Predatory journals and conferences have little or no peer review. Their raison d'être is for making money through the article processing charges and the conference registration fees. Without a critical evaluation, predatory journals publishing flawed results and conclusions would cloud the existing scientific literature. Predatory conferences are the offshoots of predatory publishing. The conferences are not organised by learned societies, but by profit-making event organisers. There is a need for awareness among researchers and clinicians regarding predatory publishing. The scourge of predatory publishing and conferencing should be more often highlighted during scientific meetings and publication courses.
Swarm intelligence is a research area that models the population of swarm that is able to self-organise effectively. Honey bees that gather around their hive with a distinctive behaviour is another example of swarm intelligence. In fact, the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is a swarm-based meta-heuristic algorithm introduced by Karaboga in order to optimise numerical problems. 2SAT can be treated as a constrained optimisation problem which represents any problem by using clauses containing 2 literals each. Most of the current researchers represent their problem by using 2SAT. Meanwhile, the Hopfield neural network incorporated with the ABC has been utilised to perform randomised 2SAT. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the performance of the solutions produced by HNN2SAT-ABC and compared it with the traditional HNN2SAT-ES. The comparison of both algorithms has been examined by using Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 C++ Express Software. The detailed comparison on the performance of the ABC and ES in performing 2SAT is discussed based on global minima ratio, hamming distance, CPU time and fitness landscape. The results obtained from the computer simulation depict the beneficial features of ABC compared to ES. Moreover, the findings have led to a significant implication on the choice of determining an alternative method to perform 2SAT.
Background: V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) is a booming research field with a diverse set of services and applications. Most researchers rely on vehicular simulation tools to model traffic and road conditions and evaluate the performance of network protocols. We conducted a scoping review to consider simulators that have been reported in the literature based on successful implementation of V2V systems, tutorials, documentation, examples, and/or discussion groups. Methods: Simulators that have limited information were not included. The selected simulators are described individually and compared based on their requirements and features, i.e., origin, traffic model, scalability, and traffic features. This scoping review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The review considered only research published in English (in journals and conference papers) completed after 2015. Further, three reviewers initiated the data extraction phase to retrieve information from the published papers. Results: Most simulators can simulate system behaviour by modelling the events according to pre-defined scenarios. However, the main challenge faced is integrating the three components to simulate a road environment in either microscopic, macroscopic or mesoscopic models. These components include mobility generators, VANET simulators and network simulators. These simulators require the integration and synchronisation of the transportation domain and the communication domain. Simulation modelling can be run using a different types of simulators that are cost-effective and scalable for evaluating the performance of V2V systems in urban environments. In addition, we also considered the ability of the vehicular simulation tools to support wireless sensors. Conclusions: The outcome of this study may reduce the time required for other researchers to work on other applications involving V2V systems and as a reference for the study and development of new traffic simulators.
Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communications and services have sparked considerable interest as a potential component of future Intelligent Transportation Systems. V2X serves to organise communication and interaction between vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle to infrastructure (V2I), vehicle to pedestrians (V2P), and vehicle to networks (V2N). However, having multiple communication channels can generate a vast amount of data for processing and distribution. In addition, V2X services may be subject to performance requirements relating to dynamic handover and low latency communication channels. Good throughput, lower delay, and reliable packet delivery are the core requirements for V2X services. Edge Computing (EC) may be a feasible option to address the challenge of dynamic handover and low latency to allow V2X information to be transmitted across vehicles. Currently, existing comparative studies do not cover the applicability of EC for V2X. This review explores EC approaches to determine the relevance for V2X communication and services. EC allows devices to carry out part or all of the data processing at the point where data is collected. The emphasis of this review is on several methods identified in the literature for implementing effective EC. We describe each method individually and compare them according to their applicability. The findings of this work indicate that most methods can simulate the EC positioning under predefined scenarios. These include the use of Mobile Edge Computing, Cloudlet, and Fog Computing. However, since most studies are carried out using simulation tools, there is a potential limitation in that crucial data in the search for EC positioning may be overlooked and ignored for bandwidth reduction. The EC approaches considered in this work are limited to the literature on the successful implementation of V2X communication and services. The outcome of this work could considerably help other researchers better characterise EC applicability for V2X communications and services.
Sustainable construction and demolition waste management relies heavily on the attitudes and actions of its constituents; nevertheless, deep analysis for introducing the best estimator is rarely attained. The main objective of this study is to perform a comparison analysis among different approaches of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in Construction and Demolition Waste Management (C&DWM) modeling based on an Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (Extended TPB). The introduced research model includes twelve latent variables, six independent variables, one mediator, three control variables, and one dependent variable. Maximum likelihood (ML), partial least square (PLS), and Bayesian estimators were considered in this study. The output of SEM with the Bayesian estimator was 85.8%, and among effectiveness of six main variables on C&DWM Behavioral (Depenmalaydent variables), five of them have significant relations. Meanwhile, the variation based on SEM with ML estimator was equal to 78.2%, and four correlations with dependent variable have significant relationship. At the conclusion, the R-square of SEM with the PLS estimator was equivalent to 73.4% and three correlations with the dependent variable had significant relationships. At the same time, the values of the three statistical indices include root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MPE), and mean absolute error (MSE) with involving Bayesian estimator are lower than both ML and PLS estimators. Therefore, compared to both PLS and ML, the predicted values of the Bayesian estimator are closer to the observed values. The lower values of MPE, RMSE, and MSE and the higher values of R-square will generate better goodness of fit for SEM with a Bayesian estimator. Moreover, the SEM with a Bayesian estimator revealed better data fit than both the PLS and ML estimators. The pattern shows that the relationship between research variables can change with different estimators. Hence, researchers using the SEM technique must carefully consider the primary estimator for their data analysis. The precaution is necessary because higher error means different regression coefficients in the research model.
A resistant variety with high yielding potential is key for increasing crop production to
fulfill the food requirement of the ever increasing world populations. Consequently, the aim of plant
breeders is to develop high yielding varieties or cultivars that are resistant or tolerant to specific
diseases or insects. For developing a resistant variety, it is enormously indispensable to incorporate or
introgress the specific resistant genes of that particular disease into the recipient. Suppression
subtractive hybridization (SSH) is a powerful technique for the identification of disease specific
differentially expressed genes that are expressed in a resistant or susceptible variety. This paper
presents a brief review on the SSH technique with examples focusing on the identification of the
wheat disease specific differentially expressed genes and their defense mechanisms against fungal
pathogens in global wheat cultivars. This review is helpful for wheat researchers for the updated
information on the SSH technique for the identification of differentially expressed genes in the global
wheat cultivars and varieties. Eventually, the identified genes could be used to develop the disease
resistance variety through marker-assisted backcrossing programme or conventional breeding.
Phytochemicals belonging to the group’s phenols, terpenes, betalains, organosulfides, indoles and protein inhibitors are important components in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts that have health promoting benefits and a variety of applications in food and pharmaceutical industries. Initially only a few of these important phytochemicals are produced commercially by chemical synthesis. However, recent developments in the field of biotechnology have provided metabolic engineering strategies that use microorganisms as cell factories for high production of these products. This review will discuss the general biosynthetic pathways, metabolic engineering and optimization strategies of functional phytochemicals that have received a lot of attention from investigators.
Introduction: The New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit model is commonly used for the research of
posterolateral intertransverse lumbar arthrodesis. The standard approach reported by many
researchers are a muscle splitting approach through the intermuscular plane between multifidus and longissimus muscles. Methods: In this research the fusion bed was exposed by retracting the three groups of paraspinal muscles (multifidus, longissimus and iliocostalis) medially. Results: This alternative method showed good exposure of the transverse processes and intertransverse membrane with less bleeding from the muscles observed. No death due to surgical complication was observed out of twenty-four rabbits operated. Conclusion: An easy and safe method for performing posterolateral intertransverse lumbar arthrodesis was demonstrated and recommended as an alternative approach for surgery on New Zealand White rabbits.
As the Malaysian population ages, the burden of age-related cognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease will increase concomitantly. This is one of the sub-study under a research project titled by quantify the cost of age-related cognitive impairment in Malaysia, which was undertaken to develop a clinical pathway for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Dementia. The clinical pathway (CP) will be used to support the costing studies of MCI and Dementia. An expert group discussion (EGD) was conducted among selected experts from six (6) government hospitals from different states of Malaysia, Ministry of Health, and United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health, UKM and UPM. The expert group includes psychiatrist specialists and public health medicine specialists. A total of 15 participants took part in the EGD. The group was presented with the different approach in managing MCI and Dementia. Finally, the group came to the consensus agreement on the most appropriate and efficient ways of managing the two conditions. In the EGD, an operational definition for MCI and Dementia was agreed upon and a pathway was developed for the usual practice in the Malaysian health system. A typical case used, as a reference is a 60-year-old patient referred to a memory clinic with complaint of “forgetfulness”. After three outpatient visits in the clinic, the diagnosis of MCI and Dementia could be clinically established. The clinical pathways covered all active clinical and non-clinical management of the patient over a period of one year. The experts identified the additional resources required to manage these patients for the whole spectrum of lifetime based on the expected life expectancy. The Clinical pathway (CP) for MCI and Dementia was successfully developed in EGD with strong support from practitioners in the health system. The findings will help the researchers to identify all-important clinical activities and interventions that will be included in the costing study.
Non-destructive eddy current testing (ECT) is widely used to examine structural defects in ferromagnetic pipe in the oil and gas industry. Implementation of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors as magnetic field sensors to detect the changes of magnetic field continuity have increased the sensitivity of eddy current techniques in detecting the material defect profile. However, not many researchers have described in detail the structure and issues of GMR sensors and their application in eddy current techniques for nondestructive testing. This paper will describe the implementation of GMR sensors in non-destructive testing eddy current testing. The first part of this paper will describe the structure and principles of GMR sensors. The second part outlines the principles and types of eddy current testing probe that have been studied and developed by previous researchers. The influence of various parameters on the GMR measurement and a factor affecting in eddy current testing will be described in detail in the third part of this paper. Finally, this paper will discuss the limitations of coil probe and compensation techniques that researchers have applied in eddy current testing probes. A comprehensive review of previous studies on the application of GMR sensors in non-destructive eddy current testing also be given at the end of this paper.
Scholars (n = 580) from 69 countries who had contributed articles in the field of Economics during the year 2015 participated in a survey that gauged their perceptions of various aspects of co-authorship, including its benefits, motivations, working relationships, order of authorship and association preferences. Among the main findings, significant differences emerged in the proportion of co-authored papers based on age, gender and number of years the researchers had spent in their present institution. Female scholars had a greater proportion of co-authored papers than male scholars. Respondents considered improved quality of paper, contribution of mutual expertise, and division of labor as the biggest benefits of and motivation for co-authorship. Contrary to common perceptions that Economics researchers used a predominantly alphabetical order of authorship, our study found that a considerable percentage of respondents (34.5%) had practiced an order of authorship based on the significance of the authors' contribution to the work. The relative importance of tasks differed significantly according to whether researchers co-authored as mentors or co-authored as colleagues. Lastly, researchers were found to associate, to varying degrees, with other researchers based on socio-academic parameters, such as nationality, ethnicity, gender, professional position and friendship. The study indicates that Economics authors perceive co-authorship as a rewarding endeavor. Nonetheless, the level of contribution and even the choice of association itself as a co-author depends to a great extent on the type of working relationship and socio-academic factors.
The researchers examined the factor structure and model specifications of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) with confirmatory tetrad analysis (CTA) using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a sample of adult clients (N = 298) receiving individual therapy at a university-based counseling research center. The CTA and PLS-SEM results identified the formative nature of the WHODAS 2.0 subscale scores, supporting an alternative measurement model of the WHODAS 2.0 scores as a second-order formative-formative model.
The "golden ratio" is considered as a universal facial aesthetical standard. Researcher's opinion that deviation from golden ratio can result in development of facial abnormalities.
Generally, industrial gas turbines (IGT) face transient behavior during start-up, load change, shutdown and variations in ambient conditions. These transient conditions shift engine thermal equilibrium from one steady state to another steady state. In turn, various aero-thermal and mechanical stresses are developed that are adverse for engine's reliability, availability, and overall health. The transient behavior needs to be accurately predicted since it is highly related to low cycle fatigue and early failures, especially in the hot regions of the gas turbine. In the present paper, several critical aspects related to transient behavior and its modeling are reviewed and studied from the point of view of identifying potential research gaps within the context of fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) under dynamic conditions. Among the considered topics are, (i) general transient regimes and pertinent model formulation techniques, (ii) control mechanism for part-load operation, (iii) developing a database of variable geometry inlet guide vanes (VIGVs) and variable bleed valves (VBVs) schedules along with selection framework, and (iv) data compilation of shaft's polar moment of inertia for different types of engine's configurations. This comprehensive literature document, considering all the aspects of transient behavior and its associated modeling techniques will serve as an anchor point for the future researchers, gas turbine operators and design engineers for effective prognostics, FDD and predictive condition monitoring for variable geometry IGT.
Introduction : Studies on stress among diabetic patients with complications are not much conducted locally. In this study the researchers would like to find out the magnitude of the problem among the Malaysian.
Methodology : A cross- sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of stress and its associated factors among the diabetes mellitus patients with complications at Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The translated Personal Stress Inventory questionairse was used to measure the stress among the respondents.
Finding : The prevalence of stress was 36.8%. The study showed that the employment status of respondents has significant association with stress in which higher numbers of unemployed respondents were stressed as compared to the employed respondents. Other sociodemographic factors, namely duration of having diabetes mellitus and type of complications developed by the patients were not significant.
Conclusion : Once the poor and unemployed patients were diagnosed to have diabetes mellitus either with or without complication, the health staffs should refer them immediately to the relevant agencies for help. By doing so, these patients could be prevented from having stress later. Outreach programmes in the community should be carried out regularly for an early detection and treatment of chronic diseases including diabetes mellitus to prevent patients from developing any complication.
A study was carried out on 79 female telephone operators working in a Telecommunication Centre in Kuala Lumpur to determine the prevalence of Work Related Upper Limb Disorders (WRULD) and its risk factors. Data collection for this study was done between December 2000 and May 2001. The presence of WRULD was determined based on a guided questionnaire and physical examination. The response rate for this study was 94.9% (n= 75) and results showed that the prevalence of WRULD among the female telephone operators was 48.0%: Stage 1= 38.9%, Stage 2= 19.4%, Stage 3= 38.9%, Stage 4= 0% and Stage 5= 2.8%. In the telecommunication centre, it was found that those with WRULD had a mean of 11.59±9.09 years of employment duration whereas those without WRULD had a mean of 9.89 ± 8.48 years of employment duration. None of the factors studied such as Body Mass Index, age, ethnicity, menstrual cycle, hormone replacement therapy, overtime work, duration of employment in the present unit and in the telecommunication center differ in distribution between subjects with and without WRULD. This could be contributed by factors such as small number of subjects or the common healthy worker effect found in occupational health research. The findings studied of this study show that almost 40.0% of the workers experienced pain and neurological symptoms. Since none of the factors was found to be associated with WRULD, an elaborate study with a case-control design is needed in order to match cases and enable researchers to control the effect of confounding factors. This will ensure risk factors pertinent to WRULD in the Malaysian setting to be identified.
Rapid development of technology has made simulator as a promising training tool. Advantages offered such as interactive and realistic training environments, mistake tolerance and training in hazardous scenario without causing harm to trainee, cost effectiveness, opportunity of training review and training time flexibility makes simulator widely used in aviation training, driver training, medical training and rehabilitation. Despite of these advantages, a major drawback of simulator is simulator sickness. Simulator sickness is a condition caused by inconsistency perceived by our vestibular system. Effected individual reported that they are experiencing nausea, fatigue, postural instability, headaches and difficulty in focusing which linger for hours or days in some cases. This paper will discuss the simulator usage and simulator sickness condition in Malaysia as experienced by researchers and a few organizations that use simulator as their training tool.
In Malaysia, all sectors are currently gearing themselves in supporting the initiatives of becoming a developed nation by the year 2020. The most important element in ensuring the success of this mission is to provide critical mass of knowledge workers to champion this cause. As such the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) has established the National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP), comprising seven thrusts which are very crucial in providing the much needed human capital and eco-system for this agenda. The essence of NHESP is also in line with other initiatives established by the government of Malaysia such as the National Key Results Area (NKRA) and the Government Transformation Plan (GTP). In fact MOHE has developed a systematic working model for the academia to play their role actively in driving the agenda of transforming Malaysia into a developed nation. The workforce required to spearhead the agenda for an innovation-led economy can be categorized into five different groups namely: Discoverers; Innovators; Inventors; Transformers; and Technopreneurs. It is very crucial for MOHE to develop and implement a comprehensive programme for producing a new breed of researchers that can contribute in translating government policies into a reality. This article presents the challenges and success stories in reforming the landscape of Research and Development in Malaysian universities and research institutions. The establishment of NHESP has made it possible for MOHE to systematically establish comprehensive guidelines for the management of research grants, standard for research conduct, instrument to measure research performance, and standardized reporting of research and innovation output. This new approach in the management of research at the ministry level has created positive ramifications for universities, research institutions, research management centres, and research leaders. During the first five-year cycle (2006-2010) of these research initiatives, and now into the second phase (2011-2015), positive results and outcomes have started to emerge. These results include increased in generation of articles on research findings published in reputable journals worldwide. Currently, Malaysia is recognized for achieving the world's fastest growth rate in number of journal publications. In addition, increased in number of postgraduate students, commercialization of R&D products and the establishment of Higher Institutions Centres of Excellence (HiCOE) contribute towards producing a new breed of great researchers in Malaysia. A continuing positive trend indicates that this phenomenal growth will be sustained for the next few years.