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Do family environment, parental care and adolescent externalizing problem mediate the relationship between parental readiness and adolescent school performance among commuter families?
No full textThe lifestyle of commuter families has become a concern in Malaysian society. Commuting and separation from nuclear families may result in negative impacts on the commuters and their families. This study aimed to investigate the relationships among family environment, parental care, parental readiness, and adolescent externalizing problems and adolescent school performance among commuter families by proposing a mediation model. A total of 434 respondents (dyadic-relation) from commuter families in Peninsular Malaysia completed a set of questionnaires. Model comparison showed that the mediation model was established with an acceptable fit index. Findings reported that parental care and family environment were significantly partial mediated the relationship between parental readiness and adolescent academic performance. However, adolescent externalizing problem was not statistically significant. The findings accounted 38% of the variability in adolescent academic performance explained by the model with total effect 0.69. Results suggests the importance of families’ roles and functions in adolescent school performance. It supports the theoretical backgroud of the research which explains the effect of family functions and parental roles in adolescent development and school performance. Parental roles need to be addressed to ensure commuting families play a parenting responsibilities in adolescent development and create a work-family balance situation. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Description and molecular characteristics of Morishitium polonicum malayense Urabe, Nor Hashim & Uni, n. subsp. (Trematoda: Cyclocoelidae) from the Asian glossy starling, Aplonis panayensis strigata (Passeriformes: Sturnidae) in Peninsular Malaysia
No full textWe describe Morishitium polonicum malayense n. subsp. from Asian glossy starlings (Aplonis panayensis strigata) (Horsfield, 1821) (Passeriformis: Sturnidae) caught in Malaysia. The trematodes had parasitized the air sacs and the thoracic and body cavities of 40 out of 67 (59.7%) birds examined. The specimens each had an oral sucker, a postpharyngeal genital pore, and tandem testes, but lacked a ventral sucker. The morphological characteristics of our specimens were similar to those of M. polonicum polonicum (Machalska, 1980) from Poland. However, the anterior extremity of vitelline follicles of the present specimens sometimes extended to the level of pharynx. The oral sucker width, oral sucker width/pharynx width ratio, and intertesticular space metrics differed from those of M. p. polonicum. The maximum-likelihood trees based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences indicated that the species from the present study formed a sister group with M. p. polonicum from the Czech Republic. The p-distances of COI and ITS2 sequences between the present specimens and M. p. polonicum from the Czech Republic were 6.9–7.5% and 0.6%, respectively. These genetic divergences indicate the border for intra- or interspecific variation of digeneans. The definitive host species and geographical distribution of the current specimens were distinct from those of M. p. polonicum from Europe. We thus concluded that the present specimens are ranked as a new subspecies of M. polonicum, namely M. polonicum malayense n. subsp. © 2020 Elsevier B.V
Anti-spoofing method for fingerprint recognition using patch based deep learning machine
No full textToday's with increasing identity theft, biometric systems based on fingerprints have a growing importance in protection and access restrictions. Malicious users violate them by presenting fabricated attempts. For example, artificial fingerprints constructed by gelatin, Play-Doh and Silicone molds may be misused for access and identity fraud by forgers to clone fingerprints. This process is called spoofing. To detect such forgeries, some existing methods using handcrafted descriptors have been implemented for assuring user presence. Most of them give low accuracy rates in recognition. The proposed method used Discriminative Restricted Boltzmann Machines to recognize fingerprints accurately against fabricated materials used for spoofing. © 2019 Karabuk Universit
Financial toxicity and its associations with health-related quality of life among urologic cancer patients in an upper middle-income country
No full textPurpose: This study examined the prevalence of financial toxicity (FT) and associated factors among urologic cancer patients. The association between FT and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was also investigated. Methods: A total of 429 respondents diagnosed with urologic cancers (prostate cancer, bladder and renal cancer) from Sarawak General Hospital and Subang Jaya Medical Centre in Malaysia were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Objective and subjective FT were measured by catastrophic health expenditure (healthcare-cost-to-income ratio greater than 40%) and the Personal Financial Well-being Scale, respectively. HRQoL was measured with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – General 7 Items scale. Results: Objective and subjective FT were experienced by 16.1 and 47.3% of the respondents, respectively. Respondents who sought treatment at a private hospital and had out-of-pocket health expenditures were more likely to experience objective FT, after adjustment for covariates. Respondents who were female and had a monthly household income less than MYR 5000 were more likely to experience average to high subjective FT. Greater objective FT (OR = 2.75, 95% CI 1.09–6.95) and subjective FT (OR = 4.68, 95% CI 2.63–8.30) were associated with poor HRQoL. Conclusions: The significant association between both objective and subjective FT and HRQoL highlights the importance of reducing FT among urologic cancer patients. Subjective FT was found to have a greater negative impact on HRQoL. © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
Prediction of rheological behavior of a new hybrid nanofluid consists of copper oxide and multi wall carbon nanotubes suspended in a mixture of water and ethylene glycol using curve-fitting on experimental data
No full textIn the current study incorporating nanoparticles of CuO/MWCNTs into the base fluid water/EG (70:30) has been done to investigate the nanofluid rheological behavior in the temperature of 20–60 °C. Employing two-step method, homogeneous and stable samples of nanofluid at various nanoparticles volume fractions (0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1%) have been prepared. Based on the experiment results, base fluid (water/EG (70:30)) is treated as a fluid with Newtonian behavior. Incorporating nanoparticles at volume fractions of 0.025, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.25 has no effects on Newtonian behavior of the base fluid, while in the volume fractions of 0.5 and 1% changes the behavior from Newtonian to non-Newtonian. For Newtonian behavior, adding nanofluid led to increase in viscosity up to 95.67%. It was found that sensitivity of the viscosity to the volume fraction at low temperatures is more, while less viscosity sensitivity to the temperature at low volume fractions. © 2020 Elsevier B.V
Degating of AlSi10Cu2Fe High-Pressure Die Casting Component Using Resonance Vibration Technique
No full textThe high-pressure die casting process is meant for high volume production rate mainly used in the automotive industry. An efficient method to separate the die-cast components from the main sprue and runner system is crucial to improving the productivity of the manufacturing processes. Conventionally casting components are often separated with the use of a grinding wheel machine, trimming machine or pneumatic hammer. Often these techniques require customized machine design in trimming the cast part as each die casting gate design might be different from one another, especially when there is a change in production cast model. This may incur higher set-up cost and additional configuration time. It is unfavourable in the manufacturing production line that handles small batch high variation of casting model in the small/medium casting industry. Thus, this paper introduced an alternative degating technique with the use of a shaker machine to match the resonance of the casting component natural frequency to separate the die-cast component from the casting tree. The proposed method can overcome the drawback of the conventional method by eliminating the additional configuration time required when there is a change in different casting part design. Die casting parts employed in this study were constructed by AlSi10Cu2Fe aluminium alloy. Experimental modal analysis was performed to verify the natural frequency calculated through finite element analysis. The correlated finite element model was then employed for harmonic response analysis to compute the frequency response of input excitation location against output stress response at the gate. The results from the analysis showed that the first natural frequency mode could induce a bending mode at the gate and created the highest stress concentration at the location. Next, an experiment was carried out by exciting the first natural frequency to the casting part using a shaker machine. In the experiment, the die-cast components were able to break away within 0.31 s at its first natural frequency. This observation was found to be in agreement with the simulation results, whereby the degating time of 0.27 s was obtained. Therefore, the present study has shown that an efficient degating of casting components process can be achieved via introducing a correct mode of vibration excitation. © 2019, American Foundry Society
Photocatalytic degradation mechanisms of dimethyl phthalate esters by MWCNTs-anatase TiO2 nanocomposites using the UHPLC/Orbitrap/MS technique
No full textDimethyl phthalate esters (DMPEs) have been identified as endocrine disrupting plastisizers and emerging contaminants which can be released readily upon exposure to the environment. In this study, MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposites, which possess the potential application for the photocatalytic degradation of DMPEs under UV irradiation, were prepared via simple one-pot sol-gel reaction using titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) as titania precursor and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposites was calcined in air for 2 h at the temperatures ranging from 350 to 750 °C. As a result, the MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposites synthesized at calcination temperature of 450 °C demonstrated the highest photodegradation efficiency of 97% after 180 min UV irradiation and its degraded products were evaluated using the ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with a high resolution (HR) Orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS). A primary degradation mechanism was proposed and it was noteworthy that some new intermediates were discovered and reported. This work has developed a simple method for qualitative determination of DMPEs based on HPLC with UV detection. © 2019 The Society of Powder Technology Japa
Synthesis and analysis of SnO2/ZnO nanocomposites: Structural studies and optical investigations with Maxwell–Garnett model
No full textSnO2 including different concentrations of ZnO has synthesized using spray pyrolysis technique for preparing on glass substrate at 350 °C. Effect of ZnO ratio has been researched to study optical and structural properties of SnO2. X-ray diffraction scheme indicates the presence of different peaks that attribute to a mixture of rutile SnO2 and hexagonal ZnO. The crystallite size of SnO2 decreases as ZnO ratio increases. The synthesized nanocomposites are characterized via field emission-scanning electron microscopy. The reflectance and transmittance in the wavelength range, 200–2500 nm have been measured. The direct band gaps vary from 3.04 to 3.78 eV to show contrary concept to Ubach's energy. The refractive index and extinction coefficient display vibrations due to ZnO ratio effect. Dielectric constants of SnO2 are deduced effectively in terms of ZnO ratio using Maxwell-Garnett ‘s effective medium theory, they are compared with experimental spectra. The optical properties can be interpreted correctly with Maxwell-Garnett theory of small underestimation, indicating that adaptation of optical properties can take place by varying the volume fraction. Our results present good agreement with experimental data. © 2019 Elsevier B.V
Rapid and sensitive detection of Salmonella with reduced graphene oxide-carbon nanotube based electrochemical aptasensor
No full textRapid detection of foodborne pathogens is crucial as ingestion of contaminated food products may endanger human health. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a biosensor using reduced graphene oxide-carbon nanotubes (rGO-CNT) nanocomposite via the hydrothermal method for accurate and rapid label-free electrochemical detection of pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella enterica. The rGO-CNT nanocomposite was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The nanocomposite was dropped cast on the glassy carbon electrode and further modified with amino-modified DNA aptamer. The resultant ssDNA/rGO-CNT/GCE aptasensor was then used to detect bacteria by using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique. Synergistic effects of aptasensor was evident through the combination of enhanced electrical properties and facile chemical functionality of both rGO and CNT for the stable interface. Under optimal experimental conditions, the aptasensor could detect S. Typhimurium in a wide linear dynamic range from 101 until 108 cfu mL−1 with a 101 cfu mL−1 of the limit of detection. This aptasensor also showed good sensitivity, selectivity and specificity for the detection of microorganisms. Furthermore, we have successfully applied the aptasensor for S. Typhimurium detection in real food samples. © 2019 Elsevier Inc
All fiber multiwavelength Tm-doped double-clad fiber laser assisted by four-wave mixing in highly nonlinear fiber and Sagnac loop mirror
No full textA four-wave mixing (FWM) based multi-wavelength laser based on a double-cladding thulium-doped fiber laser (DC-TDFL) is proposed and demonstrated. A highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) in conjunction with a Sagnac loop mirror formed by polarization maintaining fibers (PMFs) is used to induce the FWM effect as well as to mitigate gain-competition in the DC-TDFL. This increases the number of lasing wavelengths that can be generated. Approximately 35, 55, and 68 stable lasing lines are achieved within 10 dB, 20 dB, and 28 dB bandwidths by adjusting the polarization controllers. A uniform channel spacing of 0.38 nm is obtained with minimal wavelength drifts and power fluctuations of 0.056 nm and 2.8 dB. This is, to the best of the author's knowledge, the first demonstration of large numbers of lasing channels in the 1.97μm wavelength region from a DC-TDFL. © 201