Failure of pancreas can cause uncontrolled blood glucose levels in the body. This research focuses on type 1 diabetes patients who depend on external insulin injection. The Hovorka model was used as the mathematical model in the development of control algorithm for artificial pancreas. However, the model showed a lack of interaction on selected parameters and variables in its glucose-insulin dynamic system. An improvement on the Hovorka equations was done, but no work was carried out to simulate the proposed equations. The objectives of this study are to simulate the modified Hovorka equations using MATLAB and to compare the simulation results between the reference and modified ones. This study showed better interaction among all variables and parameters on its glucose-insulin dynamic system using the modified equations compared to the original equations. The lower administered amount of insulin, Ut at 16.7mU/min and 20mU/min could regulate the blood glucose level at normoglycemic condition throughout the study.
This study aimed to evaluate surface roughness (SR) changes with surface treatments and shear bond strength (SBS) of two prefabricated and one laboratory-made composite veneer systems. The prefabricated groups, Edelweiss (EDL) and Componeer (CMP) while, SR Nexco (NEX) was a laboratory-made group. A total of hundred twenty samples, comprising 40 samples for each group were divided into four subgroups of surface treatment (n=10): (a) no treatment (control), (b) 9% hydrofluoric acid (HF), (c) abrasion with a high-speed diamond bur and (d) sandblast with aluminum trioxide (Al2O3) particles. A profilometer was used to evaluate the SR before and after surface treatments applications. Stereo electron microscope was utilized to assess changes occurred on the surface texture of the veneers. For SBS test, the prepared veneer was uploaded over an epoxy resin mould. Two cylindrical adhesive resins were bonded binary and perpendicular over the inner surface of the veneer and tested using Universal Testing Machine (SHIMADZUTM, Japan). Data was analyzed using One-way ANOVA, post-hoc student’s t-test and Duncan test with p
Centella asiatica is one of the traditional herbs consumed by many communities due to its wide range of applications such as treating Parkinsonism, promoting memory enhancement, and preventing oxidative stress. This study was conducted to investigate the neuroprotective potential of aqueous C. asiatica extract (CAE) against neurodegeneration induced by chronic stress. Administration of CAE at three different dosages (200 mg/kg/day, 400 mg/ kg/day and 800 mg/kg/day) was conducted for a period of 21 days along with exposure to chronic stress using restrainer and forced swimming regimes. The administration of CAE significantly improved the thickness of dentate gyrus and reduced the amount of neuronal cell death at dentate gyrus and CA3 (p
Malays consist of multi sub-ethnic group believed to have different ancestral origins based on their migrations centuries ago. The DNA profiling for every individual in Malaysia is not recorded, making Malaysia lacking in genetic data of its own citizens. This research aimed to study the geographic-ancestry origin of two Malay sub-ethnic population; Kelantan- Malay and Jawa-Malay by looking into the variation of TPA-25 insertion in each population. It specifically studied on several areas of Peninsular Malaysia in the region of Kelantan, Selangor and Johor as the representative of main areas with high percentage of Kelantan- Malay and Jawa-Malay populations. All the data were obtained from an application of TPA-PCR method, forensic parameter (F-statistic) and survey questionnaire that polled genetically on their ancestry origin in each sub-ethnic population. The research showed that population with high percentage of heterozygous allele (Tt) of TPA-25 insertion was likely to have high possibility of genetic drift occurrence. Jawa- Malay showed the highest percentage of heterozygous allele (Tt) with approximately 48% of the population. The FIS value of Kelantan-Malay and Jawa-Malay populations were recorded positive with the values of 0.678 and 0.366 respectively. Moreover, the FIT value recorded was 0.535 which suggested that these two populations were deficits of heterozygotes.
Waste rocks are a non-economical by-product of mining operations, which can lock up carbon dioxide into a carbonate form and thereby help reduce greenhouse gases emissions. The aims of this research are to determine the mineral and chemical composition of the sedimentary waste rocks of gold mines and to classify the potential of silicate minerals to be a feedstock for carbonation mineralization. The sampling was undertaken at the Selinsing gold mine, where waste rocks were collected from the waste dump, stockpiles, the borrow pit, and the main pit. The mineralogical and chemical component of the sedimentary waste rocks were explored using X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The findings indicated that the presence of divalent cations, of 55.12% for CaO, 9.09% for MgO, and 16.24% for Fe2O3 from gold mine waste, capable of sequestering carbon dioxide into calcium, magnesium and iron carbonates, respectively, through carbonation of mineral. The domination of silicate minerals such as quartz, muscovite, kaolinite, chlorite, albite, and carbonate minerals such as calcite, have been found to be widespread in sedimentary waste rocks. However, the natural silicates (chlorite, muscovite) and carbonates (calcite) are potential minerals which can be consumed as feedstock for carbonation processes because they contain the magnesium, iron, and calcium elements which can form stable carbonates in the presence of carbon dioxide. The mineralogy and chemical composition of sedimentary waste rocks from the Selinsing gold mine provides a better understanding of the future carbonation reaction to sequester more carbon dioxide in response to climate change.
Field surveys of the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami reported massive failures of many seawalls and coastal barriers. The massive damages are vivid evidence that there are flaws in the design of seawalls and barriers. With this as the background, a sequence of laboratory experiments using dam-break waves was performed to simulate the interactions between the tsunami-like bore flow and vertical seawall as well as to measure the bore-induced pressures and to estimate forces exerted on the vertical seawall model. The experimental result revealed that the maximum pressure (approximately 8 kPa) exerted on the vertical seawall was measured at the lowest pressure sensor location. Experimental data were used to re-examine the relevant empirical formulae found in the literature. The obtained results could be useful for calibrating mathematical and numerical models as well as for future research concerning the design of tsunami barriers.
Mining is one of the anthropogenic activities that can negatively affect the environment especially the waterways. Discharges from mining activities are usually in acidic state and containing elevated concentrations of metals. The exposure to these contaminants may cause several harmful effects not only to aquatic organisms but also to human health. The Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) test was applied to evaluate the toxic effects of tin mining effluents to aquatic organisms. An acute toxicity test with zebrafish (Danio rerio) was conducted where fish was exposed to 3.13%, 6.25%, 12.5%, 25% and 50% effluent for 96 hours under static renewal test system. Effects of effluent exposure were determined using endpoints with mortality of median lethal concentration (LC50) value. Results indicated that the LC50 value of zebrafish when exposed, was 14.21% effluent. The physicochemical properties of the effluent were also evaluated in order to assess the cause-effect relationships of the effluent. The low pH values of the mine effluent might be the main reason contributing to the fish mortality. This approach provides additional information of tin mining effect on freshwater fishes as well as to human health.
Oil spill introduces hydrocarbons into the marine environment and forms oil slicks, which aggregate with other debris to form tarballs. Tarballs are composed of toxic hydrocarbons, which persist in the environment, causing economic and ecological damages. This work studied the isolation and optimization of diesel-oil biodegradation by an indigenous bacterium, identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, in tarball. An experimental methodology using a Taguchi orthogonal array was applied to optimize the effects of diesel concentration, salinity, nitrate concentration, pH, temperature, agitation speed and time. An isolated bacterium identified as Cellulosimicrobium cellulans removed 88.4% of diesel oil under optimized conditions, where initial diesel-oil concentration was 5% (v/v), NaCl concentration was 20 gL-1 and NH4NO3 concentration was 2 gL-1 in Minimal Salt Media at pH 7, 40oC and 100 revolutions per minute for 5 days. Tarballs harbor hydrocarbon-degrading C. cellulans that can be used under optimized conditions to design an effective oil spill bioremediation technique for mitigating oil pollution.
Diuron has been substantially used in different parts of the world as an herbicide and as a bioactive ingredient in antifouling paint. However, knowledge on the toxicity of Diuron that could adversely affect non-targeted aquatic organisms, especially fish; is still deficient. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the possible sublethal effects of phenylurea herbicide Diuron at the cellular level of the liver and kidneys of an adult Javanese medaka (Oryzias javanicus), which has been used as the novel model organism. In the present study, histological assessment was carried out using the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining protocol where the samples were preserved in 10% buffered formalin and sectioned into 5 μm thickness. The 210 samples used contained a range of Diuron concentrations comprising 1 μg/L, 50μg/L, 100 μg/L, 500 μg/L and 1000 μg/L; which also included the control treatments. Semi quantitative analysis revealed that liver and kidney tissues exposed at higher concentrations (500 μg/L and 1000 μg/L) showed significantly moderate to severe deformities and mild lesion alterations were already shown even at a lower concentration of Diuron exposure (1.0 μg/L), as compared to the control treatment of dechlorinated water (p
Greywater traditionally receives the least attention compared to other aspects of environmental sanitation. In Malaysia, most of village houses discharged lots of significant portion of greywater into stream without any treatment. Laundry Greywater (LGW) is one of the largest portion of greywater that has been directly discharged to the stream. The aim of this study was to identify the physical and chemical characteristic of laundry greywater quality from the houses and also to evaluate the efficiency of using ceramic waste coarse aggregate filtration for LGW treatment. The effectiveness of the treatment systems was optimized with different Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) and volume of samples by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The samples were taken from the direct discharge point of the laundry greywater at two houses. The results revealed that the efficiency of designed filtration system depended on HRT and volume of samples. The highest Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal from 1 L of LGW and after 3 hrs was 43.31%, while the highest removal of orthophosphate (PO4) (100%) and sodium (Na) (27.48%) were recorded with 2 L and after 2 hrs. It can be concluded that the ceramic waste coarse aggregate filtration was effective in reducing the pollutants in the LGW before the final disposal into the environment.
This paper highlights basic data collected over the 7 years and 8 years of establishment of the marine turtle hatchery projects in Pulau Rusukan Besar Marine Park Centre (PRBMPC), Federal Territory of Labuan and Pulau Redang Marine Park Centre (PRMPC), Terengganu; Malaysia, respectively. Compiled data were taken from year 2010 until 2017. The within and between season patterns in terms of nest number of the green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricate) turtles were shown. The population of marine turtles were estimated from the number of nests laid. Total annual nests were used as a crude index of female turtle abundance. Green turtles accounted for 96.18% (1,233 nests laid) of the total nesting recorded while hawksbills accounted for the remaining 3.82% (49 nests laid) in the PRMPC. However, in the PRBMPC 23.58 % (29 nests laid) and 76.42% (94 nests laid) were recorded respectively for the green and hawksbill turtle. 100 % of the nest laid have been incubated using the ex-situ conservation method with the production of 103,929 and 23,558 live green and hawksbill turtle hatchlings respectively. The 8-year average hatching and emergence success rates for green turtles and hawksbills were 87.11 and 88.33%, and 91.56 and 90.69% respectively. This paper provides important information that is fundamental for the understanding of population status to ensure effective conservation measures and management of marine turtles at both marine parks.
High concentration of iron (Fe) levels (above 1.0 mg/L) in water causes bad taste, staining and deposition in pipes and results in high turbidity in water supplies. Existing treatment technologies (which have been conventionally applied to remove Fe ions), are expensive and cause toxic sludge production. A set of experiments was carried out to evaluate the Fe uptake potential of spent coffee grounds by conducting batch tests in an aqueous solution through a biosorption process. Batch sorption studies were conducted based on pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage and adsorbent particle size. In addition, initial metal concentration was investigated. Flame atomic adsorption spectroscopy analysis revealed that the maximum adsorption recorded was 0.470 mg g-1 by using 0.30 g of 210-355 μm coffee with the maximum uptake percentage of Fe (92.9%) for 60 minutes at pH 4. Adsorption behavior of Fe ions on a surface of coffee grounds was well-interpreted by Langmuir model (R2 = 0.999). A kinetic study indicated that the Fe ions uptake was wellfitted by the pseudo second-order reaction model with good correlation (R2 = 0.993). The study offered an affirmative answer to the hypothesis of reusing eco-friendly and low-cost coffee grounds for removal of Fe ions from polluted waters.
This study attempts to develop a soil moisture measurement system with a monopole antenna sensor, mini-VNA Tiny and a mobile phone respectively. The mini-VNA Tiny is a compact vector network analyzer (VNA) with a USB connection to a smartphone or a tablet. There are 17 sets of data which have been collected from 15 different spots with varying soil moisture content. The actual moisture content on site was collected from TRIME-PICO 64/32 sensor. Upon collection, it was necessary to calibrate the resistance obtained from the mini-VNA between 1 MHz and 3 GHz. The data obtained from the study shows that the resonances of the antenna resistance shift to the left on the frequency spectrum as moisture content increases. A linear model relating the resistance and actual moisture content was developed from this study with coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.723 at 13 MHz. This value is much less than the anticipated R2 = 0.95 for accurate measurement of soil moisture with monopole antenna at microwave frequency. This could be due to the 0.60 cm thickness of the monopole antenna which may not be suited for soil moisture measurement. Nonetheless, this study demonstrates the potential application of an inexpensive and portable mini-VNA Tiny and smartphone system for sensing applications.
Notably in the construction industry, procurement is evidently important and cannot be played down because it constitutes every phase of a project delivery system. The low-bid system has remained the most popular procurement system globally. In Nigeria, it lacks transparency and accountability. Therefore, the Nigerian Procurement system has shown a need to be stabilised by shifting risk and control to the expert who has the duty to act in the client’s best interest by adopting “Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BVPIPS)” in contractor selection. This paper aims at identifying factors that can hinder the implementation of this innovative procurement system and their relative influence. A total 314 questionnaires were distributed to 5 construction industry professionals in Nigeria they are: Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Civil Engineers, Builders and Services Engineers. The data collected were presented and analysed using: cross tabulation, exploratory factor analysis and mean score ranking using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 and Microsoft Excel respectively. Likert scaling was used to measure the level of agreement of the respondents. The paper found out that the social factor, political factor, procurement environment factors and the cultural factor in the construction industry ranked 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively and which factors have a very strong relative influence on hindering the implementation of BVPIPS in the Nigerian construction industry. The implication of this study is, to help construction practitioners, researchers, academics, industry players, and other stakeholders to look into the significant issues that can hinder the implementation of PIPS in Nigeria and make better the delivery of projects in the construction industry. Therefore, these factors identified should be considered and precautionary measures taken when implementing BVPIPS in the Nigerian construction industry so as to accommodate innovative approaches such as BVPIPS to improve project delivery in Nigeria.
In this study, papaya (Carica papaya) peel was dried using convection oven and microwave drying methods to investigate the drying kinetics and the drying behavior in the attempt to search for a feasible way to utilize waste peel. Three different drying temperatures (45, 55, and 65 oC) and microwave powers (250, 440, and 600 W) were applied to dry the papaya peel, wherein the drying data were fitted into the following seven drying kinetic models: Lewis, Page, Modified Page, Henderson and Pabis, Logarithmic, Two-Term, and Approximation of Diffusion models. The study outcomes indicated that the Page model emerged as the best fitted model for oven drying of papaya peels with the highest coefficient of determination (R2) value (0.994-0.996) for all the three temperatures. As for microwave drying, the Approximation of Diffusion model exhibited the best fit owing to the highest R2 value (0.996-0.999) for all the three powers. The effective moisture diffusivity values for convection oven and microwave drying methods ranged from 6.65 x 10-08 to 4.35 x 10-07 and from 2.43 x 10-07 to 6.67 x 10-07, respectively. Additionally, the activation energy values were recorded at 61.301 kJ/mol and 46.621 W/g for oven and microwave drying methods, respectively.
The breast cancer automatic diagnosis is a critical real world medical challenge. This study proposes a classifying cancer tumor method based on their gene expression signatures to specific diagnostic categories. The developed neural network model holds promise for patients, surgeons, and radiologists, providing them with information, which was only available using biopsy. This significantly reduces the number of pointless surgical procedures. This study utilizes Wave Atom Transform as feature extraction method, and Back Propagation Algorithm to classify cancer into pre-defined classes. The proposed model provides automatic detection with a high level of accuracy (90%).
Recently, there is a heightened level of awareness towards energy efficiency in highperformance data centers both to reduce environmental pollution and save cost. Such data centers consume massive amount of energy for processing huge computational requirements from users. These supercomputers demand a constant supply of electricity to be available 24/7 for both its core computing functions as well as cooling the data center. Previously, researchers had introduced various strategies for achieving energy efficiency. However, in order to achieve a truly effective energy management, factors that influence energy usages must also be taken into consideration. The failure to manage such factors leads to excessive energy consumption. In this work, we shall focus on factors relevant to running the operation of high-performance data centers. We reconstructed and analyzed such factors or attributes based on the universally accepted Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Concept (3R). We recategorized energy attributes of the existing Energy Efficient Data Center Frameworks (EEDCFs) to be aligned with 3R. Then, we developed energy-saving algorithms in response to the concept. Our framework was then measured according to the performance metrics namely power usage effectiveness (PUE), energy reuse effectiveness (ERE) and carbon usage effectiveness (CUE) against variability size of data center. The simulation results of our EEDCF showed that better energy saving is achieved in comparison to the existing EEDCFs. This signifies that the application of the 3R concept in energy consumption yielded a promising result as a platform for other researchers to explore more on energy renewal initiatives and embrace it for future application.
A study was conducted to identify the responses of Aedes albopictus to different diet regime towards the development of juvenile and adult mosquitoes. Fish pellet was selected as standard diet in order to study the effect of diet regime on the development of Ae. Albopictus. Four different diet regimes (1.0 mg, 0.6 mg, 1.0 mg an1.6 mg) were tested on 50 eggs of Ae. albopictus under laboratory conditions. Juvenile development until adult emergence was observed and recorded. Results indicated that the time taken to mature the mosquitoes was significantly affected by the diet regime. Furthermore, juvenile body size and adult wing size of Ae. albopictus were found to be greatly affected by diet regime exposed during juvenile stages. In summary, an increase of diet regime resulted in the decrease of developmental time and an increase in juvenile body size and adult wing size.
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become a prevailing vertebrate model for developmental biology studies due to its ease of care, rapid embryogenesis stages development and translucent embryos. In this studies, ATM Kinase and MRN complex role as DNA damage response proteins during embryogenesis was examined by using specific MRN complex (Mirin) and ATM Kinase inhibitors (Ku60019 and Ku55933). To create DNA lesions in zebrafish, embryos at mid-blastula transition (MBT) stage were exposed to inhibitors (Mirin, Ku60019 or Ku55933) and later exposed to UVC irradiation wavelength of between 100 to 280 nm. Hatching but with visible physical deformation was observed for embryos treated with Mirin, Ku60019 or Ku55933 and UVC exposure at concentration of 3μM, 1.5 nM and 3nM or lower, respectively up to 72 hours-post fertilisation (hpf). On the other hand, no deformities were observed for all control as well as mock treated embryos. This study confirmed that DNA damage response proteins are crucial during embryo development to prevent undesired abnormal biological development. Thus, it is proven that protein inhibitors are a cheaper alternative in valuating specific protein roles during embryogenesis compared to both genomic and transcription modification tools.
The human hexokinase isoform II (HKII) is one of the important enzymes for dengue virus (DENV) replication and thus has been suggested as a potential therapeutic target for DENV drug development. In this work, compounds were identified using Ultrafast Shape Recognition with CREDO Atom Types (USRCAT) by utilizing both HKII’s substrate and product; alpha-D-glucose (GLC) and beta-D-glucose-6-phosphate (BG6), as well as a known HKII’s inhibitor, 2-deoxyglucose (2DG), as the query molecules. The analogues of the three query molecules were subsequently docked against the HKII’s crystal structure (PDB ID: 2NZT) by using Auto Dock 4 program on Chain B, where the active sites and strong bonds were located. Among the top-ranked compounds, Compound 4 (ZINC26898487), which was the most similar to 2DG, showed the best binding energy (-7.63 kcal/mol) and contained two H bonds. Compound 9 (ZINC16930948), an analogue of GLC emerged as the best inhibitor candidate because it had six H bonds. Similarly, among the molecules similar to BG6, Compound 14 (ZINC4403351) had been suggested as a potential inhibitor because it contained four strong H bonds. All compounds were predicted to be non-toxic, based on Toxicity Estimation Software Tool (TEST) analysis. By providing these valuable findings, this study has paved the way for the discovery of compounds that should be further tested for the development of anti-dengue drugs.