The purpose of this work is to remove Pb（II） from the aqueous solution using a type of hydrogel composite. A hydrogel composite consisting of waste linear low density polyethylene, acrylic acid, starch, and organo-m...The purpose of this work is to remove Pb（II） from the aqueous solution using a type of hydrogel composite. A hydrogel composite consisting of waste linear low density polyethylene, acrylic acid, starch, and organo-montmorillonite was prepared through emulsion polymerization method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR）, Solid carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy（CNMR））, silicon-29 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy（Si NMR））, and X-ray diffraction spectroscope（（XRD） were applied to characterize the hydrogel composite. The hydrogel composite was then employed as an adsorbent for the removal of Pb（II） from the aqueous solution. The Pb（II）-loaded hydrogel composite was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR））,scanning electron microscopy（SEM））, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（（XPS））. From XPS results, it was found that the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of the hydrogel composite participated in the removal of Pb（II）. Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption of Pb（II）followed the pseudo-second-order equation. It was also found that the Langmuir model described the adsorption isotherm better than the Freundlich isotherm. The maximum removal capacity of the hydrogel composite for Pb（II） ions was 430 mg/g. Thus, the waste linear low-density polyethylene-g-poly（acrylic acid）-co-starch/organo-montmorillonite hydrogel composite could be a promising Pb（II） adsorbent.展开更多
Sex has always been a taboo subject in Asian society. However, over the past few years, awareness in the field of men＇s sexual health has improved, and interest in sexual health research has recently increased. The e...Sex has always been a taboo subject in Asian society. However, over the past few years, awareness in the field of men＇s sexual health has improved, and interest in sexual health research has recently increased. The epidemiology and prevalence of erectile dysfunction, hypogonadism and premature ejaculation in Asia are similar in the West. However, several issues are specific to Asian males, including culture and beliefs, awareness, compliance and the availability of traditional/complementary medicine. In Asia, sexual medicine is still in its infancy, and a concerted effort from the government, relevant societies, physicians and the media is required to propel sexual medicine to the forefront of health care.展开更多
Introduction: Femoral and tibial morphology posted as anatomical risk factors for ACL injuries. Samora et.al found out that a decreased BIA was associated with ACL rupture. Alentorn-Geli et al. found that the angle be...Introduction: Femoral and tibial morphology posted as anatomical risk factors for ACL injuries. Samora et.al found out that a decreased BIA was associated with ACL rupture. Alentorn-Geli et al. found that the angle between the Blumensaat line and the anterior tibial slope (BATS angle) was significantly greater in men with ACL injury. However, other authors were not able to reproduce the similar findings. Our study aimed to determine the Blumensaat inclination angle (BIA) and angle between Blumensaat line and tibial slope (BATS) in patients with or without anterior cruciate ligament injury. We also explored the factors influence them. Method: We elavuated 142 MRI knee done in Hospital Sultan Ismail from January 2017 to November 2020. Study group was patient with ACL injuries, with or without meniscus and cartilage injuries. Control group was patient with no ACL injuries. 57 patients with history of fracture around the knee joint, multiligamentous injuries, inflammatory arthritis and tumour were excluded from the study. We recorded their age, gender, BIA, and BATS angle. BIA and BATS angle were measured in sagittal plane MRI as described by Koji Iswasaki et al. and Alentorn-Geli et al. Result: 54 patients were in study group and 31 years in control group. The mean age for study group was 32.7 (8.95) year old, and for control group was 42.5 (14.54). The mean BIA for study group was 36.20 (4.542) degree, and control group was 37.25 (4.941). The mean BATS for study group was 36.33 (5.78) degree, and control group was 25.26 (6.047) degree. BIA and BATS angle did not differ in both groups, age and gender. Conclusion: Our study did not show BIA and BATS angle as an anatomical risk factor for ACL injuries. Age and gender did not affect these angles.展开更多
Humans and animals are in regular and at times close contact in modern intensive farming systems.The quality of human-animal interactions can have a profound impact on the productivity and welfare of farm animals.Inte...Humans and animals are in regular and at times close contact in modern intensive farming systems.The quality of human-animal interactions can have a profound impact on the productivity and welfare of farm animals.Interactions by humans may be neutral,positive or negative in nature.Regular pleasant contact with humans may result in desirable alterations in the physiology,behaviour,health and productivity of farm animals.On the contrary,animals that were subjected to aversive human contact were highly fearful of humans and their growth and reproductive performance could be compromised.Farm animals are particularly sensitive to human stimulation that occurs early in life,while many systems of the animals are still developing.This may have long-lasting impact and could possibly modify their genetic potential.The question as to how human contact can have a positive impact on responses to stressors,and productivity is not well understood.Recent work in our laboratory suggested that pleasant human contact may alter ability to tolerate various stressors through enhanced heat shock protein（hsp） 70 expression.The induction of hsp is often associated with increased tolerance to environmental stressors and disease resistance in animals.The attitude and consequent behaviour of stockpeople affect the animals＇ fear of human which eventually influence animals＇ productivity and welfare.Other than attitude and behaviour,technical skills,knowledge,job motivation,commitment and job satisfaction are prerequisites for high job performance.展开更多
Background: The prevalence of moderate to extremely severe level of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Malaysia was ranging from 13.9% to 29.3%, 51.5% to 55.0% and 12.9% to 21.6% respective...Background: The prevalence of moderate to extremely severe level of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Malaysia was ranging from 13.9% to 29.3%, 51.5% to 55.0% and 12.9% to 21.6% respectively. Medical students have been shown to be more inclined to emotional disorders, especially stress and depression, as compared to their non-medical peers. Therefore, the objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Melaka Manipal Medical College. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires consisted of 3 sections: demographic data, socioeconomic data and DASS 21 questions. Data processing was performed using Microsoft Excel 2010. The psychological status was categorized according to the presence or absence of depression, anxiety and stress. The data were analyzed using Epi InfoTM 7.1.4 and SPSS. Student’s t-test, Fisher Exact and Chi-square test were used to analyze the associations. P-value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted Odd Ratio. Results: A total of 397 undergraduates participated in this study. The prevalence of the depression, anxiety and stress, ranging from moderate to extremely severe, was 30.7%, 55.5%, and 16.6% respectively. Multiple logistic regression shows significant associations between relationship status, social life and total family income per month with depression. Only ethnicity has been shown to be significantly associated with anxiety. There are significant associations between ethnicity and total family income per month with stress. No other factors have been found to be significantly associated. Conclusion: Depression, anxiety and stress have a high detrimental effect to individual and society, which can lead to negative outcomes including medical dropouts, increased suicidal tendency, relationship and marital problems, impaired ability to work effectively, burnout and also existing problems of healt展开更多
The effects of non-thermal plasma （NTP） treatment on biomass in the form of pulverized palmbased empty fruit bunches （EFB） are investigated. Specifically, this study investigates the effects of NTP treatment on th...The effects of non-thermal plasma （NTP） treatment on biomass in the form of pulverized palmbased empty fruit bunches （EFB） are investigated. Specifically, this study investigates the effects of NTP treatment on the surface reactivity, morphology, oxygen-to-carbon （O/C） ratio of the EFB at varying treatment times. The surface reactivity is determined by the reaction of antioxidant functional groups or reactive species with 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl （DPPH）. By measuring the concentration of the DPPH with a spectrophotometer, the change in the amount of antioxidant functional groups can be measured to determine the surface reactivity. The reactions of the various lignin components in the EFB with respect to the NTP treatment are discussed by qualitatively assessing the changes in the Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectra. The surface morphology is examined by a scanning electron microscope. To determine the amount of oxygen deposited on the EFB by the air-based NTP treatment, the oxygen and carbon contents are measured by an energy dispersive x-ray detector to determine the O/C ratio. The results show that the NTP reactor produced reactive species such as atomic oxygen and ozone, increasing the surface reactivity and chemical scavenging rate of the EFB. Consequently, the surface morphology changed, with an observed rougher surface from the images of the EFB samples. The change in the appearance of the surface is accompanied by a high O/C ratio, and is caused by reactions of certain components of lignin due to the NTP treatment, The lignin component that was modified is believed to be syringyl, as the syringyl portion in the lignin of EFBs is higher compared to the other components. Syringyl components are detected in the range of F-FIR wavenumbers of 1109-1363 cm-1. With increasing NTP treatment times, the absorbance （of the peaks in the PTIR spectra） for syringyl related C-H and lignin associated C=C bonds decreases as the syringyl decomposes. The resulting release of carboxyl compou展开更多
A μ negative metamaterial using spiral resonator (SR) with an electromagnetically coupled (EMC) feeding system is proposed as a novel antenna structure. The proposed antenna is designed and fabricated on a FR4 dielec...A μ negative metamaterial using spiral resonator (SR) with an electromagnetically coupled (EMC) feeding system is proposed as a novel antenna structure. The proposed antenna is designed and fabricated on a FR4 dielectric substrate with a thickness of 1.6 mm and relative permittivity of 4.0 to achieve its radiation characteristic. The antenna is operated at frequency 2.4 GHz. To improve the antenna gain, a matching circuit is inserted into the feed line. The µnegative metamaterial is achieved by using a spiral resonator with spiral numbers N = 3, 5, 7, and 10. It is found that the negative imaginary part tends to shift leftward as the value of N increases. The simulation result of the proposed antenna structure with spiral number N = 3, strip width w = 3.1 mm, and gap width s = 0.5 mm provides the best performance with S11 = -15 dB, VSWR < 2 bandwidth of 30 MHz and gain of –0.5 dB at frequency of 2.43 GHz. The proposed antenna with matching circuit provides the antenna gain of 2.21 dB, which is better than that without the matching circuit. The dimensions of the proposed antenna are reduced by 53% compared with those of the conventional patch. Both the simulation and measurement results of the radiation characteristics of the proposed antenna show good agreement.展开更多
A dual-wavelength fiber laser operating at the 1550 nm region using a side-polished arc-shaped fiber with deposited ZnO nanoparticles is proposed and demonstrated. The arc-polished fiber is fabricated by using a simpl...A dual-wavelength fiber laser operating at the 1550 nm region using a side-polished arc-shaped fiber with deposited ZnO nanoparticles is proposed and demonstrated. The arc-polished fiber is fabricated by using a simple but novel approach in which a silicon carbide paper polishes one side of a conventional single-mode fiber. An arc-polished fiber with a length of 2.25 mm and an insertion loss of 0.95 dB is obtained and deposited with ZnO nanoparticles by the drop-cast method. A stable dual-wavelength output is obtained at 1562.5 and 1563.4 nm at peak powers of -9.3 and --10.1 dBm, respectively, as well as a signal-to-noise ratio of 28.4 dB and a channel spacing of 0.9 nm. Both lasing wavelengths also have narrow linewidths of between 0.045 and 0.049 nm and show little to no wavelength or power fluctuations over continued testing.展开更多
A Q-switched distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser using a graphene passive saturable absorber is proposed in a cavity consisting of a fiber Bragg grating and Faraday rotator mirror as end mirrors, together with a h...A Q-switched distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser using a graphene passive saturable absorber is proposed in a cavity consisting of a fiber Bragg grating and Faraday rotator mirror as end mirrors, together with a highly doped erbium-doped fiber as a gain source. The laser has a Q-switched threshold of about 28 mW and a tunable repetition rate of 10.4-18.0 kHz with varying pump power. The shortest pulse width obtained from the system is 3.7 its, with a maximum pulse energy and peak power of 22.2 nJ and 3.4 mW, respectively.展开更多
Objective:To analyze the safety and effectiveness of the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer(EVOH)liquid embolic agent Squid(Emboflu,Switzerland)for the treatment of brain arteriovenous malformations.Materials and proced...Objective:To analyze the safety and effectiveness of the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer(EVOH)liquid embolic agent Squid(Emboflu,Switzerland)for the treatment of brain arteriovenous malformations.Materials and procedures:Between April 2015 and July 2017,46 embolization treatments for brain arteriovenous malformations(BAVM)were performed in 25 patients using two Squid formulations(18 and 12).Six female and 19 male patients with a mean age of 34 years(range,9–62 years)were included.A total of 46 procedures were performed.The BAVMs were classified as Spetzler-Martin gradeⅡin 4 procedures,Ⅲin 27 procedures,and 1V in 15 procedures.Among the 25 patients,15 presented with hemorrhage,5 with seizures,and 5 with headache and neurology.The BAVMs were located in the temporal lobe in 5 patients,parietal lobe in 7 patients,frontal lobe in 3 patients,posterior fossa in 6 patients,basal ganglia in 3 patients,and parasagittal lobe in 1 patient.Results:The obliteration rate of the BAVMs ranged from 10%to 100%,with a mean of 33%.Most patients underwent their first or second embolization procedure.Four patients(8%)developed intracranial bleeding post procedure,with one death(2%).One patient(2%)experienced a seizure during the procedure;however,no intracranial bleeding was observed.Seven patients(15%)experienced perforations during catheter manipulation.One case(2%)of fractured catheter was recorded,but no significant complications were observed.The average volume of copolymer injected was 0.6 ml per nidus.Thirteen procedures used the Squid-12 formulation,29 procedures used the Squid-18 formulation,and 3 procedures used a combination of Squid-12 and-18 formulations.Conclusion:Squid is a safe and effective embolic agent for treating BAVMs.展开更多
Foreign body(FB) ingestion is very common in Malaysian population.The most commonly ingested FB is fish bone.Common presenting symptoms include FB sensation,odynophagia and or sharp pricking pain during swallowing.A c...Foreign body(FB) ingestion is very common in Malaysian population.The most commonly ingested FB is fish bone.Common presenting symptoms include FB sensation,odynophagia and or sharp pricking pain during swallowing.A careful history and physical examination is very important.Despite negative laryngoscopy and rigid esophagoscopy,persistent symptoms warrants further radiographic imaging studies.The FB can migrate extraluminally and involve other important adjacent structures of the neck and along the digestive tract.We report 3 cases of extraluminal migration of fish bone and their complications,which were successfully managed.One case with vascular complication which involve common carotid artery and the other two cases with neck abscess formation involving thyroid gland,retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess.展开更多
George Town is a significant World Heritage Site in the Straits of Malacca.This paper examined the evolution of urban morphology in George Town within geography,politics,economy,and culture in a horizontal dimension a...George Town is a significant World Heritage Site in the Straits of Malacca.This paper examined the evolution of urban morphology in George Town within geography,politics,economy,and culture in a horizontal dimension and layer upon layer in a vertical dimension.In this study,to ensure the objectives are achieved,qualitative methods will be applied including several approaches such as literature review,interpretation of archives chronologically,maps study,census returns,trade directories,photographs and postcards,and urban master plan study.The research is based on the analysis of urban construction,land use,economic development,and municipal policies.First,study the urban morphology in a specific period,and construct the inner layer structure in each period.Second,an analogy is drawn among the evolution of the urban morphology by time-scale,this section focusses on the historical conjunctures and events related to the urban construction.An important contribution can be made to the conservation and management of urban built heritage in George Town,on the one hand,explaining the evolution of urban morphology by examining George Tow nphysical and spatial environment,and in turn,on the other hand,understanding about the physical and spatial environment by examining the urban morphology.展开更多
This paper sums up the determining analysis of the measuring location of Treflusing a thermocouple during the thermography tests.Laboratory temperature distribution testing methods,analysis of value and location of Tre...This paper sums up the determining analysis of the measuring location of Treflusing a thermocouple during the thermography tests.Laboratory temperature distribution testing methods,analysis of value and location of Treflmeasurement are explained in this paper.The heat source is two halogen lamps of 500 watts eachfitted at a distance of 30–50 cm.Noises appearing during testing of thermography are corrected with measured T_(refl) value.The results of thermogram correction of corroded concrete surfaces using T_(refl) values are displayed in this paper too.The concrete surface temperature results of quantitative image processing method are compared to the experimental test results.The results showed good accuracy,which was seen from most errors<3%and the maximum error is<5%.The end of paper,explained of application Treflvalue to the corroded reinforced concrete thermogram.展开更多
This study briefly reviews the application of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in geotechnical engineering since GA and PSO are widely used in civil engineering. The application of GA and P...This study briefly reviews the application of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in geotechnical engineering since GA and PSO are widely used in civil engineering. The application of GA and PSO is studied in three popular families of geotechnical problems including unconfined seepage analysis, slope stability analysis, and foundation design. In each category the available results from different studies are reviewed and compared. The comparison of results shows the desirable accuracy in the predicting of optimal values in the process of analysis and design. The presented methods perform successfully in the reviewed problems. However, PSO predicts the optimum values in fewer numbers of iterations, which suggests higher performance in term of implementation/application.展开更多
Lombok Island has been rocked by multiple powerful earthquakes since July 2018 and it remained hundreds of aftershocks.Statistically by August 2018 more than 400 people have lost their lives.This tremendous disaster n...Lombok Island has been rocked by multiple powerful earthquakes since July 2018 and it remained hundreds of aftershocks.Statistically by August 2018 more than 400 people have lost their lives.This tremendous disaster not only affected to damage infrastructures and trauma,but also affected tourism market of Lombok as one of the priority areas for the development of tourism market in Indonesia.It is reported that tourism market in Lombok has decreased dramatically after the earthquake from 1.3 million to 250 thousands tourists.The reduction of tourists visiting Lombok was not only in the affected destinations but also in unaffected destinations.To improve the number of tourists visiting Lombok,promoting several unaffected tourist destinations was carried out after 4 months of earthquake through sales missions and fam trip.Sales missions were conducted in Philippine,Singapore,UK,Thailand,and several main cities in Indonesia,while fam trips were conducted in several affected destinations in Lombok.The results showed that the buyer from sales missions reached 475 pax and potential transaction for fam trip reached up to 108 billion rupiah within a month after the program.Promotion of tourist destinations in Lombok after disaster is then continued with promoting affected destination in 2019,such as Gili islands and Senggigi and Mataram.This resulted in improvement of numbers of hotel occupation for around 10%within six months.Promotion of tourist destinations was not only proposed to improve the number of tourists visiting Lombok but also to improve and promote safety procedures during visiting affected destinations.It was proved by existence of resemble points,safety briefing during event in all hotels and convention halls in Lombok,as well as insurance cover in several tour package on the travel agencies.However,in order to optimize tourism market,government should also contribute to providing better infrastructures and workshop for appropriate safety procedures to people involving in tourism industries.展开更多
The objective was to investigate the major effect of freezing rate and freezing methods on physical properties of fish balls made with various flour contents. The fish balls were observed to be almost in temperature a...The objective was to investigate the major effect of freezing rate and freezing methods on physical properties of fish balls made with various flour contents. The fish balls were observed to be almost in temperature at -28℃ for air-blast freezer, at -100 ℃ in the liquid nitrogen and the standard house freezing were done at -18℃. The air-blast had the freezing rate of 11.82-20.84 cm h1 while those frozen by liquid nitrogen had the freezing rate of 13.36-22.38 cm/h and standard house freezer held lower freezing rate （7. ! 5-8.02 cm hl）. Texture profile analysis results showed that ubi badak＇s flour gel was harder, sticky, gummy and chewy than that of wheat and banana＇s flour gels. The proximate analysis revealed that wheat flour had higher protein and moisture content compared to banana and ubi badak flours.展开更多
The development and economic growth of a nation is closely related to its available transportation system. Good and efficient road transport infrastructure facilities will promote industrial and socio-economic develop...The development and economic growth of a nation is closely related to its available transportation system. Good and efficient road transport infrastructure facilities will promote industrial and socio-economic development. To provide safety and comfort to road users, a comprehensive road maintenance schedule must be formulated and adopted to ensure those roads are in good condition at all times. Preventive maintenance works, such as road rehabilitation will help to reduce the major road repairs and expenditure. Prior to this, a good database, gathered through GIS will be necessary in order to ensure maintenance is done effectively. Geographic Information System (GIS) is said to be one of the useful tools that can be utilized to manage database in road maintenance engineering. This system is capable of storing, managing, analyzing, computing and displaying all forms of geographical data for road maintenance works. In this study, the author has adopted GIS application software – ArcView, and has reviewed and analyzed its effectiveness in managing road database. These data are then used to assist the management to ensure effective and systematic road maintenance. A typical model of roads in Penang, Malaysia is used as a case study to further clarify the application of GIS in road maintenance.展开更多
The conservation of townscape in George Town usually involves the enforcement of public policies and plans, which facilitate the conservation work in a sustainable and scientific way. In the recent decade, it has been...The conservation of townscape in George Town usually involves the enforcement of public policies and plans, which facilitate the conservation work in a sustainable and scientific way. In the recent decade, it has been increasingly recognized that public policies and plans in heritage sites have the significant impact on urban scenery, ethnic identity, and heritage sustainable development. However, the enforcement of public policies and plans in order to achieve successful townscape conservation is still insufficient in George Town. This study aims to assess the public policies and plans in relation to the townscape from the federal level to local level, and in turn, showing the current issues which caused by the deficiency of public policies and conservation plans. To ensure the objectives achieved, qualitative methods will be applied, including several approaches such as site investigation, cross-referencing, extrapolation and interpretation method. Empirical findings suggest that townscape in George Town should be ensured by implementing prudent public policy. Nevertheless, the current public policies and plans are inefficiently run, and various problems arise in the townscape such as de-contextualization, loss of authenticity and cultural integrity, Disneyfication, and environmental deterioration etc.展开更多
This research was conducted to study the influence of NaHCO3and fertilizer treatments on flooded soils tothe chemistry of soil and rice plant growth.The experiment was done in a greenhouse using a split-split plot des...This research was conducted to study the influence of NaHCO3and fertilizer treatments on flooded soils tothe chemistry of soil and rice plant growth.The experiment was done in a greenhouse using a split-split plot design ofthree factors: two types of soil,three doses of fertilizers and three levels of NaHCO3with three replications.The firstfactor was two kind of soils Fluvaquent and Calciquert,the factor was without nutrient(blank),macro nutrients,andcompletely nutrients(second macro and micro nutrients),and the third factor was 0 mg/kg,200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kgof NaHCO3or equivalent with 0 mg,1 200 mg and 2 400 mg NaHCO3per pot.Each experimental unit used a pot of 10L capacity and filled with soil mud equivalent with 6 kg of dried soil.After each of treatment combination mixed into themud soil,two plants of IR-32 variety were grown,and flooded at5 cm high accordingly with growth period.Parametersobserved were the growth of tillers,electrical conductivity(E.C.) and pH.The experiment results showed that the treatment of NaHCO3increased the soluble salt content(E.C.) and soilacidity(pH) during flooding on Calciquerts and Fluvaquents.The content of soluble salt decreased to 2.0 mmhos/cm,while pHon Calciquert decreased towards the neutral pH.Anyhowthe pHon Fluvaquents increased approach to neutral.The treatments of NaHCO3inhibited the tiller growth,either macro fertilizer and completely fertilizer increased thetillers,but did not improve the negative effect of alkalinity due to of NaHCOtreatment.展开更多
A 2×2 microfiber knot resonator(MKR)coupler is demonstrated.The hybrid device is obtained by forming a knot within the coupling region of a microfiber coupler with a 50:50 splitting ratio.The microfiber coupler i...A 2×2 microfiber knot resonator(MKR)coupler is demonstrated.The hybrid device is obtained by forming a knot within the coupling region of a microfiber coupler with a 50:50 splitting ratio.The microfiber coupler is successfully fabricated by laterally fusing and tapering two optical fibers using a flame-brushing technique.The coupler has an overlapping length of 40 mm with a uniform waist of around 5μm.With an MKR structure,the coupler produces a resonant response at both output ports.The free spectral range of the output spectrum from both ports is obtained at 0.2 nm at a knot diameter of 260μm.The resonance extinction ratio of the device varies from 2 to 6 dB while the calculated Q factor and finesse are~25646 and 3.3,respectively,at both output ports.展开更多
基金supported by the USM short-term grant (Ac No.: 8044043)by the USM fellowship scheme for PhD study (to M. Irani)Water Program at University of Wyoming
文摘The purpose of this work is to remove Pb（II） from the aqueous solution using a type of hydrogel composite. A hydrogel composite consisting of waste linear low density polyethylene, acrylic acid, starch, and organo-montmorillonite was prepared through emulsion polymerization method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR）, Solid carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy（CNMR））, silicon-29 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy（Si NMR））, and X-ray diffraction spectroscope（（XRD） were applied to characterize the hydrogel composite. The hydrogel composite was then employed as an adsorbent for the removal of Pb（II） from the aqueous solution. The Pb（II）-loaded hydrogel composite was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR））,scanning electron microscopy（SEM））, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（（XPS））. From XPS results, it was found that the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of the hydrogel composite participated in the removal of Pb（II）. Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption of Pb（II）followed the pseudo-second-order equation. It was also found that the Langmuir model described the adsorption isotherm better than the Freundlich isotherm. The maximum removal capacity of the hydrogel composite for Pb（II） ions was 430 mg/g. Thus, the waste linear low-density polyethylene-g-poly（acrylic acid）-co-starch/organo-montmorillonite hydrogel composite could be a promising Pb（II） adsorbent.
文摘Sex has always been a taboo subject in Asian society. However, over the past few years, awareness in the field of men＇s sexual health has improved, and interest in sexual health research has recently increased. The epidemiology and prevalence of erectile dysfunction, hypogonadism and premature ejaculation in Asia are similar in the West. However, several issues are specific to Asian males, including culture and beliefs, awareness, compliance and the availability of traditional/complementary medicine. In Asia, sexual medicine is still in its infancy, and a concerted effort from the government, relevant societies, physicians and the media is required to propel sexual medicine to the forefront of health care.
文摘Introduction: Femoral and tibial morphology posted as anatomical risk factors for ACL injuries. Samora et.al found out that a decreased BIA was associated with ACL rupture. Alentorn-Geli et al. found that the angle between the Blumensaat line and the anterior tibial slope (BATS angle) was significantly greater in men with ACL injury. However, other authors were not able to reproduce the similar findings. Our study aimed to determine the Blumensaat inclination angle (BIA) and angle between Blumensaat line and tibial slope (BATS) in patients with or without anterior cruciate ligament injury. We also explored the factors influence them. Method: We elavuated 142 MRI knee done in Hospital Sultan Ismail from January 2017 to November 2020. Study group was patient with ACL injuries, with or without meniscus and cartilage injuries. Control group was patient with no ACL injuries. 57 patients with history of fracture around the knee joint, multiligamentous injuries, inflammatory arthritis and tumour were excluded from the study. We recorded their age, gender, BIA, and BATS angle. BIA and BATS angle were measured in sagittal plane MRI as described by Koji Iswasaki et al. and Alentorn-Geli et al. Result: 54 patients were in study group and 31 years in control group. The mean age for study group was 32.7 (8.95) year old, and for control group was 42.5 (14.54). The mean BIA for study group was 36.20 (4.542) degree, and control group was 37.25 (4.941). The mean BATS for study group was 36.33 (5.78) degree, and control group was 25.26 (6.047) degree. BIA and BATS angle did not differ in both groups, age and gender. Conclusion: Our study did not show BIA and BATS angle as an anatomical risk factor for ACL injuries. Age and gender did not affect these angles.
文摘Humans and animals are in regular and at times close contact in modern intensive farming systems.The quality of human-animal interactions can have a profound impact on the productivity and welfare of farm animals.Interactions by humans may be neutral,positive or negative in nature.Regular pleasant contact with humans may result in desirable alterations in the physiology,behaviour,health and productivity of farm animals.On the contrary,animals that were subjected to aversive human contact were highly fearful of humans and their growth and reproductive performance could be compromised.Farm animals are particularly sensitive to human stimulation that occurs early in life,while many systems of the animals are still developing.This may have long-lasting impact and could possibly modify their genetic potential.The question as to how human contact can have a positive impact on responses to stressors,and productivity is not well understood.Recent work in our laboratory suggested that pleasant human contact may alter ability to tolerate various stressors through enhanced heat shock protein（hsp） 70 expression.The induction of hsp is often associated with increased tolerance to environmental stressors and disease resistance in animals.The attitude and consequent behaviour of stockpeople affect the animals＇ fear of human which eventually influence animals＇ productivity and welfare.Other than attitude and behaviour,technical skills,knowledge,job motivation,commitment and job satisfaction are prerequisites for high job performance.
文摘Background: The prevalence of moderate to extremely severe level of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Malaysia was ranging from 13.9% to 29.3%, 51.5% to 55.0% and 12.9% to 21.6% respectively. Medical students have been shown to be more inclined to emotional disorders, especially stress and depression, as compared to their non-medical peers. Therefore, the objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Melaka Manipal Medical College. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires consisted of 3 sections: demographic data, socioeconomic data and DASS 21 questions. Data processing was performed using Microsoft Excel 2010. The psychological status was categorized according to the presence or absence of depression, anxiety and stress. The data were analyzed using Epi InfoTM 7.1.4 and SPSS. Student’s t-test, Fisher Exact and Chi-square test were used to analyze the associations. P-value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted Odd Ratio. Results: A total of 397 undergraduates participated in this study. The prevalence of the depression, anxiety and stress, ranging from moderate to extremely severe, was 30.7%, 55.5%, and 16.6% respectively. Multiple logistic regression shows significant associations between relationship status, social life and total family income per month with depression. Only ethnicity has been shown to be significantly associated with anxiety. There are significant associations between ethnicity and total family income per month with stress. No other factors have been found to be significantly associated. Conclusion: Depression, anxiety and stress have a high detrimental effect to individual and society, which can lead to negative outcomes including medical dropouts, increased suicidal tendency, relationship and marital problems, impaired ability to work effectively, burnout and also existing problems of healt
基金Tenaga Nasional Berhad (Malaysia) for funding this research (TNBR/SF 240/2016)
文摘The effects of non-thermal plasma （NTP） treatment on biomass in the form of pulverized palmbased empty fruit bunches （EFB） are investigated. Specifically, this study investigates the effects of NTP treatment on the surface reactivity, morphology, oxygen-to-carbon （O/C） ratio of the EFB at varying treatment times. The surface reactivity is determined by the reaction of antioxidant functional groups or reactive species with 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl （DPPH）. By measuring the concentration of the DPPH with a spectrophotometer, the change in the amount of antioxidant functional groups can be measured to determine the surface reactivity. The reactions of the various lignin components in the EFB with respect to the NTP treatment are discussed by qualitatively assessing the changes in the Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectra. The surface morphology is examined by a scanning electron microscope. To determine the amount of oxygen deposited on the EFB by the air-based NTP treatment, the oxygen and carbon contents are measured by an energy dispersive x-ray detector to determine the O/C ratio. The results show that the NTP reactor produced reactive species such as atomic oxygen and ozone, increasing the surface reactivity and chemical scavenging rate of the EFB. Consequently, the surface morphology changed, with an observed rougher surface from the images of the EFB samples. The change in the appearance of the surface is accompanied by a high O/C ratio, and is caused by reactions of certain components of lignin due to the NTP treatment, The lignin component that was modified is believed to be syringyl, as the syringyl portion in the lignin of EFBs is higher compared to the other components. Syringyl components are detected in the range of F-FIR wavenumbers of 1109-1363 cm-1. With increasing NTP treatment times, the absorbance （of the peaks in the PTIR spectra） for syringyl related C-H and lignin associated C=C bonds decreases as the syringyl decomposes. The resulting release of carboxyl compou
文摘A μ negative metamaterial using spiral resonator (SR) with an electromagnetically coupled (EMC) feeding system is proposed as a novel antenna structure. The proposed antenna is designed and fabricated on a FR4 dielectric substrate with a thickness of 1.6 mm and relative permittivity of 4.0 to achieve its radiation characteristic. The antenna is operated at frequency 2.4 GHz. To improve the antenna gain, a matching circuit is inserted into the feed line. The µnegative metamaterial is achieved by using a spiral resonator with spiral numbers N = 3, 5, 7, and 10. It is found that the negative imaginary part tends to shift leftward as the value of N increases. The simulation result of the proposed antenna structure with spiral number N = 3, strip width w = 3.1 mm, and gap width s = 0.5 mm provides the best performance with S11 = -15 dB, VSWR < 2 bandwidth of 30 MHz and gain of –0.5 dB at frequency of 2.43 GHz. The proposed antenna with matching circuit provides the antenna gain of 2.21 dB, which is better than that without the matching circuit. The dimensions of the proposed antenna are reduced by 53% compared with those of the conventional patch. Both the simulation and measurement results of the radiation characteristics of the proposed antenna show good agreement.
基金the Ministry of Higher Education,Malaysia,for providing funding for this research under Grants Nos.LRGS(2015)NGOD/UM/KPT and GA010-2014(ULUNG)the University of Malaya for providing funding for this research under Grant No.RU010/2016
文摘A dual-wavelength fiber laser operating at the 1550 nm region using a side-polished arc-shaped fiber with deposited ZnO nanoparticles is proposed and demonstrated. The arc-polished fiber is fabricated by using a simple but novel approach in which a silicon carbide paper polishes one side of a conventional single-mode fiber. An arc-polished fiber with a length of 2.25 mm and an insertion loss of 0.95 dB is obtained and deposited with ZnO nanoparticles by the drop-cast method. A stable dual-wavelength output is obtained at 1562.5 and 1563.4 nm at peak powers of -9.3 and --10.1 dBm, respectively, as well as a signal-to-noise ratio of 28.4 dB and a channel spacing of 0.9 nm. Both lasing wavelengths also have narrow linewidths of between 0.045 and 0.049 nm and show little to no wavelength or power fluctuations over continued testing.
基金supported by the Ministry of Higher Education/University of Malaya(Nos.UM.C/HIR/MOHE/SC/01 and UPGP2012)
文摘A Q-switched distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser using a graphene passive saturable absorber is proposed in a cavity consisting of a fiber Bragg grating and Faraday rotator mirror as end mirrors, together with a highly doped erbium-doped fiber as a gain source. The laser has a Q-switched threshold of about 28 mW and a tunable repetition rate of 10.4-18.0 kHz with varying pump power. The shortest pulse width obtained from the system is 3.7 its, with a maximum pulse energy and peak power of 22.2 nJ and 3.4 mW, respectively.
文摘Objective:To analyze the safety and effectiveness of the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer(EVOH)liquid embolic agent Squid(Emboflu,Switzerland)for the treatment of brain arteriovenous malformations.Materials and procedures:Between April 2015 and July 2017,46 embolization treatments for brain arteriovenous malformations(BAVM)were performed in 25 patients using two Squid formulations(18 and 12).Six female and 19 male patients with a mean age of 34 years(range,9–62 years)were included.A total of 46 procedures were performed.The BAVMs were classified as Spetzler-Martin gradeⅡin 4 procedures,Ⅲin 27 procedures,and 1V in 15 procedures.Among the 25 patients,15 presented with hemorrhage,5 with seizures,and 5 with headache and neurology.The BAVMs were located in the temporal lobe in 5 patients,parietal lobe in 7 patients,frontal lobe in 3 patients,posterior fossa in 6 patients,basal ganglia in 3 patients,and parasagittal lobe in 1 patient.Results:The obliteration rate of the BAVMs ranged from 10%to 100%,with a mean of 33%.Most patients underwent their first or second embolization procedure.Four patients(8%)developed intracranial bleeding post procedure,with one death(2%).One patient(2%)experienced a seizure during the procedure;however,no intracranial bleeding was observed.Seven patients(15%)experienced perforations during catheter manipulation.One case(2%)of fractured catheter was recorded,but no significant complications were observed.The average volume of copolymer injected was 0.6 ml per nidus.Thirteen procedures used the Squid-12 formulation,29 procedures used the Squid-18 formulation,and 3 procedures used a combination of Squid-12 and-18 formulations.Conclusion:Squid is a safe and effective embolic agent for treating BAVMs.
文摘Foreign body(FB) ingestion is very common in Malaysian population.The most commonly ingested FB is fish bone.Common presenting symptoms include FB sensation,odynophagia and or sharp pricking pain during swallowing.A careful history and physical examination is very important.Despite negative laryngoscopy and rigid esophagoscopy,persistent symptoms warrants further radiographic imaging studies.The FB can migrate extraluminally and involve other important adjacent structures of the neck and along the digestive tract.We report 3 cases of extraluminal migration of fish bone and their complications,which were successfully managed.One case with vascular complication which involve common carotid artery and the other two cases with neck abscess formation involving thyroid gland,retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess.
文摘George Town is a significant World Heritage Site in the Straits of Malacca.This paper examined the evolution of urban morphology in George Town within geography,politics,economy,and culture in a horizontal dimension and layer upon layer in a vertical dimension.In this study,to ensure the objectives are achieved,qualitative methods will be applied including several approaches such as literature review,interpretation of archives chronologically,maps study,census returns,trade directories,photographs and postcards,and urban master plan study.The research is based on the analysis of urban construction,land use,economic development,and municipal policies.First,study the urban morphology in a specific period,and construct the inner layer structure in each period.Second,an analogy is drawn among the evolution of the urban morphology by time-scale,this section focusses on the historical conjunctures and events related to the urban construction.An important contribution can be made to the conservation and management of urban built heritage in George Town,on the one hand,explaining the evolution of urban morphology by examining George Tow nphysical and spatial environment,and in turn,on the other hand,understanding about the physical and spatial environment by examining the urban morphology.
基金This research was supported by the P3MI Research Grants.Thanks to Prof.Herlien D Setio as authors who received the grant.
文摘This paper sums up the determining analysis of the measuring location of Treflusing a thermocouple during the thermography tests.Laboratory temperature distribution testing methods,analysis of value and location of Treflmeasurement are explained in this paper.The heat source is two halogen lamps of 500 watts eachfitted at a distance of 30–50 cm.Noises appearing during testing of thermography are corrected with measured T_(refl) value.The results of thermogram correction of corroded concrete surfaces using T_(refl) values are displayed in this paper too.The concrete surface temperature results of quantitative image processing method are compared to the experimental test results.The results showed good accuracy,which was seen from most errors<3%and the maximum error is<5%.The end of paper,explained of application Treflvalue to the corroded reinforced concrete thermogram.
文摘This study briefly reviews the application of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in geotechnical engineering since GA and PSO are widely used in civil engineering. The application of GA and PSO is studied in three popular families of geotechnical problems including unconfined seepage analysis, slope stability analysis, and foundation design. In each category the available results from different studies are reviewed and compared. The comparison of results shows the desirable accuracy in the predicting of optimal values in the process of analysis and design. The presented methods perform successfully in the reviewed problems. However, PSO predicts the optimum values in fewer numbers of iterations, which suggests higher performance in term of implementation/application.
文摘Lombok Island has been rocked by multiple powerful earthquakes since July 2018 and it remained hundreds of aftershocks.Statistically by August 2018 more than 400 people have lost their lives.This tremendous disaster not only affected to damage infrastructures and trauma,but also affected tourism market of Lombok as one of the priority areas for the development of tourism market in Indonesia.It is reported that tourism market in Lombok has decreased dramatically after the earthquake from 1.3 million to 250 thousands tourists.The reduction of tourists visiting Lombok was not only in the affected destinations but also in unaffected destinations.To improve the number of tourists visiting Lombok,promoting several unaffected tourist destinations was carried out after 4 months of earthquake through sales missions and fam trip.Sales missions were conducted in Philippine,Singapore,UK,Thailand,and several main cities in Indonesia,while fam trips were conducted in several affected destinations in Lombok.The results showed that the buyer from sales missions reached 475 pax and potential transaction for fam trip reached up to 108 billion rupiah within a month after the program.Promotion of tourist destinations in Lombok after disaster is then continued with promoting affected destination in 2019,such as Gili islands and Senggigi and Mataram.This resulted in improvement of numbers of hotel occupation for around 10%within six months.Promotion of tourist destinations was not only proposed to improve the number of tourists visiting Lombok but also to improve and promote safety procedures during visiting affected destinations.It was proved by existence of resemble points,safety briefing during event in all hotels and convention halls in Lombok,as well as insurance cover in several tour package on the travel agencies.However,in order to optimize tourism market,government should also contribute to providing better infrastructures and workshop for appropriate safety procedures to people involving in tourism industries.
文摘The objective was to investigate the major effect of freezing rate and freezing methods on physical properties of fish balls made with various flour contents. The fish balls were observed to be almost in temperature at -28℃ for air-blast freezer, at -100 ℃ in the liquid nitrogen and the standard house freezing were done at -18℃. The air-blast had the freezing rate of 11.82-20.84 cm h1 while those frozen by liquid nitrogen had the freezing rate of 13.36-22.38 cm/h and standard house freezer held lower freezing rate （7. ! 5-8.02 cm hl）. Texture profile analysis results showed that ubi badak＇s flour gel was harder, sticky, gummy and chewy than that of wheat and banana＇s flour gels. The proximate analysis revealed that wheat flour had higher protein and moisture content compared to banana and ubi badak flours.
文摘The development and economic growth of a nation is closely related to its available transportation system. Good and efficient road transport infrastructure facilities will promote industrial and socio-economic development. To provide safety and comfort to road users, a comprehensive road maintenance schedule must be formulated and adopted to ensure those roads are in good condition at all times. Preventive maintenance works, such as road rehabilitation will help to reduce the major road repairs and expenditure. Prior to this, a good database, gathered through GIS will be necessary in order to ensure maintenance is done effectively. Geographic Information System (GIS) is said to be one of the useful tools that can be utilized to manage database in road maintenance engineering. This system is capable of storing, managing, analyzing, computing and displaying all forms of geographical data for road maintenance works. In this study, the author has adopted GIS application software – ArcView, and has reviewed and analyzed its effectiveness in managing road database. These data are then used to assist the management to ensure effective and systematic road maintenance. A typical model of roads in Penang, Malaysia is used as a case study to further clarify the application of GIS in road maintenance.
文摘The conservation of townscape in George Town usually involves the enforcement of public policies and plans, which facilitate the conservation work in a sustainable and scientific way. In the recent decade, it has been increasingly recognized that public policies and plans in heritage sites have the significant impact on urban scenery, ethnic identity, and heritage sustainable development. However, the enforcement of public policies and plans in order to achieve successful townscape conservation is still insufficient in George Town. This study aims to assess the public policies and plans in relation to the townscape from the federal level to local level, and in turn, showing the current issues which caused by the deficiency of public policies and conservation plans. To ensure the objectives achieved, qualitative methods will be applied, including several approaches such as site investigation, cross-referencing, extrapolation and interpretation method. Empirical findings suggest that townscape in George Town should be ensured by implementing prudent public policy. Nevertheless, the current public policies and plans are inefficiently run, and various problems arise in the townscape such as de-contextualization, loss of authenticity and cultural integrity, Disneyfication, and environmental deterioration etc.
基金the Directorat of High Education,Dept.of National Education of the Republic of Indonesia
文摘This research was conducted to study the influence of NaHCO3and fertilizer treatments on flooded soils tothe chemistry of soil and rice plant growth.The experiment was done in a greenhouse using a split-split plot design ofthree factors: two types of soil,three doses of fertilizers and three levels of NaHCO3with three replications.The firstfactor was two kind of soils Fluvaquent and Calciquert,the factor was without nutrient(blank),macro nutrients,andcompletely nutrients(second macro and micro nutrients),and the third factor was 0 mg/kg,200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kgof NaHCO3or equivalent with 0 mg,1 200 mg and 2 400 mg NaHCO3per pot.Each experimental unit used a pot of 10L capacity and filled with soil mud equivalent with 6 kg of dried soil.After each of treatment combination mixed into themud soil,two plants of IR-32 variety were grown,and flooded at5 cm high accordingly with growth period.Parametersobserved were the growth of tillers,electrical conductivity(E.C.) and pH.The experiment results showed that the treatment of NaHCO3increased the soluble salt content(E.C.) and soilacidity(pH) during flooding on Calciquerts and Fluvaquents.The content of soluble salt decreased to 2.0 mmhos/cm,while pHon Calciquert decreased towards the neutral pH.Anyhowthe pHon Fluvaquents increased approach to neutral.The treatments of NaHCO3inhibited the tiller growth,either macro fertilizer and completely fertilizer increased thetillers,but did not improve the negative effect of alkalinity due to of NaHCOtreatment.
基金Supported by the MOSTI Brain Gain Program under Grant No 5302031067.
文摘A 2×2 microfiber knot resonator(MKR)coupler is demonstrated.The hybrid device is obtained by forming a knot within the coupling region of a microfiber coupler with a 50:50 splitting ratio.The microfiber coupler is successfully fabricated by laterally fusing and tapering two optical fibers using a flame-brushing technique.The coupler has an overlapping length of 40 mm with a uniform waist of around 5μm.With an MKR structure,the coupler produces a resonant response at both output ports.The free spectral range of the output spectrum from both ports is obtained at 0.2 nm at a knot diameter of 260μm.The resonance extinction ratio of the device varies from 2 to 6 dB while the calculated Q factor and finesse are~25646 and 3.3,respectively,at both output ports.
