Neuromuscular markers of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury during dynamic tasks

This thesis explores the added value of neuromuscular markers of non-contact ACL injury risk. First, a systematic review was conducted to establish the existing evidence from the literature. The outcome of this review served to select candidate neuromuscular observations to be included in a large-scale prospective study. The two main risk factors that were found to be supported with some evidence were the (i) hamstrings to quadriceps ratio (HQR) and (ii) a unique neuromuscular activation pattern during side cutting. These parameters were included in a prospective cohort study to establish injury risk factors. After two years of data collection we still had not seen any non-contact ACL injuries in our study sample. As a fall back plan, the collected database was explored in search of evidence that can help support previous findings. First, we showed that quadriceps strength meaningfully affects HQRs (as quadriceps gets stronger, HQR value gets lower), introducing bias when profiling individuals for injury risk. We demonstrated how through an allometric approach this bias can be removed for future investigation into HQR as a risk factor for injury. Second, we evaluated whether HQR explains neuromuscular activations of the knee musculature during the execution a dynamic task. We found that variations between individuals in muscle (co-)activations were not explained by differences in muscle strength or HQR. Overall, through this work we have obtained a clear overview on the limited evidence on neuromuscular risk factors of non-contact ACL injury, provided in-depth insights into HQR as a measure of muscular capacity, and demonstrated how one should be careful in linking observations of muscular capacity with observations of muscular activation and vice versa

Why Your Encrypted Database Is Not Secure

Encrypted databases, a popular approach to protecting data from compromised database management systems (DBMS’s), use abstract threat models that capture neither realistic databases, nor realistic attack scenarios. In particular, the “snapshot attacker” model used to support the security claims for many encrypted databases does not reflect the information about past queries available in any snapshot attack on an actual DBMS. We demonstrate how this gap between theory and reality causes encrypted databases to fail to achieve their “provable security” guarantees

OBSERVATION ON THE SOAKING WATER AND PARTICLE SIZE CHANGES DURING ‘COOL POWDER’ (BEDAK SEJUK) PRODUCTION

Cool powder is a traditional cosmetic product used by locals. The flooding of various cosmetic in the market this domestically produced pastilles has lost its lustre. The production of cool powder, fondly known is Bahasa Malaysia as "bedak sejuk" is still using a traditional method which passes from generation to generation. To start the process, the rice grains were soaked in water for at least for two weeks or until the rice gains fully dissolved. The aim of the present study is to observe the changes on the condition of soaking water and particle sizes of the paste produced. Local rice grains (Indica type) were soaked in the water using a container with lid for 3 months. The soaking process was a semibatch process whereby in 14 days interval, the soaking water was replaced during this process, it is observed that there is a layer occurred on the top of the container and unpleasant smells detected suggesting natural degradation of the rice via fermentation has happened. The pH values and titratable acidity values which expressed as lactic acid were inversely proportional to each other. The final pH value of fermented supernatant was at pH 3.33 while the titratable acidity value was at 1.13 mg/ml (lactic acid). Towards the end of soaking process, it is observed that the particle size of the rice grains decreased but there is slightly increment of weight fraction for rice particles size less than 150 microns. Based on these observations, it can be concluded that natural fermentation that occurred has a significant effect on the grains

Risk Assessment of Aluminum in Drinking Water between Two Residential Areas

A cross-sectional study was conducted at Sungai Lembing (SL) and Bukit Ubi (BU), Kuantan, Malaysia. The main objectives of this epidemiological study were to determine the aluminum concentration in drinking water, to compare with the government standard and to perform health risk assessment prediction among respondents from these two residential areas. A total of 100 respondents were selected from the study areas based on a few inclusive and exclusive criteria. Two duplicates of treated water samples were taken from each respondent's house using a 200 mL high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle and 0.4 mL (69%) pure concentrated nitric acid added as preservative. Aluminum concentrations were analyzed using Lambda 25 UV/V spectrophotometer. The result showed that the mean concentration of aluminum in drinking water from SL was 0.11 ± 0.0634 mg/L and 0.12 ± 0.0462 mg/L for BU. The mean value of Chronic Daily Intake (CDI) in SL (0.0035 ± 0.0028 mg/kg/day) was lower compared to BU (0.0037 ± 0.0021 mg/kg/day). The Hazard Index (HI) calculation showed all respondents had HI less than 1. In conclusion, there was unlikely potential for adverse health effects from aluminum intake in drinking water. However, it was necessary for some action to be taken in order to reduce aluminum levels found in drinking water in both locations