19672 research outputs found
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Strategy model in bus tracking and information application (BTA) towards smart mobility in urban spaces
No full textSmart city can be defined as an urban space with complete and advanced infrastructure, intelligent networks and platforms, with millions of sensors among which people themselves and their mobile devices. Urban mobility is one of the global smart city project which offers traffic management in real-Time, management of passenger transport means, tracking applications and logistics, car sharing services, car park management and more smart mobility services. Due to the frustrating waiting time for the arrival of buses and the difficulty of accessing shuttle bus-related information in a one-stop centre, bus tracking and information application (BTA) is one the proposed solutions to solve the traffic problems in urban spaces. This paper is aimed to design and develop a bus tracking and information application in a selected city in Selangor state, Malaysia. Next, this application also provides an alternative to design public transport tracking and information application for the urban places in Malaysia. Furthermore, the application also provides a smart solution for the management of public infrastructures and urban facilities in Malaysia in future. Finally, the smart mobility model will be presented to uncover the extent on how BTA provide smart solutions in urban spaces which focus on informative, interactive, assistive and green mobility
The effect of defect emissions on enhancement photocatalytic performance of ZnSe QDs and ZnSe/rGO nanocomposites
No full textA systematic study about the origin of defects emission of ZnSe structure was conducted by photoluminescence (PL) spectrometer at room temperature. It was observed that different intermediate energy levels in band-gap space of ZnSe structure were generated by different defects such as Se-, Zn-vacancies, Se-, Zn-interstitials, and surface states. Effects of these defects on the photocatalytic performance of ZnSe quantum dots (QDs) and ZnSe/graphene nanocomposites were investigated. The pristine ZnSe QDs and ZnSe/graphene nanocomposites were synthesized by a co-precipitation method. The PL spectra of the samples showed four emissions from four regions of the visible spectrum such as violet, green, orange, and red emissions. The violet emission was associated with the near-band-edge (NBE) of the ZnSe nanostructures, while, the other emissions were related to different defects of ZnSe structures. Annealing the samples in the H2 atmosphere caused to increase orange emission intensity and indicated that origin of orange emission was a donor-acceptor pair (DAPs) related to singly positively charged Se-vacancies (VSe) to singly negatively charged zinc vacancy (VZn −). Photocatalytic study of the samples to remove the methylene blue (MB) dye showed that the photocatalytic performance of the samples improved by graphene as an additive and increasing the orange emission intensity
Sliding behavior of droplet on a hydrophobic surface with hydrophilic cavities: A simulation study
No full textThis paper presents a detailed computational fluid dynamics simulation study on water droplet mobility and cavity fillings resulting from a sliding droplet on a titled surface or substrate with round shaped cavities in a serial arrangement. The effects of different hydrophobicity (or contact angle) values for cavity and non-cavity surfaces, cavity depths, cavity spacings, plate tilting angles, and initial droplet volumes on its mobility were investigated. The findings are reported in terms of the total number of filled cavities, its duration, and the average volume of droplet per cavity. This study can be useful for the design and development of the passive microfluidics related devices and applications
Financial knowledge, attitude and behaviour of young working adults in Malaysia
No full textA conceptual model was proposed based on the theory of planned behaviour to examine the relationship between financial knowledge, attitude, behaviour and financial literacy among young working adults in Malaysia. Perceiving financial literacy as a developmental process which includes knowledge and application dimensions, the proposed model was tested on a sample of 1915 young working adults from Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results indicated financial education positively influenced financial knowledge which in turn, significantly predicted both financial attitude and behaviour. Attitude partially mediated the effect of knowledge on behaviour. Analysis revealed that in terms of financial attitude, “future and non-impulsiveness” was significant while in financial behaviour, “expenditure monitoring and saving behaviour” was critical. In terms of ethnic background, the Chinese possessed the highest financial knowledge and behaviour while Indians possessed the highest financial attitude. No gender difference was noted on any relationships. Initiatives and interventions on making financial education accessible as well as gradual change of attitude are recommended for immediate actions
Electrospun Polycaprolactone Nanofibers as a Reaction Membrane for Lateral Flow Assay
No full textElectrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers have emerged as a promising material in diverse biomedical applications due to their various favorable features. However, their application in the field of biosensors such as point-of-care lateral flow assays (LFA) has not been investigated. The present study demonstrates the use of electrospun PCL nanofibers as a reaction membrane for LFA. Electrospun PCL nanofibers were treated with NaOH solution for different concentrations and durations to achieve a desirable flow rate and optimum detection sensitivity in nucleic acid-based LFA. It was observed that the concentration of NaOH does not affect the physical properties of nanofibers, including average fiber diameter, average pore size and porosity. However, interestingly, a significant reduction of the water contact angle was observed due to the generation of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the nanofibers, which increased their hydrophilicity. The optimally treated nanofibers were able to detect synthetic Zika viral DNA (as a model analyte) sensitively with a detection limit of 0.5 nM. Collectively, the benefits such as low-cost of fabrication, ease of modification, porous nanofibrous structures and tunability of flow rate make PCL nanofibers a versatile alternative to nitrocellulose membrane in LFA applications. This material offers tremendous potential for a broad range of point-of-care applications
Mathematical modeling of the effects of attenuation and system electronic coupling on the determination of speed of sound in ultrasonic interferometry
No full textUltrasonic interferometry is an indispensable tool in molecular chemistry and imaging, inclusive of liquid state studies where the standard theory is used to determine many physico-chemical parameters, such as the isentropic compressibility and adiabatic bulk modulus. The first principle analysis conducted here augments the standard model with potentially significant consequences in the interpretation of these parameters and the output spectrum. The effect of attenuation of a wave on the observed separation between peaks in acoustic interferometry is a focus of the investigation. Important aspects of the theory of Hubbard and others were collated to derive two mathematical models that were used to fit experimental spectra. The first model does not assume fictitious quantities found in Hubbard’s theory and fits the experimental data well. The second model includes the effects of the electronics of the measuring system and is in excellent agreement with the experimental data. Theoretical and numerical analyses were performed to validate the two models. Numerically, the attenuation of a wave is shown to cause the peaks to deviate either positively or negatively from the otherwise ideal half-wavelength of λ/ 2 and exact equations governing such deviations are derived that could have significant implications in theory and applications
Inhibition of Protein Glycation by Tiger Milk Mushroom [Lignosus rhinocerus (Cooke) Ryvarden] and Search for Potential Anti-diabetic Activity-Related Metabolic Pathways by Genomic and Transcriptomic Data Mining
No full textNaturally occurring anti-glycation compounds have drawn much interest in recent years as they show potential in reducing or preventing the risk of chronic complications for diabetic patients. In this study, annotation of the genome-transcriptome data from tiger milk mushroom (Lignosus rhinocerus, syn. Lignosus rhinocerotis) to PlantCyc enzymes database identified transcripts that are related to anti-diabetic properties, and these include genes that are involved in carotenoid and abscisic acid biosynthesis as well as genes that code for glyoxalase I, catalase-peroxidases, and superoxide dismutases. The existence of these genes suggests that L. rhinocerus may contain bioactive compound(s) with anti-glycation properties that can be exploited for management of diabetic complications. A medium-molecular-weight (MMW) fraction which was obtained from a combination of cold water extraction and Sephadex® G-50 (fine) gel filtration chromatography of L. rhinocerus sclerotia powder was demonstrated to exhibit potent anti-glycation activity. The fraction specifically inhibited the formation of Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine, pentosidine, and other advanced glycation end-product (AGE) structures in a human serum albumin-glucose system, with an IC50 value of 0.001 mg/ml, almost 520 times lower than that of the positive control, aminoguanidine hydrochloride (IC50 = 0.52 mg/ml). Its ability to suppress protein glycation may be partly associated with its strong superoxide anion radical scavenging activity (10.16 ± 0.12 mmol TE/g). Our results suggest that the MMW fraction of L. rhinocerus shows potential to be developed into a potent glycation inhibitor for preventing AGE-mediated diabetic complications
Impact of commuter families on adolescent development: An evaluation of the adolescent from Peninsular Malaysia
No full textThis study attempted to address the question concerning the influence of commuter families on adolescent school performance using the proposed Model for Adolescent Development Among Commuter Families (MADCF). We investigated whether the adolescent problem mediates the relationship between parental readiness and adolescent school performance, and clarified the moderating effect of gender. The survey data were drawn from 434 respondents (adolescents-parents) in Malaysia. The results indicated that the adolescent externalising problem partially mediated the relationship between parental readiness and adolescent school performance. The model accounted for 21% of the variability in adolescent school performance. The moderator findings presented that gender moderates the causal effect of parental readiness and the adolescent externalising problem with respect to adolescent school performance. This study clearly shows the importance of parental readiness, and that the results are in line with the proposed mediation and moderation effects. The model proposed by this study was strongly supported
Influence of big data adoption on manufacturing companies' performance: An integrated DEMATEL-ANFIS approach
No full textBig Data is one of the recent technological advances with the strong applicability in almost every industry, including manufacturing. However, despite business opportunities offered by this technology, its adoption is still in early stage in many industries. Thus, this study aimed to identify and rank the significant factors influencing adoption of big data and in turn to predict the influence of big data adoption on manufacturing companies’ performance using a hybrid approach of decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL)- adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS). This study identified the critical adoption factors from literature review and categorized them into technological, organizational and environmental dimensions. Data was collected from 234 industrial managers who were involved in the decision-making process regarding IT procurement in Malaysian manufacturing companies. Research results showed that technological factors (perceived benefits, complexity, technology resources, big data quality and integration) have the highest influence on the big data adoption and firms’ performance. This study is one of the pioneers in using DEMATEL-ANFIS approach in the big data adoption context. In addition to the academic contribution, findings of this study can hopefully assist manufacturing industries, big data service providers, and governments to precisely focus on vital factors found in this study in order to improve firm performance by adopting big data
Underwater Image Enhancement by Adaptive Gray World and Differential Gray-Levels Histogram Equalization
No full textMost underwater images tend to be dominated by a single color cast. This paper presents a solution to remove the color cast and improve the contrast in underwater images. However, after the removal of the color cast using Gray World (GW) method, the resultant image is not visually pleasing. Hence, we propose an integrated approach using Adaptive GW (AGW) and Differential Gray-Levels Histogram Equalization (DHE) that operate in parallel. The AGW is applied to remove the color cast while DHE is used to improve the contrast of the underwater image. The outputs of both chromaticity components of AGW and intensity components of DHE are combined to form the enhanced image. The results of the proposed method are compared with three existing methods using qualitative and quantitative measures. The proposed method increased the visibility of underwater images and in most cases produces better quantitative scores when compared to the three existing methods