bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Phaeohyphomycosis caused by Exophiala spinifera: an increasing disease in young females in mainland China? Two case reports and review of five cases reported from mainland China
Authors: Wang Le , Wang Chong , Shen Yongnian , Lv Guixia , She Xiaodong , Zeng Rong , Ping Zhan , Liu Weida
Published: January 2015

No more than 30 cases of phaeohyphomycosis caused by Exophiala spinifera have been reported up to now in English and Chinese literature over the past half century. Here, we reported two cases of phaeohyphomycosis caused by E. spinifera and reviewed all the five cases reported from mainland China. These two involved were both young female, one patient experiencing recurrence during pregnancy and the other developing multiple‐site infections without apparent immunodeficiency. The aetiological agents were both identified as E. spinifera by molecular analysis. Oral itraconazole was proved effective enough for the first patient, while the combination of itraconazole and terbinafine was needed for the second patient. It seems that infections due to E. spiniferais increasing in China mainland nowadays, usually involving young female.
Association of tumour necrosis factor‐α polymorphism in patients with end stage renal disease
Authors: Singh Kamini , Prasad Kashi Nath , Mishra Priyanka , Singh Satyendra Kumar , Kharwar Nagendra Kumar , Prasad Narayan , Gupta Amit , Srivastava Janmejai Kumar
Published: January 2015

Aim

Cytokines play a critical role in the pathophysiology of end stage renal disease (ESRD). Tumour necrosis factor‐a (TNF‐α) is an important cytokine involved in initiation and progression of renal diseases. The present study evaluated the association of specific alleles/genotype of TNF‐α with chronic renal failure (CRF) and ESRD.

Methods

A total of 30 CRF patients who were not on renal replacement therapy, 85 ESRD patients and 120 healthy controls were included in the study. The ESRD patients belonged to two subgroups: patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) without peritonitis (n = 50) and with peritonitis (n = 35). TNF‐α genotype (‐308 G > A) was determined by polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism. Level of TNF‐α was detected in the sera of patients and healthy controls by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and also in the dialysate of patients on PD.

Results

The genotypic distributions of TNF‐α (‐308 G > A) were significantly different between patients and controls. Homozygous A/A genotype had significant association with CRF and ESRD (P < 0.001, odds ratio [OR] = 25.02). Frequency of homozygous A/A genotype was significantly higher in all subgroups of patients than controls (CRF 40% vs control 2.5%, P = 0.001; PD 54% vs control 2.5%, P < 0.001 and PD with peritonitis 62.8% vs control 2.5%, P < 0.001). Patients with homozygous A/A genotype had significantly elevated levels of TNF‐α in the sera of patients and in the dialysate of PD patients.

Conclusions

Individuals with homozygous TNF‐α (‐308 G > A) polymorphisms has significant association with CRF and ESRD, and thus may be a predictor for development of the disease. Elevated TNF‐α may be a contributory factor.
Molecular phylogeography and ecological niche modelling of a widespread herbaceous climber, Tetrastigma hemsleyanum (Vitaceae): insights into Plio–Pleistocene range dynamics of evergreen forest in subtropical China
Authors: Wang Yi‐Han , Jiang Wei‐Mei , Comes Hans Peter , Hu Feng Sheng , Qiu Ying‐Xiong , Fu Cheng‐Xin
Published: January 2015

Warm‐temperate evergreen (WTE) forest represents the typical vegetation type of subtropical China, but how its component species responded to past environmental change remains largely unknown. Here, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum, an herbaceous climber restricted to the WTE forest.

Twenty populations were genotyped using chloroplast DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellite loci to assess population structure and diversity, supplemented by phylogenetic dating, ancestral area reconstructions and ecological niche modeling (ENM) of the species distributions during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and at present.

Lineages in Southwest vs Central‐South‐East China diverged through climate/tectonic‐induced vicariance of an ancestral southern range during the early Pliocene. Long‐term stability in the Southwest contrasts with latitudinal range shifts in the Central‐South‐East region during the early‐to‐mid‐Pleistocene. Genetic and ENM data strongly suggest refugial persistence in situ at the LGM.

Pre‐Quaternary environmental changes appear to have had a persistent influence on the population genetic structure of this subtropical WTE forest species. Our findings suggest relative demographic stability of this biome in China over the last glacial–interglacial cycle, in contrast with palaeobiome reconstructions showing that this forest biome retreated to areas of today's tropical South China during the LGM.
ENERGY‐USE CHOICES AND ALLOWANCE TRADING UNDER THE PERSONAL CARBON TRADING SCHEME
Authors: FAN JIN , WANG SHANYONG , WU YANRUI , LI JUN , ZHAO DINGTAO
Published: January 2015

Carbon emissions caused by the household sector have become a major contributor to total emissions. Personal carbon trading (PCT), although untested in practice, could potentially be a powerful tool to induce change in consumer behavior. In this paper, we present an optimization model to determine the energy use choices and allowance trading, and a market equilibrium model to obtain the total supply and demand functions of allowances and then to derive the equilibrium allowance price. It is shown that the level of allocated allowance, energy price, emission rate, and transaction costs could influence the equilibrium allowance price and traded volume. Furthermore, the allowance price is affected negatively and slightly by changes in energy prices, so the total energy price variations will be lessened relatively in the PCT scheme. To further demonstrate these relationships, numerical simulations are conducted. On the basis of the simulation results, the implications of this study are discussed and suggestions for future study are provided.
TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC–PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL?
Authors: REYNAERS ANNE‐MARIE , GRIMMELIKHUIJSEN STEPHAN
Published: January 2015

Scholars' criticism of transparency in public–private partnerships (PPPs) often focuses on ‘external’ transparency, that is, the extent to which internal information is visible to the outside world. However, to achieve external transparency,internaltransparency – the availability and inferability of information for the public procurer and the private party – is crucial. In this article we analyse input, process, and output transparency from three different perspectives (institutional, cognitive, and strategic) in fourPPPsin the Netherlands. We conclude that input transparency is high, but process and output transparency less so. Moreover, output transparency has gained importance inPPPs. Whether this is problematic depends on thePPPs' institutional environment. In some partnerships the desired output is uncontested and predetermined by clear standards in the institutional environment, whereas otherPPPsdeal with contested output norms, decreasing the partnerships' transparency. These results nuance the current debate on the lack of transparency inPPPs.
Beliefs and Testimony as Social Evidence: Epistemic Egoism, Epistemic Universalism, and Common Consent Arguments
Authors: Rollins Joshua
Published: January 2015

Until recently, epistemology was largely caught in the grips of an epistemically unrealisticradical epistemological individualismon which the beliefs and testimony of others were of virtually no epistemic significance. Thankfully, epistemologists have bucked the individualist trend, acknowledging that one person's belief or testimony thatPmight offer another person prima facie epistemic reasons – orsocial evidenceas I call it – to believeP. In this paper, I discuss the possibility and conditions under which beliefs and testimony act as social evidence, in particular, beliefs and testimony regarding the existence of God. Theepistemic egoistmaintains that one must possess positive reasons in favor of other people's reliability or trustworthiness before their beliefs and testimony offer prima facie social evidence. Theepistemic universalist, on the other hand, argues that the beliefs of all others are prima facie credible and should be treated accordingly. All this will set up subsequent discussion of the epistemic significance of common consent or widespread belief in God. I show how common consent arguments assume the epistemic universalist's account of the conditions under which the beliefs and testimony of others acquire reason‐giving force as social evidence.
Moore's Paradox in Thought: A Critical Survey
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: January 2015

It is raining but you don't believe that it is raining. Imagine silently accepting this claim. Then you believe both that it is raining and that you don't believe that it is raining. This would be an ‘absurd’ thing to believe, yet what you believe might be true. It might be raining, while at the same time, you are completely ignorant of the state of the weather. But how can it be absurd of you to believe something about yourself that might be true of you? This is Moore's paradox as it occurs in thought. Solving the paradox consists in explaining why such beliefs are absurd. I give a survey of some of the main explanations. I largely deal with explanations of the absurdity of ‘omissive’ beliefs with contents of the formp & I don't believe that pand of ‘commissive beliefs’ with contents of the formp & I believe that not‐pas well as beliefs with contents of the formp & I don't know that p.
Relativism 2: Semantic Content
Authors: Kölbel Max
Published: January 2015

In the pair of articles of which this is the second, I present a set of problems and philosophical proposals that have in recent years been associated with the term ‘relativism’. These problems are related to the question of how we should represent thought and speech about certain topics. The main issue is whether we should model such mental states or linguistic acts as involving representational contents that are absolutely correct or incorrect, or whether, alternatively, their correctness should be thought of as varying with some (more or less surprising) factor.

In the first article, ‘Relativism 1: Representational Content’, I discussed the general issue of relativism about representational content. I argued for the conciliatory view that both relativist and absolutist conceptions of representational content can be legitimate.

In the present continuation, I look in more detail at a special case of the general issue, namely the question of whethersemantic contents, i.e. the contents assigned to linguistic utterances in the semantics of natural language, should be construed in an absolutist or in a relativist way.
Perceived Maternal Autonomy Support and Early Adolescent Emotion Regulation: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: Brenning Katrijn , Soenens Bart , Van Petegem Stijn , Vansteenkiste Maarten
Published: January 2015

This study investigated longitudinal associations between perceived maternal autonomy‐supportive parenting and early adolescents' use of three emotion regulation (ER) styles: emotional integration, suppressive regulation, and dysregulation. We tested whether perceived maternal autonomy support predicted changes in ER and whether these ER styles, in turn, related to changes in adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, self‐esteem). Participants (N = 311, mean age at Time 1 = 12.04) reported on perceived maternal autonomy support, their ER styles, and adjustment at two moments in time, spanning a one‐year interval. Cross‐lagged analyses showed that perceived maternal autonomy support predicted increases in emotional integration and decreases in suppressive regulation. By contrast, emotional dysregulation predicted decreases in perceived autonomy‐supportive parenting. Further, increases in emotional integration were predictive of increases in self‐esteem, and decreases in suppressive regulation were predictive of decreases in depressive symptoms. Together, the results show that early adolescents' perception of their mothers as autonomy‐supportive is associated with increases in adaptive ER strategies and subsequent adjustment.
Reinterpreting EU Air Transport Deregulation: A Disaggregated Analysis of the Spatial Distribution of Traffic in Europe, 1990–2009
Authors: Suau‐Sanchez Pere , Burghouwt Guillaume , Fageda Xavier
Published: January 2015

This paper analyses the spatial distribution of seat capacity in the EU from 1990 to 2009 and sheds light on the contrasting results in the literature. It contributes to the debate on the deregulation and whether the rise of hub‐and‐spoke networks and the success of low‐cost carriers lead to concentration or deconcentration. We use the Gini index and its decomposition to evaluate the contribution of airport subgroups and airline networks to the overall concentration of seat capacity. We conclude that, overall, seat capacity follows a spatial deconcentration pattern. While intra‐EU seat capacity became more spatially deconcentrated, extra‐EU seat capacity concentrated. However, our results do not support the general view that network carriers tend to increase concentration levels and low‐cost carriers to decrease them, leading us to a reinterpretation of the impacts of air transport deregulation. The results show the increasing importance of foreign carriers and new strategies such as hub‐bypassing.
Comparison of patient intake of ticagrelor, prasugrel, or clopidogrel on restoring platelet function by donor platelets
Authors: Scharbert Gisela , Wetzel Leonore , Schrottmaier Waltraud C. , Kral Julia B. , Weber Thomas , Assinger Alice
Published: January 2015

Background

Bleeding complications are a common side effect in patients under dual antiplatelet (anti‐PLT) therapy. PLT transfusion provides a treatment option for these patients. However it is currently unclear if, and to what extent, P2Y12 inhibitors influence PLT function of donor PLTs and if patients taking these medications are likely to benefit from PLT transfusions.

Study Design and Methods

We investigated the effect of blood and plasma of clopidogrel‐, prasugrel‐, and ticagrelor‐treated patients on PLT function of blood from healthy volunteers in flow cytometry, light transmission aggregometry, and multiple electrode aggregometry (MEA).

Results

Our results demonstrate that clopidogrel had no and prasugrel had only mild effects on donor PLT function, but the reversible P2Y12 inhibitor ticagrelor completely abolished adenosine diphosphate‐mediated PLT activation in all assays tested. We further show that ticagrelor itself and not elevated adenosine concentrations in patient plasma were responsible for the observed effects. Moreover, we show that a modified MEA assay could provide a simple and rapid tool to allow determination of whether patients are likely to benefit from PLT transfusions.

Conclusion

Our results provide novel insights into potential differences between the P2Y12 inhibitors on donor PLT function in an in vitro setting, which may provide implications for future PLT transfusion strategies in these patients.
Implementation of Evidence‐Based Practice in Relation to a Clinical Nursing Ladder System: A National Survey in Taiwan
Authors: Weng Yi‐Hao , Chen Chiehfeng , Kuo Ken N. , Yang Chun‐Yuh , Lo Heng‐Lien , Chen Kee‐Hsin , Chiu Ya‐Wen
Published: January 2015

Background

Although evidence‐based practice (EBP) has been widely investigated, few studies have investigated its correlation with a clinical nursing ladder system. The current national study evaluates whether EBP implementation has been incorporated into the clinical ladder system.

Methods

A cross‐sectional questionnaire survey was conducted nationwide of registered nurses among regional hospitals of Taiwan in January to April 2011. Subjects were categorized into beginning nurses (N1 and N2) and advanced nurses (N3 and N4) by the clinical ladder system. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to adjust for possible confounding demographic factors.

Results

Valid postal questionnaires were collected from 4,206 nurses, including 2,028 N1, 1,595 N2, 412 N3, and 171 N4 nurses. Advanced nurses were more aware of EBP than beginning nurses (p < 0.001; 90.7% vs. 78.0%). In addition, advanced nurses were more likely to hold positive beliefs about and attitudes toward EBP (p < 0.001) and possessed more sufficient knowledge of and skills in EBP (p < 0.001). Furthermore, they more often implemented EBP principles (p < 0.001) and accessed online evidence‐based retrieval databases (p < 0.001). The most common motivation for using online databases was self‐learning for advanced nurses and positional promotion for beginning nurses. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed advanced nurses were more aware of EBP, had higher knowledge and skills of EBP, and more often implemented EBP than beginning nurses.

Linking Evidence to Action

The awareness of, beliefs in, attitudes toward, knowledge of, skills in, and behaviors of EBP among advanced nurses were better than those among beginning nurses. The data indicate that a clinical ladder system can serve as a useful means to enhance EBP implementation.
A Comparative Study on EIA process in Malaysia, West Australia, New Zealand and Canada
Authors: Makmor Maisarah , Ismail Zulhabri
Published: January 2015

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has become an essential tool in promoting sustainable development and environmental protection since it was formally introduced by National Environmental Policy (NEPA) in 1969. The acceptance and application of EIA as a key tool in ensuring green development was overwhelming and has reflected positive feedbacks since its first introduction to the world community. The implementation of the EIA in various countries differs from one another as each country customised their own EIA process to cater their local development. This paper highlights the essentials of Environmental Impact Assessment and the EIA processes that have been adapted in four countries namely, Malaysia, West Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The three developed countries have been chosen because they share the same legal system as Malaysia which is the common law. The objective of this paper is to analyse the differences and the similarities between the EIA processes in the four chosen countries. The analysis was carried out by utilising a comparative study which was achieved via literature review. The comparative study reveals the similarities and differences of each EIA process implemented in the four countries. Conclusively, the four countries possessed few similarities such as each country has their own legal instrument, a governing body responsible in administering their local EIA process and incorporates public participation in the EIA process. However, the Canadian EIA process has a more notable EIA process between the four EIA processes, whereby, it possesses the most elaborate process which involves public participation at every level and takes up to 365 days for the EIA assessment.
On the Abelianization of a Torsion Free Crystallographic Group
Authors: Mohd Idrus Nor'ashiqin , Sarmin Nor Haniza , Mat Hassim Hazzirah Izzati , Masri Rohaidah
Published: January 2015

A torsion free crystallographic group, which is also known as a Bieberbach group is a generalization of free abelian groups. It is an extension of a lattice group by a finite point group. The study of n-dimensional crystallographic group had been done by many researchers over a hundred years ago. A Bieberbach group has been characterized as a fundamental group of compact, connected, flat Riemannian manifolds. In this paper, we characterize Bieberbach groups with trivial center as exactly those with finite abelianizations.  The abelianization of a Bieberbach group is shown to be finite if the center of the group is trivial.
Thermal Properties of Oil Palm Shell Lightweight Concrete with Different Mix Designs
Authors: Serri Eravan , Othuman Mydin Md Azree , Suleiman Mohd Zailan
Published: January 2015

Nowadays, the utilization of Oil Palm Shell (OPS) as lightweight aggregate in concrete especially in the structure application has become prevalent. As an industrial waste product, Oil Palm Shell (OPS) possibly will be the alternative material to be employed in the construction industry. With its advantage as heat resistant material, this study will focus on the potential of OPS as lightweight aggregate with regard to the optimum content of OPS for thermal insulating material. A total of 15 mixes were prepared and tested with 3 different cement/sand ratios (1.7, 1.8, 1.9) and 5 different cement contents (300, 350, 400, 450, 500 kg/m³). The result of this study show that the highest sand used will produced good workability but increased thermal conductivity of mix value. The test result indicates that the thermal conductivity and insulation criterion is substantially improved with the volume use of OPS and strong relationship between thermal conductivity and unit weight is obtained. The measured thermal conductivity value range from 0.54W/mC to 1.1 W/mC. The ideal value for semi structure insulation material establish by RILEM only  achieve for mix that used cement content 400 kg/m³ and below, which thermal conductivity is 0.75 W/mC below.
Status dan Tahap Penggunaan Jentera dan Mesin di kalangan Kontraktor G7 di Malaysia
Authors: Azman Mohamed Nor Azhari , Mohd Zaihidee Fardila , Mohd Nawi Mohd Nasrun , Mohamad Kamar Kamarul Anuar , Abd Hamid Zuhairi , Mustapha Ramlee , Wai Bing Khuan , Tze Kiong Tee
Published: January 2015

The wide use of machine and machinery in the construction industry can reduce the dependency on foreign workers. The Construction Industry Development Board is formulating a strategic plan to promote the use of machine and machinery in the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to study the level and status of the usage machine and machinery among the G7 contractors at construction sites. The instrument used in the study consist of questionnaire and interviews. Based on the literature findings, there are 9 types of machine and 9 types machinery used in the construction industry. The percentage use of machine and machinery as well as the level of mechanisation for each phase of construction is at level 1, where the machine and machinery is still driven by the operator and do not involved high technology. The main recommendation in this study is to provide training on the latest information on machine and machinery and CPD (Continue Professional Development) training to promote the use of machine and machinery. In addition, the offering better incentives such as tax breaks and loan facilities should be awarded and provided by the government to activate the economic growth.
Bandwidth Widening, Gain Improvement and Efficiency Boost of an Antenna Using Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) Ground Plane
Authors: Dewan Raimi , Abdul Rahim Sharul Kamal , Ausordin Siti Fatimah , Abang Zaidel Dyg Norkhairunnisa , Muhammad Sa’ad Bashir , Purnamirza Teddy
Published: January 2015

In this paper, a standalone patch antenna operating at 2.3 GHz is initially designed as a reference antenna. Subsequently, the patch antenna is incorporated with an Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) as the ground plane to obtain an Antenna with Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AAMC). Performance comparison is analyzed between the standalone patch antenna and the AAMC. The incorporation of AMC to the patch antenna successfully enhances the bandwidth of the standalone patch antenna by 520%, increases gain by 2dBi, and boosts the efficiency up to 30 % as compared to the reference antenna. As a result of the bandwidth enhancement, the AAMC is capable to cover several frequency bands within 2.19 GHz to 2.5 GHz. Hence, the new design is suitable for WiMAX, WLAN and RFID applications. The measurement results in terms of return loss, gain and radiation patterns agreed satisfactorily with the simulated ones. Moreover, the parametric studies of antenna dimensions and air gap are presented and discussed.
Separation of Xylose From Glucose Using Thin Film Composite (TFC) Nanofiltration Membrane: Effect of Pressure, Total Sugar Concentration and Xylose/Glucose Ratio
Authors: Mah K. H. , Yussof H. W. , Jalanni N. A. , Abu Seman M. N. , Zainol N.
Published: January 2015

Xylose is an abundant raw material coexists with other sugars that can be turned into useful products, such as ethanol, xylitol and 2, 3-butanediol by microorganism such as yeasts, bacteria, and mycelial fungi. However, more than 80 % of the production cost of these products comes solely from the production of xylose. Presently, the separation of xylose from hemicellulose hydrolysate relies on chromatographic separation alone. The use of nanofiltration membrane may offer alternative in recovering xylose due to the differences in size compared to other sugars. The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of membrane developed by interfacial polymerization reaction between triethanolamine (TEOA) (6 % w/v) and tri-mesoyl chloride (TMC) (0.15 % w/v) as monomers on polyethersulfone (PES) microporous substrate to separate xylose from glucose. In this study, factors affecting the process, namely pressure, concentration of total sugars in solution, and composition of monosaccharides in total sugar, were investigated using two-level factorial analysis. The experiment was performed using Amicon Milipore stirred cell (Model 8200) with constant stirring speed at 300 rpm and temperature at ambient. The glucose and xylose concentration was quantified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). It is found that the developed nanofiltration membrane has the ability to separate xylose from glucose.The analysis of the experimental response revealed that the total sugar concentration and composition ratio of xylose: glucose had significant interactive effect on xylose separation factor. Overall from the present study, it can be concluded that nanofiltration has high potential to replace currently in use chromatographic method in xylose separation.
Landslide on a Deeply Landfilled Slope: A Case Study of Tembalang, Indonesia
Authors: Arief Rifqi Brilyant , Rusbintardjo Gatot , Md. Yusoff Nur Izzi
Published: January 2015

This paper reports on the failure of a deeply landfilled area where a three-storey building was under construction on it. The soil used for landfill adheres to the safety needs as the material used was the commonly used mountainous soil. The soil has sufficient high shear stress even for a steep slope. When heavy and persistent rain came, some area suffered catastrophic landslide causing part of the ground floor in the three-storey building damaged. Since the rainy season is still undergoing, fast reinforcement acts were needed so that the construction works may proceed without any subsequent landslide events. A grouting technique using cement mixed into the soil was proposed at site and proved successful where no event of landslide occurred. This paper also presented the reasons for choosing grouting cement compared to the other common soil reinforcement methods. An increase in soil shear strength due to cement grouting will also be discussed. This paper also presents the cases of landslide caused by torrential rain and provides recommendation of reinforcement methods for such cases.
Building Condition Assessment for New Houses: A Case Study in Terrace Houses
Authors: Che Ani Adi Irfan , Mohd Tawil Norngainy , Johar Suhana , Abd Razak Mohd Zulhanif , Yahaya Hafsah
Published: January 2015

This study determines the types of defects often detected in residential buildings based on the criteria set by the Construction Industry Standard (CIS) 7: 2006–Quality Assessment System for Building Construction Work. Twenty-two terraced two-story houses located in Selangor, Malaysia were visually inspected and assessed in terms of building condition, and results were reported based on the Condition Survey Protocol 1 Matrix. Assessment findings were consolidated with those of defective groups based on the criteria of CIS 7: 2006 to determine the defect type, building component, and construction field in which defects often occur. Results show that most of the inspected houses are dilapidated even though they were recently completed. The most severe building defects are detected in the architecture. Furthermore, floors and walls are major contributors to building defects. Mainly as a result of poor workmanship, the most common defects involve finishing, alignment and evenness, and joint and gap. Thus, this study proposes a method to ensure high-quality workmanship.
Printed Document Integrity Verification Using Barcode
Authors: Husain Affandi , Bakhtiari Majid , Zainal Anazida
Published: January 2015

Printed documents are still relevant in our daily life and information in it must be protected from threats and attacks such as forgery, falsification or unauthorized modification. Such threats make the document lose its integrity and authenticity. There are several techniques that have been proposed and used to ensure authenticity and originality of printed documents. But some of the techniques are not suitable for public use due to its complexity, hard to obtain special materials to secure the document and expensive. This paper discuss several techniques for printed document security such as watermarking and barcode as well as the usability of two dimensional barcode in document authentication and data compression with the barcode. A conceptual solution that are simple and efficient to secure the integrity and document sender’s authenticity is proposed that uses two dimensional barcode to carry integrity and authenticity information in the document. The information stored in the barcode contains digital signature that provides sender’s authenticity and hash value that can ensure the integrity of the printed document.
Compact Triple Band Metamaterial Antenna Based on Modified Electric-field Coupled-LC Resonator
Authors: Bala B. D. , Rahim M. K. A. , Murad N. A. , Mokhtar M. H.
Published: January 2015

In this paper, a compact triple band metamaterial antenna based on modified electric-field coupled (ELC) resonator is presented. The modification to the conventional ELC is achieved by the use of strip lines to enhance the capacitive coupling of the capacitive gaps and a stub printed at the back of the resonator. The unit cell’s macroscopic parameters were not affected by the structural modifications as the electric moment dominates the magnetic moments in the ELC response. By employing this structure, three resonance frequencies at 1.65 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 5.8 GHz are obtained. The overall size of the antenna is 40 mm × 45 mm (0.22λo × 0.24λo) with the unit cell size of 12 mm × 11 mm (0.066λo × 0.060λo) at 1.65 GHz. The peak gain of 2.10 dBi and radiation efficiency of 97% is obtained at 5.8 GHz. The proposed antenna has advantages of being compact, small and suitable for WiMAX (3.5 GHz) and WLAN (5.8 GHz) applications. The simulated and measured return losses and the radiation patterns are presented and compared.
Investigation of Carbon Dioxide Methanation over Ceria Based Catalysts
Authors: Wan Abu Bakar Wan Azelee , Toemen Susilawati , Ali Rusmidah
Published: January 2015

The recycling technology by the catalytic conversion is one of the most promising techniques for the CO2 treatment of gas burning power plant flue gases. The methanation of CO2 to valuable product of CH4shows significant environmental and economic benefits since the methane gas production can be used as a fuel to run the turbine for electricity generation. In addition, a highly basic catalyst such as ceria which has excellent redox properties is an effective material which could enhance carbon dioxide adsorption on the catalyst surface but has not been widely explored. Therefore, this research is focused on the development of ceria based catalysts by impregnating Ce to Ru/Mn/Al2O3 catalyst. From the catalytic testing, the addition of Ce to Ru/Mn/Al2O3 as based catalyst was found to be appreciably more active for promoting the CO2methanation reaction. Further investigation of the Ru/Mn/Ce/Al2O3 catalysts on the ceria loading and calcination temperature can significantly affect the catalytic performance. The optimum conditions were achieved with 65 wt% of cerium loading and calcination temperature of 1000oC which gave 97.73% CO2 conversion with 91.31% of methane formation at reaction temperature of 200oC. Meanwhile, only 30.52% methane was formed from 30.72% CO2 conversion over Ru/Mn-65/Al2O3 catalyst. The high activity of Ru/Mn/Ce-65/Al2O3 catalyst can be ascribed to its high surface area caused by the production of new active sites on the catalyst surface since the morphology of the catalyst had transformed to look like staghorn coral morphology. Furthermore, incorporating the Ce towards Ru/Mn-65/Al2O3 catalyst had induced the formation of Al2O3 with different crystalline phase (from rhombohedral to orthorhombic phase) and formation of MnO2 and Mn2O3.
Thermal Hydrogen Reduction for Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles in the Nanochannels of Mesoporous Silica Composite
Authors: Jalani Mohamad Azani , Yuliati Leny , O. Lintang Hendrik
Published: January 2015

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with small particle size have been difficult to be synthesized due to their strong agglomeration. Herein we report that the nanochannels of mesoporous silica synthesized from template sol-gel synthesis were utilized to prepare AuNPs by employing thermal hydrogen reduction. Mesoporous silica composite with an interpore distance of 4.1 nm was successfully fabricated as a thin film by an amphiphilic trinuclear gold(I) pyrazolate complex ([Au3Pz3]C10TEG) as a template. In contrast to calcination method of this composite and the bulk [Au3Pz3]C10TEG complex at 450ºC for 3 h, thermal hydrogen reduction at 250ºC for 2 h showed transmission electron microscope (TEM) images and diffraction pattern with smaller particle size (14.5 nm) and more homogenous distribution of AuNPs with up to 44% of the particle size in the range of 10 to 20 nm. The decreasing of average particle size in this new strategy indicated by the red-shifting of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band from 518 (AuNPs from the bulk [Au3Pz3]C10TEG complex) and 544 (calcination) to 558 nm.
Tongkat Ali Extraction using Hollow Fiber Membranes Modified by Negatively Charged-modifying Marcromolecules
Authors: Bolong N. , Kumaresan S. , Saad I. , Thasan T. , Ramli R.
Published: January 2015

Eurycoma longifolia Jack is an herbal medicinal plant popularly recognized as 'Tongkat Ali.' The plant parts have been traditionally used for its antimalarial, aphrodisiac, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial and anti-pyretic activities, which have also been proved scientifically. This study attempt to isolate and concentrate the targeted 4.3 kDa peptide fraction from the Tongkat Ali water extracts which consist of many other fractions of peptides, proteins and phytochemicals by membrane separation. The hollow fiber membranes made of Polyethersulfone (PES) were fabricated in-house using phase inversion technique with synthesized Charged-Surface Modifying Macromolecules (cSMM) which anticipated by the end-capped group of cSMM namely Hydroxybenzene carboxylate (HBC). The influence of stock feed concentration and system flow rate were investigated in this work. The results obtained showed that the permeate is 10 times concentrated than the actual overall extract with linear influence on protein permeate concentration with increasing feed concentration. Whereas the flow rate of the feed stream has contribute to the flow rate and the concentration of the permeate stream an increased protein concentration by 5 % with the doubled feed flow rate.
Effect of Operating Parameters on Performance of Ultrafiltration (UF) to Fractionate Catfish Protein Hydrolysate
Authors: Novin D. , MD Yunos K. F.
Published: January 2015

The effect of pH, ionic strength and feed concentration on performance of ultrafiltration (UF) to fractionate Catfish protein hydrolysate (CFPH) through 5kDa regenerated cellulose (RC) membrane was studied. The highest and lowest permeate flux belonged respectively to pH 9 and isoelectric point (IEP) with flux reduction of 5.75 L/m2.h at pH 9 and 10.98 L/m2.h at pH isoelectric through operating time. Further, by adding the salt, the highest permeate flux and transmission obtained at highest ionic strength of 0.15 M NaCl with 52.96% of transmission (in average). Then, the transmission reached to 54.18% by increasing feed concentration up to 1.5 mg/ml.
Hydrophilicity Effect of Rice Husk Silica on Mixed Matrix PSF Membrane Properties
Authors: Harun Zawati , Shohur Muhamad Fikri , Jamalludin Mohd Riduan , Yunos Muhamad Zaini , Basri Hatijah
Published: January 2015

The effects of two types of additives rice husk silica (RHS) towards membrane hydrophilicity and flux performance were investigated. Different percentages or concentrations of rice husk silica (RHS) additive were used to form a mixed matrix membrane. This flat sheet mixed matrix membrane was prepared via phase inversion technique. The fabricated membrane was characterized by contact angle and surface roughness measurements, whereas the flux permeation was measured using pure water flux. The result demonstrated that the addition both types of rice husk silica have increased the hydrophilicity properties of the mixed matrix membrane. Stronger effect of hydrophilicity is shown upon addition of amorphous rice husk particle where both contact angle and surface roughness were reduced and increased, respectively.
Chromium (III) Removal by Epoxy-Cross-Linked Polyethersulfone Ultrafiltration Membrane
Authors: Erniza M. J. J. , Low S. C.
Published: January 2015

This study attempts to correlate the changes in membrane morphology with the separation efficiency of the polyethersulfone/epoxy resin (PES/ER) blend membranes. Intermolecular interactions between the components in PES/ER blend membranes were established by ATR-FTIR and the morphological study by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) has confirmed the significant changes of pores connectivity between the sub-layers of membrane. PES/ER blend membrane with 10% of ER revealed highest rejection of Cr(III) ions at 85% without jeopardizing the permeate flux (12.17 L/m2h). From the results, it could be concluded that the PES/ER blend membrane has the great potential in the removal of chromium ions from an aqueous waste.
The Influence of PEG Additive on the Morphology of PVDF Ultrafiltration Membranes and Its Antifouling Properties Towards Proteins Separation
Authors: Ngang H. P. , Ahmad A. L. , Low S. C. , Ooi B .S.
Published: January 2015

In the present work, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were prepared by diffusion induced phase separation process (DIPS). N,N’-dimethylformamide (DMF) was used as the solvent and water was used as coagulant. The effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG 2000) concentration in the casting solution on morphology and performance were investigated. The physical properties of PVDF UF membranes were characterized based on pore size distribution, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and contact angle. The permeation performance of the membranes were evaluated in term of pure water flux (PWF), relative flux reduction (RFR), flux recovery ratio (FRR), and bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection. The pore size distribution increased with the increased in PEG 2000 concentrations, and pure water flux also increased accordingly. The PEG 2000 at concentration of 6 wt.% achieved lowest RFR (50.38%), highest FRR (84.54%) and achieved highest BSA rejection, of 94.55%. This membrane exhibited better antifouling properties as well as improved membrane performance during filtration of BSA due to the optimum pore size, hydrophilic as well as smooth surface.
Performance of Polyphenylsulfone-based Solvent Resistant Nanofiltration Membranes in Removing Dyes from Methanol Solution
Authors: Sani N. A. A. , Lau W. J. , Ismail A. F.
Published: January 2015

In this study, polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) which is a third member of the polysulfone (PSF) family, with even better properties than PSF and polyethersulfone (PES) was used to prepare flat sheet solvent resistant nanofiltration (SRNF) membranes. The SRNF membranes were prepared from different PPSU concentrations (i.e. 17, 21 and 25 wt%) via phase inversion method. The performance of membranes was then evaluated by measuring the methanol flux and rejection against dyes of different molecular weight (MW) dissolved in methanol. The study revealed that the membrane with the lowest polymer concentration produced the highest pure methanol flux and required the longest time to achieve steady-state owing to its porous structure. Results also showed that the flux of the membranes tended to decrease with filtration time due to the membrane compaction. With respect to the membrane separation performance, it was found that the membrane dye rejection increased while permeate flux decreased with increasing the MW of dye components from 269 to 1470 g/mol, irrespective of the polymer concentration. Furthermore, the membrane MWCO was found to change with polymer concentration in which an increase in polymer concentration led to a lower membrane MWCO.
Study of the Effect of Spacer Orientation and Shape in Membrane Feed Channel using CFD Modelling
Authors: Teoh H. C. , Lai S. O.
Published: January 2015

Computational fluids dynamics (CFD) modelling has been carried out for a spacer-filled membrane channel using ANSYS FLUENT 14.0. The effect of spacer angles relative to the feed flow direction and different spacer shape combinations on velocity magnitude, wall shear stress, pressure drop and power number were investigated. From the results, spacer angle of 63.565° is the best orientation as it can generate the highest shear stress and reasonably lower power number compared to other spacer angles. Although the combinations of spacer shape did not significantly improve the average wall shear stress, it helped in reducing the pressure drop of the channel. The combination of triangular and circular spacers provided lower Power number, and hence lower energy consumption was required compared to pure triangular spacer. The current results indicated that a combination of triangular and circular spacers can be employed to offer better saving in energy consumption.
Surface Modification of Asymmetric Polysulfone Membrane by UV Irradiation
Authors: Konruang Sutthisa , Chittrakarn Thawat , Sirijarukul Suksawat
Published: January 2015

The effects of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for surface modification of hydrophobic asymmetric polysulfone membranes have been investigated. The asymmetric polysulfone (PSF) membranes were prepared by phase inversion method using 19%-25% of PSF in two solvents, viz. dimethylacetamide (DMF) and Acetone (Ac) collectively. The surface of asymmetric polysulfone membranes were modified by UV ray with 254 and 312 nm wavelength. Chemical and physical properties of the untreated and the treated membranes were characterized. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to determine asymmetric structure of polysulfone membranes. Contact angle device was used to analyzed the effected of UV ray treatment on hydrophilicity of membranes surface. Polar functional groups introduced by UV irradiation were examined using FTIR. The water flux was measured under a pressure of 500 kPa to 2,500 kPa with a feed temperature of 25°C. It was shown that asymmetric polysulfone membranes were produced and the UV ray treatment significantly alters the hydrophilicity of membranes surface indicated by the reduction of water contact angle with increasing treatment time. The FTIR analysis showed the formations of polar functional groups such as hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. Consequently, the surface of asymmetric polysulfone membranes was changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic by UV irradiation leading to the enhancement of the water flux.
Treatment of Aerobic Treated Palm Oil Mill Effluent (AT-POME) by using TiO2 Photocatalytic Process
Authors: Tan Y. H. , Goh P. S. , Lai G. S. , Lau W. J. , Ismail A. F.
Published: January 2015

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is one of the major wastewater sources found in Malaysia. Despite the reduction of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) through aerobic or anaerobic biodegradation, the effluent of the treated wastewater (AT-POME) remains dark owing to the degradation of lignocellulosic from the raw POME. In this study, photocatalyst, TiO2 was used to degrade the color pigment that presence in the AT-POME. Besides, different loadings of TiO2 were used to investigate the effect of catalyst loading towards the photodegradation efficiency. The results showed that 10 wt% of TiO2 can remove more than 70% of the color pigment in AT-POME. However, the color reduction only increased slightly when the loading increased from 5 wt% to 10 wt%. This phenomenon occured due to the agglomeration of nanoparticles in the suspension and the excessive of photocatalyst in the suspension that have prevented the penetration of UV irradiation and consequently slowed down the photodegradation.
Preparation and Photocatalytic Activity of Mixed Phase Anatase/rutile TiO2 Nanoparticles for Phenol Degradation
Authors: Mohamed Mohamad Azuwa , Wan Salleh Wan Norharyati , Jaafar Juhana , Yusof Norhaniza
Published: January 2015

The evolution of desirable physico-chemical properties in high performance photocatalyst materials involves steps that must be carefully designed, controlled, and optimized. This study investigated the role of key parameter in the preparation and photocatalytic activity analysis of the mixed phase of anatase/rutile TiO2 nanoparticles, prepared via sol-gel method containing titanium-n-butoxide Ti(OBu)4 as a precursor material, nitric acid as catalyst, and isopropanol as solvent. The prepared TiO2 nanoparticles were characterized by means of XRD, SEM, and BET analyses, and UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy. The results indicated that the calcination temperature play an important role in the physico-chemical properties and photocatalytic activity of the resulting TiO2 nanoparticles. Different calcination temperatures would result in different composition of anatase and rutile. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared mixed phase of anatase/rutile TiO2 nanoparticles was measured by photodegradation of 50 ppm phenol in an aqueous solution. The commercial anatase from Sigma-Aldrich and Degussa P25 were used for comparison purpose. The mixed phase of anatase/rutile TiO2 nanoparticles (consists of 38.3% anatase and 61.7% rutile) that was prepared at 400°C exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity of 84.88% degradation of phenol. The result was comparable with photocatalytic activity demonstrated by Degussa P25 by 1.54% difference in phenol degradation. The results also suggested that the mixed phase of anatase/rutile TiO2 nanoparticles is a promising candidate for the phenol degradation process. The high performance of photocatalyst materials may be obtained by adopting a judicious combination of anatase/rutile and optimized calcination conditions.