The role graduate quantity surveyors in the Malaysian construction industry

The quantity surveying profession has evolved since changing of clients’ need and market requirements. Today, clients not only request the traditional services but also ask for the additional services such as project management, feasibility study, construction financial practice, arbitration, quality management, conflict management and risk management in the innovative and changing construction industry. The scope of works for graduate quantity surveyors is no longer limit on measurement and the regular practices but is some things beyond this boundary. Hence, the objective of this paper is to present a critical review on the traditional and contemporary roles of graduate quantity surveyors, the threats to graduate quantity surveyors and also the methods to improve graduate quantity surveyors’ practice. In summary, this critical review would provide insight knowledge to construction industry players for better understanding of graduate quantity surveyors’ roles

A comparative analysis of experimental and numerical investigations of composite tubes under axial and lateral loading

Quasi-static tests are performed in order to determine the crash behavior of composite tubes. The specimens are made from woven fiber carbon/epoxy. The crash experiments show that the tubes crushed in a progressive manner from one end to the other of the tubes while delamination was - taking place between the layers. In the simulation works described in this paper the ANSYS explicit finite element code is used to investigate the compressive properties and crushing response of circular carbon tube subjected to static axial and lateral loading and the results are compared with the experimental work. To better understand the details of the crash process, thin multi layer shell elements are used to model the walls of the circular tube. Finally, the design optimization technique is implemented to find an optimum composite configuration that has the maximum failure load and absorbs the most energy. The crash performance of a carbon composite shell is compared with an optimum carbon tube from the experimental work. 2010, INSInet Publication.Scopu

Trans-ancestry genome-wide association study identifies 12 genetic loci influencing blood pressure and implicates a role for DNA methylation

We carried out a trans-ancestry genome-wide association and replication study of blood pressure phenotypes among up to 320,251 individuals of East Asian, European and South Asian ancestry. We find genetic variants at 12 new loci to be associated with blood pressure (P = 3.9 × 10-11 to 5.0 × 10-21). The sentinel blood pressure SNPs are enriched for association with DNA methylation at multiple nearby CpG sites, suggesting that, at some of the loci identified, DNA methylation may lie on the regulatory pathway linking sequence variation to blood pressure. The sentinel SNPs at the 12 new loci point to genes involved in vascular smooth muscle (IGFBP3, KCNK3, PDE3A and PRDM6) and renal (ARHGAP24, OSR1, SLC22A7 and TBX2) function. The new and known genetic variants predict increased left ventricular mass, circulating levels of NT-proBNP, and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality (P = 0.04 to 8.6 × 10-6). Our results provide new evidence for the role of DNA methylation in blood pressure regulation

Design and numerical study of the integration of omnidirectional shroud with vertical axis wind turbine

The integration of a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) with the novel omni-directional shroud is proposed. It consists of the upper wall, lower wall and an array of 5 guide-vanes. Wind from all directions is collected radially from a larger area and the geometry of omni-directional shroud creates a venturi effect to increase the wind speed before entering the wind turbine. Guide-vanes aid to channel wind to better angles-of-attack of the turbine blades. Hence, self-starting behavior of the VAWT and the coefficient of power improve. The system was investigated numerically by simulating the wind flow over the omni-directional shroud with a single bladed NACA 0015 airfoil VAWT. In this 2D simulation, the shear stress transport (SST) k-Ȧ turbulence model with the sliding mesh method was used with the tip speed ratio of 5.1 for the wind turbine. The result was verified by re-simulating the experiment published by the Sandia National Laboratories. The result shows that the torque coefficient of the VAWT was increased up to 287% as compared to the bare VAWT. This system improves the performance of the VAWT and it has a great potential to be sited in urban areas for onsite and grid-connected power generation.University of Malaya for the research grant allocated to further develop this design under High Impact Research Grant (D000022-16001). Sincere gratitude is also dedicated to the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) for Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FP053-2013B) assigned for this project.Scopu

Getting rhythm: how do babies do it?

Objectives To investigate the emergence of biological rhythms in the first months of life in human infants, by measuring age-related changes in core body temperature during night-time sleep, hormones (cortisol and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin) and the expression of a clock-controlled gene H3f3b in oral epithelial cells. Design Observational longitudinal study. Setting We measured overnight core body temperature, actigraphy, day–night urinary cortisol and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, as well as circadian gene expression, in infants at home from March 2007 to July 2008 in Leicester. Participants We recruited 35 healthy Caucasian infants who were born at term. They were monitored from 6 to 18 weeks of age. Results At 8 weeks of age the day–night rhythm of cortisol secretion was the first to appear followed by 6-sulfatoxymelatonin 1 week later; at the same time that night-time sleep was established. At 10 weeks, the maximum fall in deep body temperature occurred with the onset of night-time sleep, followed at 11 weeks by the rhythmical expression of the H3f3b gene. Conclusions In human infants, there is a clear sequential pattern for the emergence of diurnal biological rhythms between 6 and 18 weeks of postnatal age, led by the secretion of cortisol and linked with the establishment of consolidated night-time sleep. It is likely that this represents part of a maturation and adaption process as infants gain equilibrium with their external environment after birth

Distribution of gemcitabine pathway genotypes in ethnic Asians and their association with outcome in non-small cell lung cancer patients

10.1016/j.lungcan.2008.04.010Lung Cancer631121-12

A randomized phase II trial evaluating the addition of low dose, short course sunitinib to docetaxel in advanced solid tumours

10.1186/s12885-020-07616-4BMC Cancer201111