Activin proteins are members of the transforming growth factor-β family. Activin A is involved in several biological responses including wound repair, cell death, proliferation and differentiation of many cell types. Biologically active activins consist of homodimers or heterodimers of two beta (β) subunits that are linked together by a single covalent disulphide bond. The subunits in humans are βA, βB, βC and βE. As an example, a combination of two βA subunits will produce a unit of activin A. These proteins are found in most cells of body such as macrophage and activated circulating monocytes. Their role in inflammation can be categorised into two types, either pro- or anti-inflammatory agents, depending on the cell type and phase. Activin signals are kept in balance by antagonist follistatin (Fst), which is a glycoprotein expressed in tissues and encoded by the follistatin gene in humans.
High-intensity exercise acutely improves suppression of appetite in populations with normal body mass index (BMI). However, whether moderate intensity exercise (MIE) and high-intensity exercise (HIE) can elicit similar (or greater) appetite suppression effects for obese populations are still relatively unknown. The main aim is to investigate the acute effects of MIE and HIE on the appetite score, eating behaviour and blood glucose regulation among the obese population. Twelve obese participants (age: 20.8 ± 1 yr, BMI: 34.1 ± 3 kg·m-2, V̇o2max: 30.7 ± 3 ml·kg·min-1) were randomly allocated, in a crossover manner, with a 7-day interval in between (1) MIE (cycling at 60-75% HRmax), (2) HIE (cycling at 80-95% HRmax, 8-sec sprint x 12 sec rest) and (3) control (CON) condition after a 10-hr overnight fast. Physiological (fasting blood [glucose] and 24-hr calorie intake) and psychological responses (Three Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18, TFEQ-R18, and appetite score using Visual Analog Scale, VAS) were recorded prior to and after exercise interventions. Both MIE and HIE significantly reduced the calorie intake compared to CON (P0.05). A difference was found in fasting blood [glucose] level between trials in MIE (P0.05). In response to acute intervention, both MIE and HIE improved some psychological appetite score and attenuated daily energy consumption; these positive effects could benefit obese and diabetic populations.
Simulating Lotka-Volterra model using a numerical method requires the researcher to apply tiny mesh sizes to come up with an accurate solution. This approach will increase the complexity and burden of computer memory and consume long computational time. To overcome these issues, a new solver is used that could simulate Lotka-Volterra model using bigger mesh size. In this paper, prey and predator behaviour is simulated via Lotka-Volterra model. We approximate the nonlinear terms in the model via weighted average approach and differential equation via nonstandard denominators. We provide three new schemes for one step method and simulate four sets of parameters to examine the performance of these new schemes. Results show that these new schemes simulate better for large mesh sizes.
This paper presents adaptive particle swarm optimization for solving non-convex economic dispatch problems. In this study, a new technique was developed known as adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO), to alleviate the problems experienced in the traditional particle swarm optimisation (PSO). The traditional PSO was reported that this technique always stuck at local minima. In APSO, economic dispatch problem are considered with valve point effects. The search efficiency was improved when a new parameter was inserted into the velocity term. This has achieved local minima. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed technique, this study examined two case studies, with and without contingency.
Adenovirus vector is the most common used vector in clinical gene therapy. The development of adenovirus from the first generation until the helper-dependent adenovirus vector has greatly reduced toxicity and immunogenicity. The helper-dependent adenovirus can also prolong transgene expression. Tissue- or disease-specific approach has been used to improve the specificity of adenoviral vector for cancer gene therapy. This review summarizes some adenoviral gene therapy and targeting approaches available for human cancer as well as animal cancer.
Circular data analysis is a particular branch of statistics that sits somewhere between the analysis of linear
data and the analysis of spherical data. Circular data are used in many scientific fields. The efficiency
of the statistical methods that are applied depends on the accuracy of the data in the study. However,
circular data may have outliers that cannot be deleted. If this is the case, we have two ways to avoid the
effect of outliers. First, we can apply robust methods for statistical estimations. Second, we can adjust
the outliers using the other clean data points in the dataset. In this paper, we focus on adjusting outliers in
circular data using the circular distance between the circular data points and the circular mean direction.
The proposed procedure is tested by applying it to a simulation study and to real data sets. The results
show that the proposed procedure can adjust outliers according to the measures used in the paper.
An agricultural waste, the cocoa pod husk was chemically modified using a dehydrating agent, zinc chloride (ZnCl2), carbonised and used for the remediation of acid dyes in an aqueous solution. The targeted acid dyes are: (i) Acid Violet 17 (AV17); (ii) Acid Yellow 36 (AY36); and (iii) Acid Blue 29 (AB29). The physicochemical properties of the zinc chloride-modified cocoa pod husk-based carbon (ZCPHC) were characterised by ash content, bulk density, pH slurry, pHpzc and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analysis. The bulk density and ash content of the prepared carbon is 0.55 g cm-1 and 7.0% respectively. The photograph of SEM shows distinct changes at the ZCPHC carbon surface as it has large pores formed due to ZnCl2 modification. The adsorption tests were performed in a batch adsorption system using an aqueous solution of the understudy acid dyes. The influence of pH and dose of an adsorbent on the acid dye uptake was investigated and discussed. The adsorption was in favour at acidic condition with maximum removal observed at pH 2. The removal efficiency of the aqueous acid dye solution increased with the increase in adsorbent dosage. The kinetic experiment showed equilibrium time is less than 40 minutes and the kinetic data for all three understudy acid dyes fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model with a correlation coefficient (R2) values above 0.98.
The adsorption of phenol, from aqueous solutions on activated carbon from waste tyres, was studied in a batch system at different initial concentrations (100-500mg/L) at 30°C for 48 hours. The activated carbon was prepared using the two-step physiochemical activation, with potassium hydroxide (KOH) at ratio KOH/char = 5. The carbonization process was done at 800°C for 1 hour with nitrogen flow rate 150ml/min, followed by the activation with the carbon dioxide flow rate 150ml/min at 800°C for 2 hours. The adsorption isotherms were determined by shaking 0.1g of activated carbon with 100ml phenol solutions. The initial and final concentrations of phenol in aqueous solution were analyzed using the UV-Visible Spectrophotometer (Shimadzu, UV-1601) at a wavelength of 270nm. Experimental isotherm data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models.The equilibrium data for phenol adsorption could fit both isotherm models well with the R2 value of 0.9774 and 0.9895, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbent obtained from the Langmuir model was up to 156.25 mg/g
The incident of beach pollution in Batu Ferringhi in year 2014 has created a major concern over water
quality at the tourists’ haven. In order to understand advection and dispersion of pollutants in the area,
a coastal hydrodynamic model of Batu Ferringhi beach was developed in this study by taking into
consideration its wind, tide, coastal current and riverine runoff. The model was calibrated and validated
through observations from adjacent coastal monitoring stations. Simulation was then carried out to
investigate scenario of the constituent water quality which originates from the three rivers in the vicinity.
Results showed high concentrations of water quality parameters observed near the headland towards the
northeast of the study area, with intermittent patchy escape which may retain more than one-third the
initial concentrations, weighted by the river discharge. Even more worrying is that localised trapping of
up to three-quarter the initial weighted concentrations also occurs at the beach, owing to the interactions
between river flow and longshore current.
Dengue fever (DF) is a global health problem and considered to be endemic in Malaysia. Conventional mosquito traps currently applied as vector control do not effectively reduce Aedes mosquito population. AedesTech Mosquito Home System (AMHS) is an autocidal ovitraps for Aedes mosquitoes that uses the ‘lure and kill’ concept and is expected to be able to reduce Aedes mosquito population. The effectiveness of AMHS in reducing Aedes mosquito population was investigated in Block A, B and D (control) of the 17th College, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). For the first two weeks (pre-intervention), the conventional ovitraps were used to obtain the initial abundance of mosquito population in Block A, B and D. Subsequently, AMHS was used for the next three months and again followed by the conventional ovitrap for the final two weeks (post-intervention). Ovitrap Index, Hatching Index and percentage of emergence of adult mosquitoes were calculated once every two weeks. Data were analysed using Paired Sample T-test. Values were considered significant at p≤0.05. The Ovitrap Index that indicates the mosquito population at Block A and B was significantly higher (p≤0.05) than of Block D. Hatching Index of AMHS was significantly lower (p≤0.05) then conventional ovitraps. All mosquito eggs collected in AMHS did not develop into adult mosquitoes. There was a significant reduction (p≤0.05) in the mosquito population between the pre- and post-intervention. In conclusion, AMHS was effective in reducing the mosquito population in 17th College, UPM. Therefore, it is believed to be a very promising vector management option to control the incidence of DF.
High uncertainties in aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) arise from inaccurate estimation for aerosol optical depth (AOD) as an input parameter into Santa Barbara Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model. Influence of AOD in ARF at the top of atmosphere (TOA) and surface over Kuching from 2011 until 2015 was investigated using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Multi plane regression technique was used to retrieve AOD from MODIS (AODMODIS) by using different statistics (mean and standard deviation (MODISµ±σ) and relative absolute error (MODISRAE) for accuracy assessment in spatial averaging and compared with Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). The relationship between AODMODIS and AOD from AERONET (AODAERONET) showed R2 value for MODISµ±σ and MODISRAE is 0.906 and 0.932, respectively. AODMODIS over Kuching tends to underestimate AOD during low variations and overestimate AOD when aerosol loading is higher. The retrieval of AODMODIS was used as an input parameter into SBDART for ARF estimation and compared with ARF from AERONET. When using AODMODIS from MODISµ±σ, the ARF at TOA was between -5.95 Wm-2 and 0.89 Wm-2 and at the surface was from -389.7 Wm-2 and -31.4 Wm-2 while for MODISRAE, ARF value at the surface was from -392.3 Wm-2 and -27.3 Wm-2 while at TOA was between -5.89 Wm-2 and 0.98 Wm-2. Average ARF value within the atmosphere for both MODISµ±σ and MODISRAE were 151.6 Wm-2 and 130.4 Wm-2, respectively. There is a poor relationship between the SBDART and AERONET for MODISµ±σ, where R2 is 0.33, while strong relationship is observed for MODISRAE with R2 value at 0.724.
An investigation, on the roots of Piper nigrum and the aerial parts of Piper betle, has yielded several alkaloids. The dried root sample of Piper nigrum was extracted using various solvents in increasing polarity. The dried aerial part of Piper betle was extracted using the Soxhlet extraction method. The alkaloids isolated were pellitorine(1), (E)-1-[3’,4’- (Methylenedioxy)cinnamoyl]piperidine(2), piperine(3), piperolactam D(4), cepharadione A(5), and 2,4-tetradecadienoic acid isobutyl amide(6). These compounds were isolated using chromatographic methods, while the elucidation of the structures was carried out using MS, IR and NMR techniques. The xtracts of Piper nigrum and Piper betle were also tested for cytotoxicity activities. This is the first report on E)-1-[3’,4’-(Methylenedioxy)cinnamoyl] piperidine(2) from Piper nigrum as a natural product.
The objective of this study is to elucidate sorption mechanism of ammonia-N by Spent Mushroom Substrate Biochar (SMSB), produced from pyrolysis process of Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS) at 550°C for two hours. Surface functional group, ash contents, and elemental compositions were analysed using Boehm titration, furnace and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICPOES) respectively. Sorption parameters (i.e., sorbent dosage, input ammonia-N concentration, and contact time) were optimised, and the sorption data were analysed using kinetic models (i.e., pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order), and isotherm models (i.e., Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R)). The surface of SMSB consists of carboxylic (0.3 mmol/g), phenolic (0.5 mmol/g), and basic functional groups (0.2 mmol/g). Sorption of ammonia-N was best described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm model. The D-R sorption capacity for SMSB was 12.6 mg/g, and correlates well with the amount of acid functional groups (i.e., carboxylic and phenolic groups) in SMSB (i.e., 14.4 mg/g). The low Freundlich constant (n = 0.754), and low D-R mean free energy per mol of the adsorbate (E = 4.4 kJ/mol) indicates a physical sorption process, and ammonia-N binds with acid functional groups through weak forces. The result shows great potential of SMSB for removing ammonia-N in wastewater.
Sufficient knowledge on food safety and diligence during food handling are crucial to food safety and hygiene practices. A casual approach to handling food in the kitchen on a regular basis may link to foodborne pathogens, contaminations, and adverse health effects. The purpose of this study is to identify the right practices and behaviour among culinary students in terms of food hygiene practices and food safety perspectives. The methodology employed includes observations on 18 food culinary students in an actual kitchen setting. Effective food hygiene and food safety implementation are needed to improve the effectiveness of health education programmes for food handlers. The results suggest that transmission reduction of food pathogens, knowledge transfer and food safety training in selective industry criteria with proper guidelines should be introduced to produce a competent workforce.
The false positive (FP) is an over-segment result where the noncancerous pixel is segmented as a cancer pixel. The FP rate is considered a challenge in localising masses in mammogram images. Hence, in this article, a rejection model is proposed by using a supervised learning method in mass classification such as support vector machine (SVM). The goal of the rejection model which is based on SVM is the reduction of FP rate in segmenting mammogram through the Chan-Vese method, which is initialised by the marker controller watershed (MCWS) algorithm. The MCWS algorithm is utilised for segmentation of a mammogram image. The segmentation is subsequently refined through the Chan-Vese method, followed by the development of the proposed SVM rejection model with different window size as well as its application in eliminating incorrect segmented nodules. The dataset comprised of 57 nodules and 113 non-nodules and the study successfully proved the effectiveness of the SVM rejection model to decrease the FP rate.
This paper presents a study on node impersonation attack in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)
environment. Node cloning is a major attack among sensor where the leak of node identity is easy to clone
if it is not secured. For this purpose, an analysis that explores techniques to prevent node cloning attack
was done using a unique node identity. An algorithm to generate the unique identity was developed on
high performance ARM hardware and programmed the data authentication together with sensor nodes.
Communication among the sensor nodes and base station depends on a successful authentication using the
unique identity (UID). The sensor nodes are resistant against node cloning attack when the UID identity
is unequal. Results present successful generation of the UID, while execution time between two nodes
is faster and low power consumption is used on the technique. The analysis has proven that the unique
UID is secured by the developed node identity algorithms and against cloning attack. This outcome is
significant for new development of secured WSN sensor hardware, which can be implemented in new
network technology.
Adequate and proper diabetes care in any practice is paramount and deems to be the fundamental requirement for good diabetes control. This is an audit of type 2 diabetes care process in a public Polyclinic, with the objectives of studying the quality of diabetic care provided in terms of clinical and managerial performance and also to give recommendations on improving its diabetes care delivery. The audit was done on patients' medical records selected via systematic random sampling. Patients who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus for more than 2 years, and those who have come for follow-up at least twice in between 1st October 2008 and 30th September 2009 by the medical officer and/or family medicine specialist. Patients with gestational diabetes mellitus and Type 1 diabetes mellitus were excluded. A total of 100 medical records were audited. 51% were female and 82% were in the 40-69 age group. Measurements of blood glucose and blood pressure were done at each follow-up at the polyclinic at 96% and 93% of the times, respectively. Within the past one year, HbA1c was performed in 46% of the patients, while renal profile was screened in 66% of the patients and urine protein was tested in 59% of the diabetics. Only 15% had their eyes screened by fundus camera. The diabetes care process at this public polyclinic was unsatisfactory, as many annual blood tests were not done and complications screening were also omitted. Thus, an urgent intervention is recommend in order to rectify these inadequacies.
This study was conducted using crab shells as a biosorbent to remove Cu and Cd with different initial concentrations of 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mg/L in a biosorption treatment process. Crab shells were selected as biosorbents due to their abundance in the environment and ready availability as waste products from the market place. This study aimed to determine the ability of Scylla Serrata shells to remove Cu and Cd in an aqueous solution, as well as to provide a comparison of the removal rate between the two metals. The data were incorporated into hydrochemical software, PHREEQC, to investigate the chemical speciation distribution of each heavy metal. The shells of S. serrata were found to have a significant (p< 0.05) ability to remove Cu and Cd following the treatment. After six hours of treatment, the crab shells had removed 60 to 80% of both metals. However, the highest removal percentage was achieved for Cu with up to 94.7% removal rate in 5 mg/L initial Cu concentration, while 85.1% of Cd was removed in 1 mg/L initial solution, respectively. It can be concluded that the shells of S. serrata could remove Cu and Cd better with significant results (p
This work was carried out with the aim to optimise the tool path by simulating the removal of material in a finite element environment which is controlled by a genetic algorithm (GA). To simulate the physical removal of material during machining, a finite element model was designed to represent a thin walled workpiece. The target was to develop models which mimic the actual cutting process using the finite element method (FEM), to validate the developed tool path strategy algorithm with the actual machining process and to programme the developed algorithm into the software. The workpiece was to be modelled using the CAD (ABAQUS CAE) software to create a basic geometry co-ordinate system which could then be used to create the finite element method and necessary requirement by ABAQUS, such as the boundary condition, the material type, and the element type.
This paper presents a methodology to determine the economic power factor at the point of power transfer
between transmission and distribution (T & D) system for a vertically integrated utility company. An
integrated reactive power management strategy is developed to optimize the planting up of reactive power
compensation devices in the transmission and distribution system. The transmission and distribution
network is modelled and simulated using commercially available software to analyse the transmission
network losses, capacity released and voltage stability due to capacitor plant up. Economic analysis on
the total cost of ownership of capacitor banks is used to determine the economic benefits of technical
losses reduction and capacity. released in transmission and distribution equipment through the planting
up of capacitor bank. The proposed methodology can be used by a vertically integrated power utility
where a single utility own both the transmission and distribution system. A software base data analytic,
power system automation and economic analysis tool was developed to facilitate the planning engineer
in reactive power planning and management.