Super yatch design study for Malaysian sea (Langkawi Island)

Malaysia as a country surrounded by water has a huge economic and geographical potential in the development of super yacht industry in South East Asia. There is lack of super yacht design study specifying to Malaysian marinas and seas. Most of the super yacht operates in Malaysia were built and bought directly from oversea, and chartered by foreign companies. It is hence the purpose of this study to survey on Malaysian sea water, particularly Langkawi Island, to introduce a design methodology in producing a preliminary design of super yacht that suits Langkawi Island, and serves as a guideline for future super yacht design for Malaysian sea in different marinas. Suitable dimensions of super yacht were derived by using dimensional relationship via statistical method. Two types of hull form designs (round bilge and V-bottom hull) were designed using Maxsurf Pro software. Resistance analysis on the two hull forms were carried out using Savitsky Pre-Planing and Compton methods via MaxsurfHullspeed software, and stability performance of the two hull forms was analyze using Hydromax software. VBottom hull form is found to have better resistance performance as compared to round bilge hull form, and both hull forms are found to be in stable conditions and comply with IMO requirements

Cross-oncopanel study reveals high sensitivity and accuracy with overall analytical performance depending on genomic regions

BackgroundTargeted sequencing using oncopanels requires comprehensive assessments of accuracy and detection sensitivity to ensure analytical validity. By employing reference materials characterized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-led SEquence Quality Control project phase2 (SEQC2) effort, we perform a cross-platform multi-lab evaluation of eight Pan-Cancer panels to assess best practices for oncopanel sequencing.ResultsAll panels demonstrate high sensitivity across targeted high-confidence coding regions and variant types for the variants previously verified to have variant allele frequency (VAF) in the 5-20% range. Sensitivity is reduced by utilizing VAF thresholds due to inherent variability in VAF measurements. Enforcing a VAF threshold for reporting has a positive impact on reducing false positive calls. Importantly, the false positive rate is found to be significantly higher outside the high-confidence coding regions, resulting in lower reproducibility. Thus, region restriction and VAF thresholds lead to low relative technical variability in estimating promising biomarkers and tumor mutational burden.ConclusionThis comprehensive study provides actionable guidelines for oncopanel sequencing and clear evidence that supports a simplified approach to assess the analytical performance of oncopanels. It will facilitate the rapid implementation, validation, and quality control of oncopanels in clinical use.Peer reviewe

Identification of Activation Isotopes in a CS-30 Cyclotron Vault

A CS-30 cyclotron has been in operation at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) since 1982. The CS-30 cyclotron has been used to produce medical radioisotopes for positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Some of the nuclear reactions of radionuclide production are associated with the intense release of a wide range of fast neutrons. In this work, we investigated the radionuclides produced from neutron interactions with the cyclotron facility walls. Activation isotopes were determined by performing gamma ray spectrometry utilizing a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The major radionuclides found were 152Eu, 154Eu, 134Cs, 65Zn and 60Co. Activation isotope accumulation had increased the dose rate inside the facility. The surface dose rates were measured at all of the surrounding walls. The maximum surface dose rate was found to be 1.2 µSv/h, which is much lower than the permissible occupational exposure of 15 µSv/h based daily 5 work hours

Age diversity and learning outcomes in organizational training groups: the role of knowledge sharing and psychological safety

This study advances theorizing on human resource development by conceptualizing a training group’s age diversity composition as an antecedent of participants’ learning outcomes in organizational training courses. Drawing from social identity theory, we propose that a high age diversity of the training group can inhibit participants’ learning outcomes because individuals are less likely to share knowledge than in age-homogenous groups. Furthermore, we expect that psychological safety serves as a buffer, such that participants who perceive a high level of psychological safety in a training group will engage in knowledge sharing and consequently report high learning outcomes, regardless of the training group’s age diversity composition. We tested the proposed moderated mediation model in a sample of 211 employees participating in an interactive oneday training at an automobile manufacturer. We found that perceived age diversity, but not objective age diversity, was negatively linked to participants’ learning outcomes and that this relationship was mediated by knowledge sharing. Participants’ perceptions of psychological safety served as a buffer against the negative effect of perceived age diversity. We discuss implications for the conceptual understanding of learning as an active process shaped by the training group and encourage scholars to broaden their understanding of training design elements

Morphological and thermal analyses of flexible polyurethane foams containing commercial calcium carbonate

Uma das cargas mais utilizadas na fabricação de espumas flexíveis de poliuretano é o carbonato de cálcio (CaCO3) por ser não abrasivo, não tóxico e de fácil pigmentação. Contudo, é observado que o excesso de CaCO3 comercial usado nas indústrias causa deformações permanentes, o que prejudica a qualidade do produto final. No presente trabalho é proposto o estudo do efeito da concentração de CaCO3 comercial na fabricação de espumas flexíveis de poliuretano. Foram utilizadas diferentes concentrações de CaCO3 na síntese das espumas, as quais foram submetidas à análises térmica e morfológica, afim de verificar as alterações provocadas pela introdução progressiva da carga. ____________________________________________________________________________________ABSTRACT: One filler often utilized in flexible polyurethane foams is calcium carbonate (CaCO3) because it is non-abrasiveness, non-toxicity and facilitated pigmentation. However, it is observed that the excess of commercial CaCO3 utilized in industry possibly causing permanent deformations and damaging the quality of the final product. The effect of different concentrations of commercial CaCO3, in flexible foams, was studied. Different concentrations of CaCO3 were used for the synthesis of flexible polyurethane foams, which were submitted to morphological and thermal analyses to verify the alterations provoked by the progressive introduction of this filler

Re-Emerging Field of Lignocellulosic Fiber – Polymer Composites and Ionizing Radiation Technology in their Formulation

© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Natural cellulose-based fibers offer low cost, low density composite reinforcement with good strength and stiffness. Because of their annual renewability and biodegradability, natural fibers have materialized as environmentally-friendly alternatives to synthetic fibers in the last two decades. They are replacing synthetic materials in some traditional composites in industrial manufacturing sectors such as automotive, construction, furniture, and other consumer goods. In this work, the use of lignocellulosic fibers in green materials engineering, particularly their application as polymeric composite reinforcement and surface treatment via ionizing radiation are reviewed. Because these cellulose-based materials are intrinsically hydrophilic, they require surface modification to improve their affinity for hydrophobic polymeric matrices, which enhances the strength, durability, and service lifetime of the resulting lignocellulosic fiber-polymer composites. In spite of a long history of using chemical methods in the modification of material surfaces, including the surface of lignocellulosic fibers, recent research leans instead towards application of ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation methods are considered superior to chemical methods, as they are viewed as clean, energy saving, and environmentally friendly. Recent applications of controlled ionizing radiation doses in the formulation of natural fiber –reinforced polymeric composites resulted in products with enhanced fiber-polymer interfacial bonding without affecting the inner structure of lignocellulosic fibers. These applications are critically reviewed in this contribution