The Implications of the Growth of Port Throughput on the Port Capacity: the Case of Malaysian Major Container Seaports

Malaysia, situated between East and West, is an interface in world maritime trade, playing a crucial role in the business of moving container boxes in South-eastern parts of Asia. The prominent container terminals in Malaysia such as Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas are positioned among the top twenty ports in terms of volume handled. The annual average growth of throughputs in Malaysian container ports increased more than three-fold from the year 2000 to 2010. Within this context, the development of Malaysian seaports has been significantly influenced by three forces: increased use of containerisation, significant growth in domestic economic activities and ever-changing patterns in both supply and demand chains, all of which have led to increased transshipment activities and altered shipping routes. This phenomenon has brought dynamic change to Malaysian container ports, resulting in the establishment of new terminals and adapting emerging technology to enhance the ports' ability to accommodate larger vessels and an increased number of containers. This paper aims to present the development of Malaysian container seaports by addressing changes to acreage size and handling volumes during the last three decades. The results of the analysis suggest that major Malaysian ports are experiencing an exponential growth in container trade with the expansion of port capacity following trade growth and need effective strategies to reduce the operational pressures of Malaysian seaports. The results of this research offer directions for development strategies of seaports by utilising the existing inland freight facilities as an effective strategy for capacity enhancement and develop efficient distribution network to meet future demands

Time estimation and beta segregation: An EEG study and graph theoretical approach

Elucidation of the neural correlates of time perception constitutes an important research topic in cognitive neuroscience. The focus to date has been on durations in the millisecond to seconds range, but here we used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine brain functional connectivity during much longer durations (i.e., 15 min). For this purpose, we conducted an initial exploratory experiment followed by a confirmatory experiment. Our results showed that those participants who overestimated time exhibited lower activity of beta (18�30 Hz) at several electrode sites. Furthermore, graph theoretical analysis indicated significant differences in the beta range (15�30 Hz) between those that overestimated and underestimated time. Participants who underestimated time showed higher clustering coefficient compared to those that overestimated time. We discuss our results in terms of two aspects. FFT results, as a linear approach, are discussed within localized/dedicated models (i.e., scalar timing model). Second, non-localized properties of psychological interval timing (as emphasized by intrinsic models) are addressed and discussed based on results derived from graph theory. Results suggested that although beta amplitude in central regions (related to activity of BG-thalamocortical pathway as a dedicated module) is important in relation to timing mechanisms, the properties of functional activity of brain networks; such as the segregation of beta network, are also crucial for time perception. These results may suggest subjective time may be created by vector units instead of scalar ticks. © 2018 Ghaderi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Time estimation and beta segregation: An EEG study and graph theoretical approach

Elucidation of the neural correlates of time perception constitutes an important research topic in cognitive neuroscience. The focus to date has been on durations in the millisecond to seconds range, but here we used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine brain functional connectivity during much longer durations (i.e., 15 min). For this purpose, we conducted an initial exploratory experiment followed by a confirmatory experiment. Our results showed that those participants who overestimated time exhibited lower activity of beta (18�30 Hz) at several electrode sites. Furthermore, graph theoretical analysis indicated significant differences in the beta range (15�30 Hz) between those that overestimated and underestimated time. Participants who underestimated time showed higher clustering coefficient compared to those that overestimated time. We discuss our results in terms of two aspects. FFT results, as a linear approach, are discussed within localized/dedicated models (i.e., scalar timing model). Second, non-localized properties of psychological interval timing (as emphasized by intrinsic models) are addressed and discussed based on results derived from graph theory. Results suggested that although beta amplitude in central regions (related to activity of BG-thalamocortical pathway as a dedicated module) is important in relation to timing mechanisms, the properties of functional activity of brain networks; such as the segregation of beta network, are also crucial for time perception. These results may suggest subjective time may be created by vector units instead of scalar ticks. © 2018 Ghaderi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Comparison of the tuberculin skin test and the QuantiFERON-TB Gold test in detecting latent tuberculosis in health care workers in Iran

OBJECTIVES: The tuberculin skin test (TST) and the QuantiFERON-TB Gold test (QFT) are used to identify latent tuberculosis infections (LTBIs). The aim of this study was to determine the agreement between these two tests among health care workers in Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 177 tuberculosis (TB) laboratory staff and 67 non-TB staff. TST indurations of 10 mm or more were considered positive. The Student's t-test and the chi-square test were used to compare the mean score and proportion of variables between the TB laboratory staff and the non-TB laboratory staff. Kappa statistics were used to evaluate the agreement between these tests, and logistic regression was used to assess the risk factors associated with positive results for each test. RESULTS: The prevalence of LTBIs according to both the QFT and the TST was 17 (95 confidence interval CI, 12% to 21%) and 16% (95% CI, 11% to 21%), respectively. The agreement between the QFT and the TST was 77.46%, with a kappa of 0.19 (95% CI, 0.04 to 0.34). CONCLUSIONS: Although the prevalence of LTBI based on the QFT and the TST was not significantly different, the kappa statistic was low between these two tests for the detection of LTBIs. © 2016, Korean Society of Epidemiolog

Separability in Asymmetric Phase-Covariant Cloning

Here, asymmetric phase-covariant quantum cloning machines are defined and trade-off between qualities of their outputs and its impact on entanglement properties of the outputs are studies. In addition, optimal families among these cloners are introduced and also their entanglement properties are investigated. An explicit proof of optimality is presented for the case of qubits, which is based on the no-signaling condition. Our optimality proof can also be used to derive an upper bound on trade-off relations for a more general class of optimal cloners which clone states on a specific orbit of the Bloch sphere. It is shown that the optimal cloners of the equatorial states, as in the case of symmetric phase-covariant cloning, give rise to two separable clones, and in this sense these states are unique. For these cloners it is shown that total output is of GHZ-type

Functional brain segregation changes during demanding mathematical task

Aim of the study: The neural basis of demanding mathematical problem solving is currently indeterminate and unclear. Mathematical problem solving engages higher order cognition and a complex associative activity of functional neural networks occurs during demanding problem solving. Method: Twenty right handed subjects (mean age: 24.6 years; SD = 3.97 years; 50 female) participated in this study. An arithmetic logic puzzle was used as a demanding mathematical task. EEGs were recorded in the eye open rest and eye open task conditions. To clarify functional connectivity of brain networks, clustering coefficient, transitivity, global efficiency, degree and entropy were investigated in two conditions. Results: During problem solving, disrupted brain connectivity and decreased brain segregation were observed in the alpha band. However, in the beta band, increased connectivity, transitivity and clustering associated with higher modularity were observed. Theta exhibited unaltered brain network function. Conclusion: In the demanding problem solving task, decreased local alpha coupling may suggest that default mode network activity is interrupted. Since there is no significant difference within the theta network, the central executive network may not be as strongly involved. Increased segregation of functional brain network (without increasing of integration level) can be discussed in relation of demanding aspects of mathematical problem. We suggest a complex network may involve in the real situation of demanding problem solving. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Transcranial photobiomodulation changes topology, synchronizability, and complexity of resting state brain networks

Objective. Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) is a recently proposed non-invasive brain stimulation approach with various effects on the nervous system from the cells to the whole brain networks. Specially in the neural network level, tPBM can alter the topology and synchronizability of functional brain networks. However, the functional properties of the neural networks after tPBM are still poorly clarified. Approach. Here, we employed electroencephalography and different methods (conventional and spectral) in the graph theory analysis to track the significant effects of tPBM on the resting state brain networks. The non-parametric statistical analysis showed that just one short-term tPBM session over right medial frontal pole can significantly change both topological (i.e. clustering coefficient, global efficiency, local efficiency, eigenvector centrality) and dynamical (i.e. energy, largest eigenvalue, and entropy) features of resting state brain networks. Main results. The topological results revealed that tPBM can reduce local processing, centrality, and laterality. Furthermore, the increased centrality of central electrode was observed. Significance. These results suggested that tPBM can alter topology of resting state brain network to facilitate the neural information processing. On the other hand, the dynamical results showed that tPBM reduced stability of synchronizability and increased complexity in the resting state brain networks. These effects can be considered in association with the increased complexity of connectivity patterns among brain regions and the enhanced information propagation in the resting state brain networks. Overall, both topological and dynamical features of brain networks suggest that although tPBM decreases local processing (especially in the right hemisphere) and disrupts synchronizability of network, but it can increase the level of information transferring and processing in the brain network. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd

Observational molecular case-control study of genetic polymorphisms 1 in programmed cell death protein-1 in patients with oral lichen planus

Background: The association between programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) variations and susceptibility to autoimmune diseases has been recurrently reported. However, there is no report about its relationship with oral lichen planus (OLP) as one of autoimmune diseases. Methods: We investigated the association between genetic predisposition to OLP and two single nucleotide polymorphisms in PD-1. Results: GG, GA, and AA genotypes at position +7146 were found in 59 (80.8 ), 10 (13.7 ), and 4 (5.5 ) patients, and in 132 (77 ), 34 (20 ), and 5 (3 ) healthy participants. CC, CT, and TT genotypes at position +7785 were found in 32 (43.8 ), 35 (47.9 ), and 6 (8.2 ) patients and in 99 (58 ), 66 (39 ), and 6 (3 ) controls. Analysis indicated that patients' genotypes were not statistically different from controls' genotypes at both positions +7146 (P = 0.35 and P = 0.98) and +7785 (P = 0.07 and P = 0.06). Conclusion: The findings indicated that PD-1 SNPs at +7146 PD-1.3 G/A and +7785 PD-1.5 C/T was not associated with susceptibility to OLP. However, further research with higher sample size and in different geographical regions is needed in order to achieve the generalizability of the findings. © 2019, Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention