19672 research outputs found
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The impact of consumption value on consumer behaviour: A case study of halal-certified food supplies
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of halal concern as well as emotional and epistemic values on consumer behaviour in the choice and purchase of halal-certified food supplies. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a quantitative methodology of convenience sampling to collect survey data from 1,550 Muslim respondents in Malaysia. It also employed multiple regressions by covariance-based structural equation modelling in the data analysis as well as in the validation of the proposed model. Findings: The empirical results showed that the importance of halal certification had the highest impact on consumer choice behaviour, particularly in the purchase of halal-certified food supplies. Also, epistemic and emotional values were both statistically significant in terms of their influence on the consumer decision-making process. Research limitations/implications: The results emphasize the importance of enhancing the hedonic (halal concern and emotional value) aspect as a way for the halal food industries to obtain an added value advantage for their products and services. Originality/value: This paper is the first to employ an empirical approach to consider the halal sentiment as a determinant of consumer purchasing behaviour in the context of halal-certified food supplies. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited
A Comparison of Asymptotic and Bootstrapping Approach in Constructing Confidence Interval of the Concentration Parameter in von Mises Distribution
No full textBootstrap is a resampling procedure for estimating the distributions of statistics based on independent observations. Basically, bootstrapping has been established for the use of parameter estimation of linear data. Thus, the used of bootstrap in confidence interval of the concentration parameter, κ in von Mises distribution which fitted the circular data is discussed in this paper. The von Mises distribution is the'natural'analogue on the circle of the Normal distribution on the real line and widely used to describe circular variables. The distribution has two parameters, namely mean direction, µ and concentration parameter, κ, respectively. The confidence interval based on the calibration bootstrap method will be compared with the existing method, confidence interval based on the asymptotic to the distribution of . Simulation studies were conducted to examine the empirical performance of the confidence intervals. Numerical results suggest the superiority of the proposed method based on measures of coverage probability and expected length. The confidence intervals were illustrated using daily wind direction data recorded at maximum wind speed for seven stations in Malaysia. From point estimates of the concentration parameter and the respective confidence interval, we note that the method works well for a wide range of κ values. This study suggests that the method of obtaining the confidence intervals can be applied with ease and provides good estimates. © 2019 Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. All rights reserved
Quantum mechanical tunnelling through the catalytic effects of A2451 ribosomal residue during a stepwise peptide bond formation
No full textThe search for the mechanism of ribosomal peptide bond formation is still ongoing. Even though the actual mechanism of peptide bod formation is still unknown, the dominance of proton transfer in this reaction is known for certain. Therefore, it is vital to take the quantum mechanical effects on proton transfer reaction into consideration; the effects of which were neglected in all previous studies. In this study, we have taken such effects into consideration using a semi-classical approach to the overall reaction mechanism. The M06-2X density functional with the 6-31++G(d,p) basis set was used to calculate the energies of the critical points on the potential energy surface of the reaction mechanism, which are then used in transition state theory to calculate the classical reaction rate. The tunnelling contribution is then added to the classical part by calculating the transmission permeability and tunnelling constant of the reaction barrier, using the numerical integration over the Boltzmann distribution for the symmetrical Eckart potential. The results of this study, which accounts for quantum effects, indicates that the A2451 ribosomal residue induces proton tunnelling in a stepwise peptide bond formation. © 2019 Published by NRC Research Press
Effects of simple knee sleeves on pain and knee adduction moment in early unilateral knee osteoarthritis
No full textKnee sleeves are often prescribed to alleviate pain in people with early knee osteoarthritis. However, the biomechanics underlying their pain-relieving effect are still not well understood. This pre–post study aims at evaluating and comparing the effects of two different types of knee sleeves on knee adduction moment. Patients with clinically diagnosed knee osteoarthritis were recruited from the University of Malaya Medical Centre and were randomly assigned to two test groups using (1) a simple knee sleeve and (2) a simple sleeve with patella cutout. Knee adduction moment was collected using the Vicon motion capture system with two Kistler force plates. Pain, stiffness and physical functions were recorded using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index. All measurements were taken before, immediately after and at the completion of 6 weeks of application (primary time point). In total, 17 participants with early unilateral knee osteoarthritis (47.7 (9.7) years) completed the study. Overall results show significant reduction in pain, early stance and late stance knee adduction moment and increased walking speed after 6 weeks of both knee sleeves application. This study results suggest that knee sleeves can reduce knee adduction moments in early unilateral knee osteoarthritis by 14.0% and 12.1% using the simple sleeve and the sleeve with patella cutout, respectively, and can potentially delay disease progression. In addition, knee sleeve with patella cutout does not provide additional benefits when compared to the simple knee sleeve. © IMechE 2019
Microstrip patch antenna: A review and the current state of the art
No full textThe mobile technology is fast-developing nowadays owing to its large impact on social life. Accordingly, there is a need to study the progress of the antenna systems as they are considered as core devices for wireless technology. The modern antenna designs allow a single element to be employed in many systems. The microstrip patch antennas are essentially considered in the advancement of the latest communication mechanisms in contrast to the conventional type because they offer the advantage of being low profile along with simple or inexpensive manufacturing procedures. In the recent four decades, extensive research has been carried out on the antenna systems. Consequently, this review paper provides a comprehensive account of the former and subsequent research achievements of the microstrip patch antennas. The various types of systems considered for comparison include millimeter-wave, broad banding, dual/multi-band or reconfigurable structure, size-reduction, compact, low profile, impedance bandwidth, high gain or linear and circular polarization applications. © 2019, Institute of Advanced Scientific Research, Inc.. All rights reserved
Finite element analysis (FEA) of polylactic acid/polypropylene carbonate (PLA/PPC) blends fixation plate for craniomaxillofacial surgery
No full textPurpose: The internal fixation plate of bone fractures by using polylactic acid (PLA) has attracted the attention of many researchers, as it is biodegradable and biocompatible to the human body. However, its brittleness has led to implant fracture. On the contrary, polypropylene carbonate (PPC), which is also biodegradable and biocompatible, has an excellent elongation at break. The purpose of this paper is to compare the PLA fixation plate with the new fixation plate made up of PLA/PPC blends by using finite element analysis (FEA). Design/methodology/approach: The mandible bone from CT data set and fixation plate was designed by using the MIMICS, Amira and Solidworks softwares. Abaqus software was used for FEA of PLA/PPC fixation plate applied on the fractured mandible bone. A model of mandibular bone with a fracture in the body was subjected to incisor load. The analysis was run to determine the von Mises stress, elongation of the fixation plate and the displacement of the fractured gap of PLA/PPC blends fixation plate. Findings: The von Mises stress predicted that all the blend compositions were safe to be used as a fixation plate since the stress values were less than the yield strength. In addition, the stress value of the fixation plate was gradually decreased up to 20 percent when the amount of PPC increased to 30 percent. This indicates that the stress shielding effect was successfully reduced. The elongation of the fixation plate was gradually increased from 11.54 to 12.55 µm as the amount of PPC in the blends increased from 0 to 30 percent, thereby illustrating that the flexibility of the fixation plate was improved by the addition of PPC. Finally, the measured displacement of the fractured gap for all compositions of PLA/PPC blends fixation plate is less than 150 µm, which proves the likely success of fracture fixation by using the PLA/PPC blends. Research limitations/implications: An optimum solution of PLA/PPC blends and another new material such as compatibilizer need to be introduced in the blends in order to improve the performance of PLA/PPC blends as a new material for a fixation plate. Besides, by using the same method of producing PLA/PPC blends, longer durations for in vitro degradation of PLA/PPC blends are essential to further understand the degradation behavior of the blends applied in the human body. Finally, it is also important to further test the mechanical strength of PLA/PPC blends during the degradation period to know the current strength of the implant in the healing process of the bone. Practical implications: PLA fixation plate and screw can commercially be used in CMF surgery since they reduce cost because of the elimination of secondary surgery to remove the fixation plate and screw after the healing process. Social implications: It is hoped that the advantages of this research will ensure the market of PLA product to continue expanding in medical application. Originality/value: This study is one of the alternative ways for the biomedical researchers to improve the elongation break of PLA. Currently, many researchers focus on polymeric materials such as PLA, poly(glycolic) acid and polydioxanone blends, which were extensively being used in CMF surgery. However, the work on PLA/PPC blends to be used as one of the materials for the CMF fixation plate is very limited, if any. PPC, the proposed material for this research, will improve the mechanical performance of PLA fixation plate and screw to become more sustainable and flexible when applied on human mandible bone. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited
Prevalence and genetic divergence of Leptospira interrogans and Leptospira borgpetersenii in house rats (Rattus rattus) from Peninsular Malaysia
No full textObjective: To evaluate the prevalence and divergence of genetically identified Leptospira spp. in the population of Rattus rattus. Methods: A total of 130 rats were used in this study. The infection within the rats were screened using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnosis, with Leptospira genus-specific 16S rRNA primer and pathogenic Leptospira spp. specific LipL32 primer, on both kidney and liver tissues of Rattus rattus to detect the presence of potential Leptospira spp. Results: Out of 130 rats studied, 51 (39.23%) individuals were positive for leptospiral DNA. Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) and phylogenetic analysis revealed that both pathogenic Leptospira interrogans and Leptospira borgpetersenii were predominantly identified. Phylogenetically, both genes disclosed similar clustering patterns of tree topologies between the two species. Although both genes were conserved, LipL32 gene portrayed higher nucleotide divergence (5.80%) compared to the 16S rRNA gene (0.60%). Minimum-spanning network displayed several haplotypes that are unique to each species, suggesting a higher degree of subdivision between both species. As for prevalence surveillance, both adult and subadult rats were susceptible to the infection, in which males were the most susceptible. Kidney was notable as the favourable organ for colonisation of leptospires. Rats captured from fresh markets were highly infected with Leptospira spp. (54.28%) compared to those from housing areas (26.47%). Conclusions: Rattus rattus represents an important asymptomatic transmitter of pathogenic leptospires, and hence is of public health concerns. © 2019 Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine Produced by Wolters Kluwer-Medknow. All rights reserved
Engaging postgraduates in a peer research group at the research proposal stage in a Malaysian university: support and challenges
No full textDue to the increasing workloads for supervisors and the challenges in research proposals for postgraduates, the study focused on engaging 15 postgraduates in a Malaysian public university in a peer research group. The data was collected from observations of the group meetings, video-recorded peer feedback and follow-up interviews. The qualitative analysis of the data indicates that the research group supported the postgraduates through peer feedback practices, learning how to present proposals and defend themselves and finding directions in research proposals. Although their engagement was challenged by initial reservations of some postgraduates to present their proposals and provide feedback and issues related to provision, reception and reliability of peer feedback, these challenges were minimized through mentoring and instructional strategies. While peer research groups represent a valuable pedagogical support that complement supervisors’ support to postgraduates in developing their research proposals, the value should be maximized by integrating supervisors in research groups. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
An FPN-based classification method for speech intelligibility detection of children with speech impairments
No full textThe inability to speak fluently degrades the quality of life of many individuals. Early intervention from childhood can reduce the disfluency of speech among adults. Traditionally, disfluency of speech among children is diagnosed based on the speech intelligibility assessment by speech and language pathologists, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Hence, numerous attempts were made to automate the speech intelligibility detection. Current detectors can discriminate unintelligible speech by calculating the posterior probability scores for each articulatory feature class. However, their major drawback is producing results that are most likely based on training and input data, leading to inconsistencies in discriminating speech sounds. As such, the performance of detectors is still far below humans. To overcome this limitation, a new classification method based on Fuzzy Petri Nets (FPN) is proposed to improve the classification accuracy. FPN was proposed as it has greater knowledge representation ability to reason using uncertain or ambiguous information. In this research, the speech features of Malay impaired children’s speeches are analyzed for the identification of the significant speech features in the impaired speech which are related to the intelligibility deficits. The results showed that FPN is more reliable in discriminating speech sounds than the baseline classifiers with improvements in the classification accuracy and precision. © 2017, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
The authentication of virgin coconut oil from grape seed oil and soybean oil using ftir spectroscopy and chemometrics
No full textObjective: The objective of this study was to develop Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in combination with chemometrics of multivariate calibration and discriminant analysis (DA) for the authentication of virgin coconut oil (VCO) from grape seed oil (GSO) and soybean oil (SO). Methods: FTIR spectra of VCO, GSO, SO and its binary mixture of VCO-SO, and VCO-GSO were scanned at mid-infrared region (4000-650 cm-1 Results: The results showed that partial least square (PLS) calibration using absorbance values at combined wavenumbers of 1200-900 and 3027-2985 cm) using attenuated total reflectance technique. The wavenumbers were selected based on its capability to provide the best prediction models for quantification and classification of adulterants in VCO assisted by multivariate calibrations and DA, respectively. -1 revealed reliable method for quantification of GSO in VCO, as indicated by high value of coefficient of determination (R2) and low value of root mean square of calibration (RMSEC) and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP). PLS using FTIR spectra at the combined wavenumbers of 1200-1000 and 3025-2995 cm-1 Conclusion: FTIR spectroscopy in combination with chemometrics of multivariate calibration and DA offered effective tools for the authentication of VCO. was suitable for quantitative analysis of SO in VCO. DAwas also successfully used for classification of VCO and VCO added with adulterants of GSO and SO. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd