A conceptual service oriented architecture framework for integrated flood management

Service oriented architecture (SOA) is a platform and language-independent that guide different services to work together in order to perform business process.The benefits of using SOA such as interoperability, discoverability, loose coupling, flexibility and reliability have led previous researchers to use it as their fundamental basis in designing their software architecture framework.Previous researchers also have exploit SOA and implement it into flood management domain to manage the complex systems that are distributed across the network.However, previous works do not provide the detail process of emergency management into their flood management framework.Therefore, this study aims to propose a conceptual SOA framework for an integrated flood management (IFM) in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of managing flood.Furthermore the feasibility of using SOA and the required process of flood management in order to construct the conceptual framework are being investigated by means of a comparative study.In addition, this study also suggests the Service oriented architecture Modeling Language (SoaML) as a technique to model the services for anIFM

Success Rate of Liver Stiffness Measurement Using Transient Elastography in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients with Obesity and Its Influencing Factors

Background: Percentage of patients who had liver stiffness measurement failure using transient elastography varied between 2-10%; mainly caused by obesity. XL probe is expected to increase the success rate of liver stiffness measurement in patients with obesity. The objective of this study is to evaluate the success of liver stiffness measurement using M and XL probes and its influencing factors.Method: Patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in this study. Examination results were then analysed using statistical analysis unpaired t-test or Mann-Whitney and McNemar statistical tests.Results: From 92 NAFLD patients with obesity who were studied, the proportion of success in measuring liver stiffness using M probe was 57.6%, while that of XL probe was 88.0%. This difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). BMI, SCD, and thoracic circumference were associated with success in measuring liver stiffness using M probe, with p value of 0.007, 0.001, and 0.001 respectively. The results of Mann-Whitney statistical test revealed median value of BMI and SCD of patients who had liver stiffness measurement failure using M probe were 32.7 kg/m2 and 2.6 cm respectively. T-test results showed that the mean value of thoracic circumference of patients who had liver stiffness measurement failure using M probe was 97.8 cm.Conclusion: Proportion of success in measuring liver stiffness in NAFLD patients with obesity using XL probe was better compared to the M probe. BMI, SCD, and thoracic circumference were associated with the success of measuring liver stiffness using M probe. The same variables were not associated with XL probe

Randomized Double-blind Controlled Trial: Benefits of Lactobacillus Reuteri in Chronic Functional Constipation Patients

Background: Chronic functional constipation is a common problem that affects between 15-25% of the population and cause symptoms and disorders that creates discomfort, morbidity, and high costs for health care. Recently, the consumption of probiotics in treating chronic constipation in adults have been investigated. However, there are still limited and controversial evidences available from controlled trials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri) in improving the Agachan constipation score, the number of L. reuteri in the feces and the fecal pH in the patients with chronic functional constipation.Method: A double-blind, placebo randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in 40 adults (12 males/28 females with mean age 45.95 ± 16 years) affected by chronic functional constipation according to Rome III criteria. Patients were randomly assigned to receive a supplementation of L. reuteri or placebo for 4 weeks.Results: At week 4, the decrease in Agachan constipation score was from 17.00 to 8.00 with p &lt; 0.001, the increase number of L. reuteri was from 6.80 x 107 to 2.12 x 108 with p &lt; 0.001 and the decrease of pH feces was from 5.44 (SD 0.70) to 4.78 (SD 0.56) with p &lt; 0.001 in the L. reuteri group, otherwise in the placebo group there were no significant results in Agachan constipation score, the number of L. reuteri and fecal pH assessed.Conclusion: L. reuteri is more effective than the placebo group in improving the Agachan constipation score, increasing the number of L. reuteri in the feces and decreasing the fecal pH in adult with chronic functional constipation

Design and implementation home security system and monitoring by using wireless sensor networks WSN/internet of things IOT

The dramatic advancments on communication and networking technologies have led to the emergence of Internet-of-Things (IoT). IoT technology has opened the door for various applications. In particular, the home automation was one of the common applications that took the advantage of IoT. Several research efforts have addressed the home automation system using IoT covering wide range of functionalities. One of the concerning tasks is providing a secure system that can give alarms for suspicious activities within the house. This paper presents a secure house system based on IoT where several activities are being sensed and detected. Specifically, gas, humidity, body temperature and motion have been considered within the sensing based on two main types of micro-controller including Arduino and Raspberry Pi. Consequentially, an Android prototype has bene developed in order to give an interactive interface for warning the house owner regarding any suscpicious activities. Results of simulation demonstrated the efficancy of the proposed syste

Unveiling a new taxonomy in education field

Taxonomy is a set of hierarchical models that is applied to classify educational learning goals or objectives into a certain level of complexity. Many models have been developed and implemented to suit the educational settings of schools or educational institutions around the world. Realising the importance of educational taxonomy, the purpose of this paper is to explore the function and role of the taxonomy framework used in education, especially through the lens of Bloom, Anderson and SOLO’s (Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome) framework. In addition, this concept paper also aims to formulate a more holistic alternative taxonomy based on the concept of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas. Research on Bloom, Anderson and SOLO’s taxonomies is not intended to deny the role and contribution of existing taxonomies, but to provide an alternative and space in creating a balanced system of cognitive classification of students through teaching and learning as well as in the evaluation system

Directional felling within selective management system of Peninsular Malaysia: comparison between current and extended techniques

Directional felling has been implemented in Peninsular Malaysia as part of the Selective Management System (SMS) to obtain optimum yield from the forest resources while reducing damage to the environment and residual trees. Some questions regarding its effectiveness have been questioned a few times, resulting in a joint research project at Ulu Jelai Forest Reserve, Pahang, Malaysia to compare between the current directional felling technique and the new (extended) techniques, in terms of accuracy of tree felling, volume of felling logs, expected damage on residual trees, and time taken for tree felling. For this study, 38 trees were felled with the current and extended techniques. By using the extended technique, 91.3% of the trees were felled within the 0°-5° range, and 100% within the 0°-10° range, compared to 28.01% (within the 0°-5° range) using the current technique. The extended technique also recorded higher volume recovery (14% higher) and lower damage on the residual trees by almost 50%. However, the extended technique took longer time, i.e. 4.56 minutes per tree, as compared to 2.50 minutes. The main contributor to the difference is the presence of gauge cut in the extended technique. Generally, the studies suggest that the extended technique is preferred as it is safer to the feller and surrounding people, while reducing the collateral damage on the harvested trees, as well as the residual trees

A comprehensive study of distributed Denial-of-Service attack with the detection techniques

With the dramatic evolution in networks nowadays, an equivalent growth of challenges has been depicted toward implementing and deployment of such networks. One of the serious challenges is the security where wide range of attacks would threat these networks. Denial-of-Service (DoS) is one of the common attacks that targets several types of networks in which a huge amount of information is being flooded into a specific server for the purpose of turning of such server. Many research studies have examined the simulation of networks in order to observe the behavior of DoS. However, the variety of its types hinders the process of configuring the DoS attacks. In particular, the Distributed DoS (DDoS) is considered to be the most challenging threat to various networks. Hence, this paper aims to accommodate a comprehensive simulation in order to figure out and detect DDoS attacks. Using the well-known simulator technique of NS-2, the experiments showed that different types of DDoS have been characterized, examined and detected. This implies the efficacy of the comprehensive simulation proposed by this study

Comparative genomic analysis of a multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus hominis ShoR14 clinical isolate from Terengganu, Malaysia, led to the discover of novel mobile genetic elements

Staphylococcus hominis is a coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) commensal capable of causing serious systemic infections in humans. The emergence of multidrug-resistant S. hominis strains is of concern but little is known about the characteristics of this organism, particularly from Malaysia. Here, we present the comparative genome analysis of S. hominis ShoR14, a multidrugresistant, methicillin-resistant blood isolate from Terengganu, Malaysia. Genomic DNA of S. hominis ShoR14 was sequenced on the Illumina platform and assembled using Unicycler v0.4.8. ShoR14 belonged to sequence type (ST) 1 which is the most prevalent ST of the S. hominis subsp. hominis. Comparative genomic analysis with closely related strains in the database with complete genome sequences, led to the discovery of a novel variant of the staphylococcal chromosome cassette mec (SCCmec) type VIII element harboring the mecA methicillin-resistance gene in ShoR14 and its possible carriage of a SCCfus element that encodes the fusidic acid resistance gene (fusC). Up to seven possible ShoR14 plasmid contigs were identified, three of which harbored resistance genes for tetracycline (tetK), chloramphenicol (catA7), macrolides, lincosamides, and streptogramin B (ermC). Additionally, we report the discovery of a novel mercury-resistant transposon, Tn7456, other genomic islands, and prophages which make up the S. hominis mobilome

A quick approach for rheological evaluation of warm asphalt binders using response surface method

This paper describes a quick approach for quantification of the effects of a chemical warm named Rediset, and its interactions with temperature and aging on the rheological properties of asphalt binders using Response Sur-face Method. The central composite method was applied to design experimental programs for three test temperature conditions, namely; very high temperature (120–180 °C), high temperature (46–82 °C), and intermediate temperature (19–31 °C). Rotational viscosity, G*/sin δ and G*sin δ were selected as parameters to assess the effects of the chemical warm additive on the rheological properties of asphalt binders for different aging conditions. Evaluation of the effects of this additive on the transformed value of G*/sin δ at high temperatures indicates that additive content has significant effect on Ln(G*/sin δ). The results for intermediate temperatures show that this additive has a positive effect on G*sin δ of asphalt binders