna, 2005). Hence, entrepreneurial characteristics become important to develop commitment in a business. Government also becomes an important factor to construct the entrepreneurial characteristics among creative entrepreneurs toward their commitment in a business. In fact, government initiative is constantly seen as an effective way of providing entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises with the supportive of entrepreneurial development program and financial aid in order to develop and grow. According to Ab. Aziz Yusof (2009), government initiative plays an important role in assisting entrepreneurs who plan to start a business or those who already involved in a business. This initiative includes assistant in areas such as; pol icies, education, training, research, financial, infrastructure, and consultation. The researchers argue that government initiatives to develop entrepreneurial personality will highly contribute to entrepreneurs business commitment in the context of networking, ready to compete, an effective financial management, management skill, and entrepreneurial potential (Zimmerer et al, 2005). Hypothesis and Theoretical Framework The first objective of this study is to determine which of the five entrepreneurial characteristic will significantly affect their commitment. Based on the discussion of the literature, the first research hypothesis is framed as follows; H1: There is a significance and positive relationship between entrepreneurial characteristics and commitment. This paper also investigates the role of government initiative as a supportive action to the entrepreneurial characteristics in creative industry toward their business commitment. Therefore, the second hypothesis is framed as follows; H2: There is significance change between entrepreneurial characteristics and commitment when there is significance increase in government initiative. Figure 1: Theoretical Framework on Entrepreneurial Characteristics toward Business Commitment Need for Achievement Locus of Control Commitment Entrepreneurial Creativity Characteristics H1 Innovative H2 Utilising Market Opportunities Government Initiative Methodology As this paper focus on the investigation of social phenomenon or behaviour among creative entrepreneurs in heritage industry, a descriptive research become as an approach to provide details about situation and social relationship. Through a descriptive research, a survey investigation was attempts to describe the perception of respondents toward their entrepreneurial characteristics which have associated with the business commitment. This paper focuses on the creative entrepreneurs at Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia, Terengganu. According to the statistic produce by Kraftangan Malaysia (2008), 309 entrepreneurs from the whole of Terengganu are registered under this agency. Most of them are operated as a producer, distributor, agent, and retailer. Generally, the product that produced by Terengganu creative entrepreneurs are batik-based products, ceramics, wood carving, forest based fibre, Songket cloth, and silver. A total of 175 entrepreneurs are chosen for this paper, h owever only 105 entrepreneurs returned the questionnaires to the researcher. In order to provide equal chance to the populations of sample at Kraftangan Malaysia, the researchers have chosen to use random sampling for this paper. The sample of entrepreneurs is divided into six groups based on the type of handicraft produced as defined by Kraftangan Malaysia. These types of handicraft are divided into batik, ceramics, wood curving, forest based, Songket (cloth woven with gold thread) and metal products. In using a random sampling in dividing the creative entrepreneurs into product based, researcher has used percentage to an equal chance to all the creative entrepreneurs. Table 2 shows the percentage of population and the sample based on product classification. Table 2: The Total Number of Population and Sample Size Type of Products Population Sample Number % Batik 57 18.0 31 Ceramic 2 0.5 1 Wood curving 23 8.0 14 Forest based 141 45.0 79 Songket 78 25.5 45 Metal 8 3.0 5 Total 309 100.0 175 Data Analysis and Finding In order to determine the association between the five Entrepreneurial Characteristics and the entrepreneurs business commitment as postulated in the first hypothesis, H1 the Bivariate Correlation is used. The Partial Correlation is used to determine the influence of Government Incentives on the relationship stated in H1, and consequently testing the second hypothesis, H2 A descriptive analysis is first conducted before the inferential analysis is executed in order to determine the significant of respondents entrepreneurial profile and their business background with the factors in both entrepreneurial personality and business performance. Reliability Analysis Based on the reliability analysis, indicates that most of the variables that has been investigated in this study are found to be highly reliability as mention in a table 3. It means that the structure of questionnaire in this study is well consistence. Table 3: Reliability Analysis of Variables Section (Variables) Number of Item Reliability Coefficients (Cronbach Alpha) Need for Achievement 3 0.650 Locus of Control 2 0.730 Creativity 4 0.756 Innovativeness 3 0.707 Utilising Market Opportunities 4 0.732 Commitment 5 0.724 Government Initiative 5 0.877 Descriptive Analysis A frequency of respondents in each part of demographic profile is depicted in table 5. Most of creative entrepreneurs registered under Kraftangan Malaysia Terengganu are between the age between 40 and 60 (62%) years old followed by those in the 20 39 (25%)age bracket and the rest are below 20%. In term of gender, the majority of creative entrepreneurs are male (61%) and female (39%). Meanwhile, data collected shoed that is 78.1% of respondents are married, 12% are widowed and only 10.5% are bachelor. The majority of entrepreneurs operating in the creative business had their education business (58.1%), followed by those in arts (35.2%), and social science (4.8%). A few had their education in Science and Technology (1.9%). In term of business profile, the result clearly shows that the majority of creative entrepreneurs who are registered with Kraftangan Malaysia Terengganu are those marketing their product in a district level (17%) and follow stated (44%), national (36%) and Inte rnational level (3%). The majority of the entrepreneurs are producing Batek based product (31.4%), followed silver product (13.3%). Those producing wood carving, forest based fibre, Pewter and Songket products form the 3rd largest group at 12.4% respectively. The rest form less than 3%. As expected, the majority of the businesses are sole proprietorship (60%) followed by private enterprises (Sdn.Bhd) with 24.8% and only 15.2% are partnerships. In terms of financial sources, the majority of entrepreneurs uses their own resources (42.9%) followed by government loan (40%) and government aid (14.3%). Only 2.9% receive financial assistant from private financial institutions. In this paper, entrepreneurial characteristic is considered the major independent variable which comprises of five elements that is postulated to have a significance relationship with the entrepreneurs business commitment. The five elements include; need for achievement, locus of control, creativity, innovative an d utilising market opportunities. This is stated in the first hypothesis as follows: H1: There is Positive and Significant Relationship between Entrepreneurial Characteristics and Commitment A Bivariate correlation analysis is used to test the direction and strength of the relationship between the independent variables; entrepreneurial characteristics and business commitment. Need for Achievement Locus of Control Creativeness Innovativeness Using Market Opportunities Commitment Need for Achievement 1 0.035 0.225* 0.361** 0.236* 0.313** Locus of Control 0.035 1 0.072 -0.225* 0.024 0.058 Creativeness 0.225* 0.072 1 0.229* 0.457** 0.375** Innovativeness 0.361** -0.225* 0.229* 1 0.281* 0.457* Using Market Opportunities 0.236* 0.024 0.457** 0.281* 1 0.551** Commitment 0.313** 0.058 0.375** 0.407** 0.551* 1 Table 4: Correlation Analysis between Entrepreneurs Characteristics and Business Commitment. *Correlation is significant at 0.05 level (2 tailed) **Correlation is significant at 0.01 level (2 tailed) Results of the Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that all the handicraft entrepreneurs characteristics have a positive and significant association with their business commitment except for the construct Locust of Control. Entrepreneurs ability to use market opportunity showed the strongest association with the entrepreneurs business commitment while need for achievement had the lowest relationship with their business commitment. High need for achievement is associated the other entrepreneurs characteristics except Locust of Control. Interestingly, positive level of Locus of Control is associated with the negative level of Innovativeness among the entrepreneurs. Creativity of the entrepreneurs may be linked to all other character except Locust of Control with the strongest relationship with using and taking market opportunities. Innovativeness shown by the entrepren eurs is also associated with all other entrepreneurs characteristics. Using market opportunity and the level of commitment among the entrepreneurs are positively associated with other characteristics except for Locust of Control. All results are shown in table 4. An application of government initiative as a moderating variable is suggested as an effective way in providing the small and medium creative entrepreneurs with the necessary support in terms of government policies, business aid, and also legal assistant. These types of supports are considered to be critical in the business expansion of the creative entrepreneurs and their business commitment. The impact of the government initiatives on the relationship between the creative entrepreneurs entrepreneurial characteristics and their business commitment is stated in the second hypothesis as stated as follows: H2: Government Initiative has a Moderating Effect on the Relationship Variable The researcher conducted a partial Correlation analysis to determine the moderating effect of the variable Government Initiatives on the relationship between the entrepreneurs characteristics and their business commitment. Result of the partial correlation analysis indicates that none of the entrepreneurs entrepreneurial characteristics had any association with the entrepreneurs business commitment. These results indicate that the government initiative is not a significant influence in moderating the association between the entrepreneurs entrepreneurial characteristics and their business commitment. One interpretation of this phenomenon is that regardless of the level assistant and incentives provided by the government, the handicraft entrepreneurs business commitment is not affected by the governments decision to assist and supports the entrepreneurs business activities. In addition the low correlation value revealed that there is lack of business commitment from the entrepr eneurs and they remain committed only to their artistic purpose and objectives. Results of the Partial Correlation can be observed in table 4. Table 4: Correlation Analysis between Entrepreneurs Characteristics and Business Commitment Controlling for Government Initiatives Control for Government Initiatives Need for Achievement Locus of Control Creativeness Innovativeness Utilising Market Opportunities Commitment Need for Achievement 1 -0.14 0.116 0.277* 0.038 0.146 Locus of Control -0.14 1 -0.019 -0.281* -0.080 -0.051 Creativeness 0.116 -0.019 1 0.151 0.351* 0.279 Innovativeness 0.277* -0.281* 0.151 1 0.093 0.318 Utilising Market Opportunities 0.038 -0.080 0.351* 0.093 1 0.350 Commitment 0.146 -0.051 0.279* 0.318 0.350 1 *Significant Correlation Discussion and Recommendation Scholars have suggested that government initiative in the heritage industry has provided the platform for craft artists to develop their entrepreneurial personality which significantly influences their business commitment (Einnarson, 2002). Based on the result of the first hypothesis testing, the entrepreneurial characteristics of the craft entrepreneurs at Kraftangan Malaysia, Terengganu has a low to moderate level of association with their business commitment. The result highlighted the fact that private or public authorities need to create more innovative and creative ways to enhance entrepreneurial programs in terms of the five entrepreneurial characteristics discussed in this paper. Consequently, we would like to offer two changes in conducting programs to upgrade the level of personality among creative entrepreneur in Kraftangan Malaysia, Terengganu, there are; Paradigm Shift Based on the Pearson Correlations result in testing the first hypothesis, entrepreneurial characteristics have been proven to have a positive and significant relation to the business commitment of the handicraft entrepreneurs. However, the association ranges from low to moderate. This result indicates that the handicraft (creative) entrepreneurs in Terengganu should enhance and improve their entrepreneurial characteristics as this would motivate them to increase their business commitment and subsequently help to develop their business into a viable and profitable venture. These entrepreneurs should also take the initiative to develop their own personal character in terms of taking challenging task, solving problem, developing high self-confidence, ability to influence events, ability to study market environment and also creating new business strategy. This will help them create a business enterprise that is able to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Specifically, they h ave to change their attitude and business paradigm from being artistically committed into business-minded committed entrepreneurs as shown in table 5. Table 5: Comparison between Artistic and Business Commitment Artistic Commitment Business Commitment 1. Dependent 1. Independent 2. Arts motivated 2. Business and art motivated 3. Self-appreciation 3. Consumer-appreciation 4. Creative 4. Creative Innovative 5. Social oriented 5. Profit oriented 6. Product value depend on producer 6. Product value depend on customer Entrepreneurial Development Model for Creative Entrepreneurs As a government agency, Kraftangan Malaysia of Terengganu need to aggressively enhance and strengthen the traditional skill, craftsmanship and entrepreneurial characters of the creative entrepreneurs (usahawan kraf) who are registered under this agency. In fact, Kraftangan Malaysia Terengganu are also assisting craftsman in utilising modern methods of production, and promoting their handicraft products. However, the government initiatives to aid and develop the creative entrepreneurs in Terengganu have not shown the desired results. Hence, government should revaluate their previous activities and programs, and rebuild new strategies to identify weaknesses in programs that were implemented to increase the entrepreneurs entrepreneurial characteristics. Therefore, Kraftangan Malaysia, Terengganu should develop an entrepreneurial development model (training and motivation workshop, business incubator etc), as a guide to creative entrepreneurs to identify better personality traits wh ich are necessary to develop their business commitment. The main content of this model is to assist the creative entrepreneurs in developing strong entrepreneurial characteristics such as the skill and ability to search better business improvement, locus of control, creative, innovative and also strategic to grab market opportunities in a competitive market. Conclusion Entrepreneurship research in the heritage industry is a new and under explored research in Malaysia. This is especially true in entrepreneurship research among the small and medium enterprise. We proposed that the development of entrepreneurial characteristics in the heritage industry is the right approach to build up the creative entrepreneurs business commitment in their respective field. A good infrastructure becomes useless if the creative entrepreneurs lack the business management skill and desire to improve their business as discussed earlier. The findings of this study are applicable to a wide range of heritage industry in Terengaanu and provide the necessary knowledge to increase the level of activities in the artistic and heritage industry into a new dimension. Moreover, the Malaysian government may utilize this finding as the foundation to develop new strategic plans, policies and programs to help the creative entrepreneurs create sustainable competitive advantage in the Malaysian and foreign heritage market.