15 research outputs found
Reducing air pollution and occupational health risk using palm olein abrasive blasting for metal surface cleaning applications
No full textAbrasive blasting process done for surface cleaning which has two methods which are dry or wet process. The dry process which uses abrasive media blasted onto a surface to clean the surface normally will release fine dust into the environment. Water used with abrasive media to reduce the dust release into the environment; named as wet abrasive blasting. However, water causes corrosion to metal surface. In this study, analysis of refined, bleached and de-odorized (RBD) palm olein as an alternative to the use of water in wet abrasive blasting process will be investigated. The analysis in this study covers personal dust exposure reduction, emission rate reduction and corrosion inhibition. In this research, abrasive blasting workers’ exposure level to the dust release from abrasive blasting activity will be determined using NIOSH Method. EPA-42 will be used to determine the emission rate. XRD, ICP-MS and SEM also will be used to determine the dust and material composition. To see the effectiveness of the RBD palm olein as a corrosion inhibitor, samples of metal surface will be tested using ASTM method. For the expected results, the quality of RBD palm olein expected to show similar result to dry and wet abrasive blasting in cleaning performance. Exposure monitoring result expected to show that the workers’ exposure to dust release from RBD palm olein abrasive blasting reduced the respirable and inhalable dust compared to the result recorded in dry abrasive blasting
Evaluation on effect of abrasive blasting media to the environment and human safety and health
No full textAbrasive blasting is one of the methods available for cleaning and finishing for materials using abrasive media towards the workpiece. These include surface cleaning of steels, bricks and concrete. This method is favorable due to fast process and high quality for coating process which increase its efficiency and productivity. However, sand blasting produces significant noise and vibrations, and an effluent cloud consisting of dust, waste sands and contaminants which considered safety risks to on-site personnel and hazardous to surrounding environment. Also, the abrasive blasting requires high working pressure for blasting and be conducted in a controlled working space environment. Since the sand blasting particles are small, and the failure of some workers to abide tight regulation, has made the workers prone to health and safety problems. This research aims to evaluate the effect of abrasive blasting and its processes towards the environment and also human's health and safety. This research is divided into three main areas. The first method assess the process of sand blasting. Some industries are evaluated for chemical hazard risk assessment, of which will be compared with the guidelines under Malaysia legislation body. The second approach will analyse the materials used for sand blasting. These include the blasting media and also parts to be blasted. The chemical compositions and geometry before and after blasting processes will be evaluated in respect of human safety and health..
Solving Dym equation using quartic B-spline and quartic trigonometric B-spline collocation methods
No full textA Bibliometric Analysis of Stroke Caregiver Research from 1989 to 2022
No full textMany stroke survivors suffer with varying degrees of disability and require assistance. Family members commonly act as informal caregivers, caring for these stroke survivors and ensuring care adherence. However, many caregivers reported a poor quality of life and physical and psychological distress. Due to these issues, multiple studies have been conducted to understand the experience of caregivers, the outcomes of caregiving, and interventional studies among caregivers. This study aims to explore the intellectual landscape of studies on stroke caregivers using bibliometric analysis. Studies with “stroke” and “caregiver” terms in the title were extracted from the Web of Sciences (WOS) database. The resulting publications were analysed using the ‘bibliometrix’ package in R. There were 678 publications analysed, dating from 1989 to 2022. The USA has the highest number of publications (28.6%), followed by China (12.1%) and Canada (6.1%). The most productive institution, journal and author were The University of Toronto (9.5%), ‘Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation’ journal (5.8%) and Tamilyn Bakas (3.1%), respectively. Co-occurrences keywords analysis revealed mainstream research on stroke survivors, burden, quality of life, depression, care, and rehabilitation, reflecting the timeless hotspot in the field. This bibliometric analysis helps us understand the current state of stroke caregiver research and its recent developments. This study can be used to evaluate research policies and promote international cooperation
Five newly recorded species of bat (Mammalia, Chiroptera) from the UNESCO World Heritage Niah National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia, with an updated checklist of bats in the park
No full textFive species of bat—Myotis gomantongensis Francis & Hill, 1998, Murina suilla (Temminck, 1840), Kerivoula intermedia Hill & Francis, 1984, Phoniscus jagorii (Peters, 1866), and Miniopterus magnater Sanborn, 1931—are newly recorded from Niah National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia. We also present an updated checklist of bat species compiled from seven sampling efforts conducted between 1958 and 2025. A total of 43 bat species from nine families have been recorded to date in the park. This species list serves as a baseline for bat conservation in this UNESCO World Heritage Site
Effectiveness of nicotine-based and non-nicotine based drug delivery system for smoking cessation among the elderly
No full textSmoking is associated with a higher risk of mortality, especially in smokers with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Smoking cessation remains the most effective approach in reducing smoking-related illness risks at all ages. For elderly smokers, smoking cessation has been proved to prolong life expectancy and reduce the risk of stroke and ischemic heart disease. However, a wide selection of smoking cessation medications makes prescribing challenging, especially among elderly smokers. Inability to recommend the best treatment may reduce the smoking cessation success rate in the elderly. Therefore, this study compares the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy available and correlate the effect of ageing on the effectiveness, leading to the recommendation of the best medication for elderly smokers. A systematic searching strategy was performed in three different databases by using predetermined search strings.
Overall, this systematic review revealed that varenicline showed the greatest smoking cessation rate among the elderly, followed by bupropion and NRT
A systematic review on effectiveness of Nicotine-Based and Non-Nicotine Based drug delivery system for smoking cessation among the elderly
No full textSynthesis, characterisation and evaluation on the performance of ferrofluid for microplastic removal from synthetic and actual wastewater
No full textSynthesis of ferrofluid without the addition of stabilizing agents or surfactants is an innovation of new method
for microplastic removal. This study focuses on the ability of several types of oils as carriers and how they may
improve the removal efficiency of the microplastic. The method is relatively low cost, simple and sustainable.
The formation of ferrofluid involved the mixing of oil and iron oxide powder. The experimental work was
commenced by adding 2 mm polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics into synthetic ferrofluid. Then, the
removal efficiency of microplastics was examined by varying the elements of ferrofluid based on three specific
parameters, namely type of oil, volume of oil and dosage of iron oxide to obtain a standard formulation of the
optimum results. Overall findings of the study indicated that the optimum formulation for ferrofluid preparation
was at a ratio of 1:2.5 (volume of oil: dosage of magnetite) using lubricating oil which has successfully removed
99% of microplastic from water media. Subsequently, the physical and chemical properties of the prepared
ferrofluid were also analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
spectroscopy. Performance evaluation of the prepared ferrofluid on actual wastewater (laundry wastewater)
revealed that 64% of microplastics were removed after treatment
Metagenomic insights into host-specific gastroenteritis bacteria in forest rodents of Sarawak, Borneo: implications for one health surveillance of rodent-borne pathogens
No full textAbstract Rodents are known to act as reservoirs for zoonotic diseases due to their widespread distribution and synanthropic nature. Among these, foodborne pathogens capable of causing gastroenteritis in humans are of particular concern, as rodents can facilitate their transmission through contamination of food sources. Forest-dwelling rodents may harbour bacterial taxa native to their habitat, posing a risk of zoonotic spillover to nearby human settlements. This risk is further heightened by the growing prevalence of ecotourism activities, particularly in tropical countries like Malaysia. In this study, rodent trapping was conducted in selected forested areas adjacent to human settlements across Sarawak. Nanopore sequencing of the full-length 16 S rRNA gene was conducted on faecal DNA from 46 rodent individuals representing seven different species (Maxomys surifer, M. tajuddinii, M. whiteheadi, Niviventer cremoriventer, Rattus tanezumi, R. tiomanicus and Sundamys muelleri). A total of ten bacterial species associated with gastroenteritis were successfully detected. Notable findings in this study include Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shigella species, which are known to cause bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. Also, the presence of certain bacterial taxa in specific rodent genera suggests potential host specificity of foodborne pathogens. This study highlights the potential public health risks caused by rodent-borne bacterial transmission and the importance of monitoring forest rodents as potential reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens
Effect of Various Sizes of Calcined Marsh Clam Shell on Phosphate Removal from Aqueous Solution
No full textPhosphorus is one of essential elements for sustaining life largely through phosphate, a compound containing the phosphate ion, PO4 3−. However, excessive phosphorus
concentrations will cause eutrophication and this condition is considered as an environmental issue. The phosphorus sources are commonly from human activities; for instance, detergents, fertilisers, and industries. Although various adsorption techniques have been applied to remove phosphorus in water, the effect of different particle sizes
of calcined marsh clam shells on phosphate removal has not been fully investigated, along with its adsorption kinetics and isotherms. This study investigates phosphate removal from synthetic solution onto calcined marsh clam shells (CMCs) with 5 different particle sizes: 0.075–0.15, 0.15–0.30, 0.30–0.60, 0.60–1.18, and 1.18–2.36 mm. The batch experiment used 2 g of adsorbent and synthetic potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4) solution. The adsorbent size of 0.075 to 0.15 mm showed the highest removal (100%) efficiency due to high adsorption rate. The experimental data were further
analysed using kinetics and isotherm models; the data fitted well with pseudo-secondorder kinetic model (R2 = 0.9986) and Freundlich isotherm model (R2 = 0.8404). The potential of marsh clam shells as an adsorbent for phosphate removal in water is significant for future applications in wastewater treatment technology
