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Integration of renewable energy and technological innovation in realizing environmental sustainability: the role of human capital in EKC framework

Saqib N, Sharif A, Razzaq A, Usman M

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Feb;30(6):16372-16385.
PMID: 36181595 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23345-6

For the purpose of this study, the role of technological innovation is examined. Few studies have examined empirically and theoretically the relationship between technological innovation and ecological footprint in conjunction with other factors, such as the human capital index and renewable energy sources, such as biofuels and nuclear power. This study examines the impact of technological innovation on G-7 countries' ecological footprints from 1990 to 2020. A cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model is used in the study. The results of the study show that technological innovation minimizes the ecological footprint. A lower ecological footprint is also associated with increased usage of human capital and renewable energy. Depletion of the natural environment is a short-term and long-term consequence of increased GDP growth. Our results confirm that ecologically sustainable technology enhances the quality of the environment. Consistent panel causality results were achieved. In the context of the G-7 countries, our study's results could support the idea that there are new policy ideas that could help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 13).

Matched MeSH terms: Technology
Comparison Between Holmium:YAG Laser with MOSES Technology vs Thulium Fiber Laser Lithotripsy in Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery for Kidney Stones in Adults: A Propensity Score-matched Analysis From the FLEXible Ureteroscopy Outcomes Registry

Castellani D, Fong KY, Lim EJ, Chew BH, Tailly T, Emiliani E, et al.

J Urol, 2023 Aug;210(2):323-330.
PMID: 37126223 DOI: 10.1097/JU.0000000000003504

PURPOSE: We evaluated stone-free rate and complications after flexible ureteroscopy for renal stones, comparing thulium fiber laser and holmium:YAG laser with MOSES technology.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from adults who underwent flexible ureteroscopy in 20 centers worldwide were retrospectively reviewed (January 2018-August 2021). Patients with ureteral stones, concomitant bilateral procedures, and combined procedures were excluded. One-to-one propensity score matching for age, gender, and stone characteristics was performed. Stone-free rate was defined as absence of fragments >2 mm on imaging within 3 months after surgery. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate independent predictors of being stone-free.
RESULTS: Of 2,075 included patients, holmium:YAG laser with MOSES technology was used in 508 patients and thulium fiber laser in 1,567 patients. After matching, 284 patients from each group with comparable baseline characteristics were included. Pure dusting was applied in 6.0% of cases in holmium:YAG laser with MOSES technology compared with 26% in thulium fiber laser. There was a higher rate of basket extraction in holmium:YAG laser with MOSES technology (89% vs 43%, P < .001). Total operation time and lasing time were similar. Nine patients had sepsis in thulium fiber laser vs none in holmium:YAG laser with MOSES technology (P = .007). Higher stone-free rate was achieved in thulium fiber laser (85% vs 56%, P < .001). At multivariable analysis, the use of thulium fiber laser and ureteral access sheath ≥8F had significantly higher odds of being stone-free. Lasing time, multiple stones, stone diameter, and use of disposable scopes showed significantly lower odds of being stone-free.
CONCLUSIONS: This real-world study favors the use of thulium fiber laser over holmium:YAG laser with MOSES technology in flexible ureteroscopy for renal stones by way of its higher single-stage stone-free rate.

Matched MeSH terms: Technology
A bibliometric analysis of green technologies applied to water and wastewater treatment

Niknejad N, Nazari B, Foroutani S, Hussin ARBC

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Jun;30(28):71849-71863.
PMID: 35091956 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-18705-1

Freshwater scarcity, a problem that has arisen particularly as a result of the progressive environmental damage caused by human consumption patterns, is strongly associated with a loss of living quality and a drop in global socioeconomic development. Wastewater treatment is one of the measures being taken to mitigate the current situation. However, the majority of existing treatments employ chemicals that have harmful environmental consequences and low effectiveness and are prohibitively expensive in most countries. Therefore, to increase water supplies, more advanced and cost-effective water treatment technologies are required to be developed for desalination and water reuse purposes. Green technologies have been highlighted as a long-term strategy for conserving natural resources, reducing negative environmental repercussions, and boosting social and economic growth. Thus, a bibliometric technique was applied in this study to identifying prominent green technologies utilised in water and wastewater treatment by analysing scientific publications considering authors, keywords, and countries. To do this, the VOSviewer software and Bibliometrix R Package software were employed. The results of this study revealed that constructed wetlands and photocatalysis are two technologies that have been considered as green technologies applicable to the improvement of water and wastewater treatment processes in most scientific articles.

Matched MeSH terms: Technology
Multi-air pollution risk assessment in Southeast Asia region using integrated remote sensing and socio-economic data products

Sakti AD, Anggraini TS, Ihsan KTN, Misra P, Trang NTQ, Pradhan B, et al.

Sci Total Environ, 2023 Jan 01;854:158825.
PMID: 36116660 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158825

Air pollution has massive impacts on human life and poor air quality results in three million deaths annually. Air pollution can result from natural causes, including volcanic eruptions and extreme droughts, or human activities, including motor vehicle emissions, industry, and the burning of farmland and forests. Emission sources emit multiple pollutant types with diverse characteristics and impacts. However, there has been little research on the risk of multiple air pollutants; thus, it is difficult to identify multi-pollutant mitigation processes, particularly in Southeast Asia, where air pollution moves dynamically across national borders. In this study, the main objective was to develop a multi-air pollution risk index product for CO, NO2, and SO2 based on Sentinel-5P remote sensing data from 2019 to 2020. The risk index was developed by integrating hazard, vulnerability, and exposure analyses. Hazard analysis considers air pollution data from remote sensing, vulnerability analysis considers the air pollution sources, and exposure analysis considers the population density. The novelty of this study lies in its development of a multi-risk model that considers the weights obtained from the relationship between the hazard and vulnerability parameters. The highest air pollution risk index values were observed in urban areas, with a high exposure index that originates from pollution caused by human activity. Multi-risk analysis of the three air pollutants revealed that Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines had the largest percentages of high-risk areas, while Indonesia had the largest total high-risk area (4361 km2). Using the findings of this study, the patterns and characteristics of the risk distribution of multiple air pollutants in Southeast Asia can be identified, which can be used to mitigate multi-pollutant sources, particularly with respect to supporting the clean air targets in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Matched MeSH terms: Remote Sensing Technology
Internal validation of reduced PCR reaction volume of the Qiagen Investigator® Argus X-12 QS Kit from blood samples on FTA cards

Alwi AR, Mahat NA, Mohd Salleh F, Ishar SM, Kamaluddin MR, Rashid MRA

J Forensic Sci, 2023 Nov;68(6):2103-2115.
PMID: 37646344 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.15370

The onus of proof in criminal cases is beyond any reasonable doubt, and the issue on the lack of complete internal validation data can be manipulated when it comes to justifying the validity and reliability of the X-chromosomal short tandem repeats analysis for court representation. Therefore, this research evaluated the efficiency of the optimized 60% reduced volumes for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using the Qiagen Investigator® Argus X-12 QS Kit, as well as the capillary electrophoresis (CE) sample preparation for blood samples on Flinder's Technology Associates (FTA) cards. Good-quality DNA profile (3000-12,000 RFU) from the purified blood sample on FTA card (1.2 mm) were obtained using the optimized PCR (10.0 μL of PCR reaction volume and 21 cycles) and CE (9.0 μL Hi-Di™ Formamide and 0.3 μL DNA Size Standard 550 [BTO] and 27 s injection time) conditions. The analytical and stochastic thresholds were 100 and 200 RFU, respectively. Hence, the internal validation data supported the use of the optimized 60% reduced PCR amplification reaction volume of the Qiagen Investigator® Argus X-12 QS Kit as well as the CE sample preparation for producing reliable DNA profiles that comply with the quality assurance standards for forensic DNA testing laboratories, while optimizing the analytical cost.

Matched MeSH terms: Technology
Fulltext Comparison of the Air-Q intubating laryngeal mask airway and the Ambu AuraGain laryngeal mask airway as a conduit for fibreoptic assisted endotracheal intubation for simulated cervical spine injury

Che Omar S, Hardy Mohamad Zaini R, Fui Wong T, Nazaruddin W Hassan WM

Anaesthesiol Intensive Ther, 2021;53(3):241-245.
PMID: 34006053 DOI: 10.5114/ait.2021.105759

INTRODUCTION: Airway management in patients with a cervical spine injury is a difficult and challenging task. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the Air-Q intubating laryngeal airway and the Ambu AuraGain laryngeal mask airway as a conduit for fibreoptic (FO) assisted endotracheal intubation in adult patients with a simulated cervical spine injury.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 66 adult patients underwent elective surgery under general anaes-thesia, and they were randomized to two groups: the Air-Q (AQ) group (n = 33) and the Ambu AuraGain (AA) group (n = 33). A simulated cervical spine injury was created using a cervical collar, which was applied after the induction of general anaesthesia. Ease of insertion, time taken for successful insertion, time taken for successful FO guided endotracheal intubation, oropharyngeal leak pressure (OLP), Brimacombe score for FO laryngeal view, post-intubation complications and haemodynamic changes were recorded for both groups.
RESULTS: The OLP was significantly higher in the AA group than in the AQ group (34.9 ± 6.4 vs. 28.6 ± 7.8 cm H 2 O; P = 0.001). Otherwise, there were no significant differences in the ease of insertion, time taken for successful insertion, time taken for successful FO guided endotracheal intubation, Brimacombe score for FO laryngeal view, haemodynamic parameters or complication rate between the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Air-Q was comparably effective as Ambu AuraGain as a conduit for FO endotracheal intubation in patients with a simulated cervical spine injury; however, Ambu AuraGain has a better seal with significant OLP.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiber Optic Technology
Fulltext A scoping review on current technology-based approaches to support breastfeeding and informal human milk exchange practices

Abdul Razak SF, Rosli NL, Kamis NH, Rahim NCA, Abdullah MFA

PLoS One, 2023;18(9):e0290311.
PMID: 37708192 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290311

Informal human milk exchange is the practice of donating and receiving expressed human milk based on mutual consent between the donor and receiver in the need of human milk for infants below 2 years old. Main concerns related to informal human milk exchange is related to milk siblings and safety handling of the expressed breastmilk. Even though there are countries which have policies and procedures related to human milk bank, informal milk exchange has not been given much attention. Compared to human milk bank, informal human milk exchange is not regulated. This study aims to identify the system focused on personalized breastfeeding tracking and monitoring, online discussion forum, web-based consultation, and breastfeeding station locator. Review of current applications in supporting breastfeeding practices was conducted based on the PRISMA-ScR framework. A literature search was conducted in Scopus and Google Scholar databases to identify articles published in English or Malay and containing systems/applications related to breastfeeding, milk sharing, milk exchange, milk siblings/kinship within the societal context. According to the scoping review, current scientific publications mostly focused on breast milk, breastfeeding, and milk banking concerns, with recurring themes including social reasons, lactation insufficiency, and unsolved nursing problems. These themes highlight the complexities and complexities of informal human milk exchange practices. Two reviewers screened the articles, and the data were extracted and narratively synthesized. During the primary database search, 360 articles were found based on the related titles, abstracts, and keywords. Seventy eight met the inclusion criteria and were finalized in this review. We found that most scholarly works focused on breast milk, breastfeeding and milk banking challenges and issues with recurrent themes i.e., societies, lactation inadequacy and unresolved nursing problems. Based on our literature search and to the best of our knowledge, there is no recent scoping reviews which focuses on technology-based approaches on informal human milk exchange. Findings from this scoping review is important for advancing research and practice in this field, as well as improving outcomes for individuals and families affected by informal human milk exchange.

Matched MeSH terms: Technology
Fulltext Exceedingly biocompatible and thin-layered reduced graphene oxide nanosheets using an eco-friendly mushroom extract strategy

Muthoosamy K, Bai RG, Abubakar IB, Sudheer SM, Lim HN, Loh HS, et al.

Int J Nanomedicine, 2015;10:1505-19.
PMID: 25759577 DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S75213

PURPOSE: A simple, one-pot strategy was used to synthesize reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets by utilizing an easily available over-the-counter medicinal and edible mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum.
METHODS: The mushroom was boiled in hot water to liberate the polysaccharides, the extract of which was then used directly for the reduction of graphene oxide. The abundance of polysaccharides present in the mushroom serves as a good reducing agent. The proposed strategy evades the use of harmful and expensive chemicals and avoids the typical tedious reaction methods.
RESULTS: More importantly, the mushroom extract can be easily separated from the product without generating any residual byproducts and can be reused at least three times with good conversion efficiency (75%). It was readily dispersible in water without the need of ultrasonication or any surfactants; whereas 5 minutes of ultrasonication with various solvents produced RGO which was stable for the tested period of 1 year. Based on electrochemical measurements, the followed method did not jeopardize RGO's electrical conductivity. Moreover, the obtained RGO was highly biocompatible to not only colon (HT-29) and brain (U87MG) cancer cells, but was also viable towards normal cells (MRC-5).
CONCLUSION: Besides being eco-friendly, this mushroom based approach is easily scalable and demonstrates remarkable RGO stability and biocompatibility, even without any form of functionalization.

Matched MeSH terms: Green Chemistry Technology
Fulltext Canopy structure drives orangutan habitat selection in disturbed Bornean forests

Davies AB, Ancrenaz M, Oram F, Asner GP

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2017 Aug 01;114(31):8307-8312.
PMID: 28720703 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1706780114

The conservation of charismatic and functionally important large species is becoming increasingly difficult. Anthropogenic pressures continue to squeeze available habitat and force animals into degraded and disturbed areas. Ensuring the long-term survival of these species requires a well-developed understanding of how animals use these new landscapes to inform conservation and habitat restoration efforts. We combined 3 y of highly detailed visual observations of Bornean orangutans with high-resolution airborne remote sensing (Light Detection and Ranging) to understand orangutan movement in disturbed and fragmented forests of Malaysian Borneo. Structural attributes of the upper forest canopy were the dominant determinant of orangutan movement among all age and sex classes, with orangutans more likely to move in directions of increased canopy closure, tall trees, and uniform height, as well as avoiding canopy gaps and moving toward emergent crowns. In contrast, canopy vertical complexity (canopy layering and shape) did not affect movement. Our results suggest that although orangutans do make use of disturbed forest, they select certain canopy attributes within these forests, indicating that not all disturbed or degraded forest is of equal value for the long-term sustainability of orangutan populations. Although the value of disturbed habitats needs to be recognized in conservation plans for wide-ranging, large-bodied species, minimal ecological requirements within these habitats also need to be understood and considered if long-term population viability is to be realized.

Matched MeSH terms: Remote Sensing Technology
Fulltext Remote Monitoring of COVID-19 Patients Using Multisensor Body Area Network Innovative System

Al-Barazanchi I, Hashim W, Ahmed Alkahtani A, Rasheed Abdulshaheed H, Muwafaq Gheni H, Murthy A, et al.

Comput Intell Neurosci, 2022;2022:9879259.
PMID: 36156952 DOI: 10.1155/2022/9879259

As of late 2019, the COVID19 pandemic has been causing huge concern around the world. Such a pandemic posed serious threats to public safety, the well-being of healthcare workers, and the overall health of the population. If automation can be implemented in healthcare systems, patients could be better cared for and health industries could be less burdened. To combat such challenges, e-health requires apps and intelligent systems. Using WBAN sensors and networks, a doctor or medical professional can advise patients on the best course of action. Patients' fitness could be assessed using WBAN sensors without interfering with their daily activities. When designing a monitoring system, system performance reliability for competent healthcare is critical. Existing research has failed to create a large device capable of handling a large network or to improve WBAN topologies for fast transmitting and receiving patient data. As a result, in this research, we create a multisensor WBAN (MSWBAN) intelligent system for transmitting and receiving critical patient data. To gather information from all cluster nodes and send it to multisensor WBAN, a novel additive distance-threshold routing protocol (ADTRP) is proposed. In small networks where data are managed by the transmitting node and the best data route is determined, this protocol has less redundancy. An edge-cutting-based routing optimization (ES-EC-R ES-EC-RO) is used to find the best route. The Trouped blowfish MD5 (TB-MD5) algorithm is used to encrypt and decrypt data, and the encrypted data are stored in a cloud database for security. The performance metrics of our proposed model are compared to current techniques for the best results. End-to-end latency is 63 ms, packet delivery is 95%, security is 95.7%, and throughput is 9120 bps, according to the results. The purpose of this article is to encourage engineers and front-line workers to develop digital health systems for tracking and controlling virus outbreaks.

Matched MeSH terms: Wireless Technology
Exploring the Impact of Serious Games for Cognitive Functions through the Humphrey Fellowship Programme

Hoe TW

Malays J Med Sci, 2018 May;25(3):1-6.
PMID: 30899182 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2018.25.3.1

The use of serious games as digital medicine started in recent years as the United States Food and Drug Administration granted Class 1 or 2 device clearance to serious games or game-like technologies. This encouraging trend motivates interdisciplinary cooperation between experts in the medical sciences and the game industry because the Northern American pharmaceutical revenues have exceeded USD1 trillion globally since 2014. The potential of this lucrative business opportunity may attract fund providers and venture capitalists to support game-related research and development projects. The author elaborates his activities and experiences in the United States in FY2017/2018 as a Humphrey fellow from Malaysia. Specifically, the research and development trend of serious games for cognitive function in the academic and the game industry has positive impact on how medical doctors and practitioners in low- and middle-income countries may use or develop games as digital medicine.

Matched MeSH terms: Technology
Progress in Clinical Neurosciences, Cognitive Neurosciences, Clinical Psychology, Neurotechnology and Brain Mapping in Malaysia

Abdullah JM

Malays J Med Sci, 2021 Apr;28(2):1-14.
PMID: 33958956 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2021.28.2.1

Last year, there was an increase in the amount of manpower in Malaysia, especially in terms of the numbers of neurosurgeons, cognitive neuroscientists and clinical psychologists. One way to increase the number of cognitive neurotechnologists in the country in 2021 is to allow neuroscientists to register as neurotechnologists with the Malaysian Board of Technologists (MBOT). The Malaysian Brain Mapping project has risen from its humble beginnings as an initiative of the Universiti Sains Malaysia Brain Mapping Group in 2017. There is currently a proposal for its entry into the national arena via the Precision Medicine Initiative with the Academy Science Malaysia, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Health. The current Malaysian Government's Science, Technology, Innovation and Economy (STIE) plan was launched in 2020, leading to the establishment of neurotechnology as one of 10 STIE drivers.

Matched MeSH terms: Technology
Fulltext Integrating health belief model and technology acceptance model: an investigation of health-related internet use

Ahadzadeh AS, Pahlevan Sharif S, Ong FS, Khong KW

J Med Internet Res, 2015;17(2):e45.
PMID: 25700481 DOI: 10.2196/jmir.3564

Today, people use the Internet to satisfy health-related information and communication needs. In Malaysia, Internet use for health management has become increasingly significant due to the increase in the incidence of chronic diseases, in particular among urban women and their desire to stay healthy. Past studies adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Health Belief Model (HBM) independently to explain Internet use for health-related purposes. Although both the TAM and HBM have their own merits, independently they lack the ability to explain the cognition and the related mechanism in which individuals use the Internet for health purposes.

Matched MeSH terms: Biomedical Technology/methods*
RP-HPLC method using 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate incorporated with normalization technique in principal component analysis to differentiate the bovine, porcine and fish gelatins

Azilawati MI, Hashim DM, Jamilah B, Amin I

Food Chem, 2015 Apr 1;172:368-76.
PMID: 25442566 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2014.09.093

The amino acid compositions of bovine, porcine and fish gelatin were determined by amino acid analysis using 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate as derivatization reagent. Sixteen amino acids were identified with similar spectral chromatograms. Data pre-treatment via centering and transformation of data by normalization were performed to provide data that are more suitable for analysis and easier to be interpreted. Principal component analysis (PCA) transformed the original data matrix into a number of principal components (PCs). Three principal components (PCs) described 96.5% of the total variance, and 2 PCs (91%) explained the highest variances. The PCA model demonstrated the relationships among amino acids in the correlation loadings plot to the group of gelatins in the scores plot. Fish gelatin was correlated to threonine, serine and methionine on the positive side of PC1; bovine gelatin was correlated to the non-polar side chains amino acids that were proline, hydroxyproline, leucine, isoleucine and valine on the negative side of PC1 and porcine gelatin was correlated to the polar side chains amino acids that were aspartate, glutamic acid, lysine and tyrosine on the negative side of PC2. Verification on the database using 12 samples from commercial products gelatin-based had confirmed the grouping patterns and the variables correlations. Therefore, this quantitative method is very useful as a screening method to determine gelatin from various sources.

Matched MeSH terms: Food Technology/methods*
Fulltext QOS-aware error recovery in wireless body sensor networks using adaptive network coding

Razzaque MA, Javadi SS, Coulibaly Y, Hira MT

Sensors (Basel), 2014 Dec 29;15(1):440-64.
PMID: 25551485 DOI: 10.3390/s150100440

Wireless body sensor networks (WBSNs) for healthcare and medical applications are real-time and life-critical infrastructures, which require a strict guarantee of quality of service (QoS), in terms of latency, error rate and reliability. Considering the criticality of healthcare and medical applications, WBSNs need to fulfill users/applications and the corresponding network's QoS requirements. For instance, for a real-time application to support on-time data delivery, a WBSN needs to guarantee a constrained delay at the network level. A network coding-based error recovery mechanism is an emerging mechanism that can be used in these systems to support QoS at very low energy, memory and hardware cost. However, in dynamic network environments and user requirements, the original non-adaptive version of network coding fails to support some of the network and user QoS requirements. This work explores the QoS requirements of WBSNs in both perspectives of QoS. Based on these requirements, this paper proposes an adaptive network coding-based, QoS-aware error recovery mechanism for WBSNs. It utilizes network-level and user-/application-level information to make it adaptive in both contexts. Thus, it provides improved QoS support adaptively in terms of reliability, energy efficiency and delay. Simulation results show the potential of the proposed mechanism in terms of adaptability, reliability, real-time data delivery and network lifetime compared to its counterparts.

Matched MeSH terms: Wireless Technology*
Mapping infectious disease landscapes: unmanned aerial vehicles and epidemiology

Fornace KM, Drakeley CJ, William T, Espino F, Cox J

Trends Parasitol, 2014 Nov;30(11):514-9.
PMID: 25443854 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2014.09.001

The potential applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have generated intense interest across many fields. UAVs offer the potential to collect detailed spatial information in real time at relatively low cost and are being used increasingly in conservation and ecological research. Within infectious disease epidemiology and public health research, UAVs can provide spatially and temporally accurate data critical to understanding the linkages between disease transmission and environmental factors. Using UAVs avoids many of the limitations associated with satellite data (e.g., long repeat times, cloud contamination, low spatial resolution). However, the practicalities of using UAVs for field research limit their use to specific applications and settings. UAVs fill a niche but do not replace existing remote-sensing methods.

Matched MeSH terms: Remote Sensing Technology/standards
Fulltext Compact double-p slotted inset-fed microstrip patch antenna on high dielectric substrate

Ahsan MR, Islam MT, Habib Ullah M, Mahadi WN, Latef TA

ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:909854.
PMID: 25165750 DOI: 10.1155/2014/909854

This paper presents a compact sized inset-fed rectangular microstrip patch antenna embedded with double-P slots. The proposed antenna has been designed and fabricated on ceramic-PTFE composite material substrate of high dielectric constant value. The measurement results from the fabricated prototype of the antenna show -10 dB reflection coefficient bandwidths of 200 MHz and 300 MHz with center resonant frequency of 1.5 GHz and 4 GHz, respectively. The fabricated antenna has attained gains of 3.52 dBi with 81% radiation efficiency and 5.72 dBi with 87% radiation efficiency for lower band and upper band, respectively. The measured E- and H-plane radiation patterns are also presented for better understanding. Good agreement between the simulation and measurement results and consistent radiation patterns make the proposed antenna suitable for GPS and C-band applications.

Matched MeSH terms: Wireless Technology/instrumentation*
Principles and application of antibody libraries for infectious diseases

Lim BN, Tye GJ, Choong YS, Ong EB, Ismail A, Lim TS

Biotechnol Lett, 2014 Dec;36(12):2381-92.
PMID: 25214212 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-014-1635-x

Antibodies have been used efficiently for the treatment and diagnosis of many diseases. Recombinant antibody technology allows the generation of fully human antibodies. Phage display is the gold standard for the production of human antibodies in vitro. To generate monoclonal antibodies by phage display, the generation of antibody libraries is crucial. Antibody libraries are classified according to the source where the antibody gene sequences were obtained. The most useful library for infectious diseases is the immunized library. Immunized libraries would allow better and selective enrichment of antibodies against disease antigens. The antibodies generated from these libraries can be translated for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This review focuses on the generation of immunized antibody libraries and the potential applications of the antibodies derived from these libraries.

Matched MeSH terms: Technology, Pharmaceutical/methods
Fulltext Analysis and optimization of spiral circular inductive coupling link for bio-implanted applications on air and within human tissue

Mutashar S, Hannan MA, Samad SA, Hussain A

Sensors (Basel), 2014;14(7):11522-41.
PMID: 24984057 DOI: 10.3390/s140711522

The use of wireless communication using inductive links to transfer data and power to implantable microsystems to stimulate and monitor nerves and muscles is increasing. This paper deals with the development of the theoretical analysis and optimization of an inductive link based on coupling and on spiral circular coil geometry. The coil dimensions offer 22 mm of mutual distance in air. However, at 6 mm of distance, the coils offer a power transmission efficiency of 80% in the optimum case and 73% in the worst case via low input impedance, whereas, transmission efficiency is 45% and 32%, respectively, via high input impedance. The simulations were performed in air and with two types of simulated human biological tissues such as dry and wet-skin using a depth of 6 mm. The performance results expound that the combined magnitude of the electric field components surrounding the external coil is approximately 98% of that in air, and for an internal coil, it is approximately 50%, respectively. It can be seen that the gain surrounding coils is almost constant and confirms the omnidirectional pattern associated with such loop antennas which reduces the effect of non-alignment between the two coils. The results also show that the specific absorption rate (SAR) and power loss within the tissue are lower than that of the standard level. Thus, the tissue will not be damaged anymore.

Matched MeSH terms: Wireless Technology/instrumentation*
Fulltext The influence of green surface modification of oil palm mesocarp fiber by superheated steam on the mechanical properties and dimensional stability of oil palm mesocarp fiber/poly(butylene succinate) biocomposite

Then YY, Ibrahim NA, Zainuddin N, Ariffin H, Yunus WM, Chieng BW

Int J Mol Sci, 2014;15(9):15344-57.
PMID: 25177865 DOI: 10.3390/ijms150915344

In this paper, superheated steam (SHS) was used as cost effective and green processing technique to modify oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) for biocomposite applications. The purpose of this modification was to promote the adhesion between fiber and thermoplastic. The modification was carried out in a SHS oven at various temperature (200-230 °C) and time (30-120 min) under normal atmospheric pressure. The biocomposites from SHS-treated OPMFs and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) at a weight ratio of 70:30 were prepared by melt blending technique. The mechanical properties and dimensional stability of the biocomposites were evaluated. This study showed that the SHS treatment increased the roughness of the fiber surface due to the removal of surface impurities and hemicellulose. The tensile, flexural and impact properties, as well as dimensional stability of the biocomposites were markedly enhanced by the presence of SHS-treated OPMF. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed improvement of interfacial adhesion between PBS and SHS-treated OPMF. This work demonstrated that SHS could be used as an eco-friendly and sustainable processing method for modification of OPMF in biocomposite fabrication.

Matched MeSH terms: Green Chemistry Technology/methods

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