Preliminary findings for Pulau Jerejak Leper Settlement: reconstructing the built and living environment of Camp 5

The purpose of this paper is to share the historical development of Camp 5, a leper camp on Pulau Jerejak. Pulau Jerejak Leper Settlement was operated from 1871 until 1969. The settlement has been an important collection center for leprosy patients in British Malaya before Sungai Buloh Leper Settlement was built in 1930s. During this period, six camps were built scattered around the island. One of the most important camps was Camp 5, completed in 1936. The camp was planned against the conservative idea of strict segregation where leprosy patients were segregated rigidly in prison-like environment. Camp 5 was planned in such ways where leprosy patients could freely conduct social-cultural events, practice their faiths, establish their own families, appointed as inmate workers, and etc. The houses were planned in clustered manner with well-planned agriculture plots and socio-cultural facilities. The planning layout of Camp 5 is an important historical clue to suggest how leprosy patients could have been segregated more humanely. Today, most of the structures in Camp 5 are in semi-ruined conditions. The available information is insufficient to support the current research. Therefore, this research had to rely on three methods; archival researches, interview and field works. Archival materials such as governmental annual reports and old illustrations will help to reconstruct its chronological developments, and the indexed remnants from the field works will be used to analysis and overlay with its chronological developments. Interviews are crucial to obtain deliberate information to reconstruct the previous living and built environment of Camp 5. By understanding the segregation idea implemented in Camp 5, researchers may be able to interpret and argue the theoretical discourse of modern segregations in dealing with diseases and suggest some historical lessons

《小檀栾室汇刻闺秀词》研究 = A Study of Xiao Tan Luan Shi Hui Ke Gui Xiu Ci

Master'sMASTER OF ART

Assessing the expected current and future competencies of quantity surveyors in the Malaysian built environment

Purpose: Quantity surveying is a profession that blends engineering, construction and economics. To be competent is to have the ability to apply the set of related knowledge, skills and abilities to perform a task effectively. This paper examines the competency requirements for quantity surveyors (QSs) in the face of changing and increasing client needs. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a detailed meta-analysis of the literature, 12 basic/core and 16 evolving competencies are identified. Primary data were gathered through a field survey involving practicing QSs from client, consultant and contractor organisations, and university students undertaking QS programmes in Malaysia. The data obtained were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Findings: The significance of the basic/core and evolving competencies are presented. Overall, the most important contemporary skills are cost planning, valuation of works, measurement/quantification and contract documentation. The evolved roles require expertise in communication and negotiation, ethics and professional conduct and value management. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates there are misaligned expectations of the proficiency levels needed to provide contemporary and future services between practitioners in client/consultant organisations, contractors and new generation students. Originality/value: The findings provide guidance on the education, training and practice of quantity surveying to deal with emerging challenges in the dynamic built environments in Malaysia and beyond.</p

Lumbar Kinematics, Functional Disability and Fear Avoidance Beliefs Among Adults with Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain

Objectives: This study aimed to examine correlations between lumbar kinematics, functional disability and fear avoidance beliefs among adults with nonspecific chronic low back pain (LBP). Methods: This crosssectional study was conducted between March and December 2014. A total of 32 adults diagnosed with nonspecific chronic LBP were recruited from outpatients attending either an orthopaedic clinic at a university hospital or a private physiotherapy clinic in Malaysia. Lumbar kinematics were measured using sensors attached at the first lumbar (L1) and second sacral (S2) vertebrae levels. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) were used to assess degree of functional disability and fear avoidance beliefs, respectively. Results: For maximum range of motion, positive correlations were observed between ODI scores and right lateral flexion and right rotation (P = 0.01 each), although there was a negative correlation with left rotation (P = 0.03). With maximum angular velocity, ODI scores were positively correlated with right and left lateral flexion L1 (P = 0.01 and &lt;0.01, respectively) but negatively correlated with left lateral flexion L2 (P= 0.04). Regarding minimum angular velocity, ODI scores were positively correlated with left lateral flexion S2 (P &lt;0.01) but negatively correlated with right and left lateral flexion L1 (P = 0.02 each), right rotation L1 (P = 0.02) and left rotation S2 (P = 0.01). No significant correlations were found between lumbar kinematics and FABQ scores. Conclusion: These findings suggest that certain lumbar kinematic parameters are correlated with functional disability, but not with fear avoidance beliefs

Modelling and control of partially shaded photovoltaic arrays

The photovoltaic (PV) array controlled by Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) method for optimum PV power generation, particularly when the PV array is under partially shaded condition is presented in this paper. The system modelling is carried out in MATLAB-SIMULINK where the PV array is formed by five series connected identical PV modules. Under uniform solar irradiance conditions, the PV module and the PV array present nonlinear P-V characteristic but the maximum power point (MPP) can be easily identified. However, when the PV array is under shaded conditions, the P-V characteristic becomes more complex with the present of multiple MPP. While the PV array operated at local MPP, the generated power is limited. Thus, the investigation on MPPT approach is carried out to maximize the PV generated power even when the PV array is under partially shaded conditions (PSC). Fuzzy logic is adopted into the conventional MPPT to form fuzzy logic based MPPT (FMPPT) for better performance. The developed MPPT and FMPPT are compared, particularly the performances on the transient response and the steady state response when the array is under various shaded conditions. FMPPT shows better performance where the simulation results demonstrate FMPPT is able to facilitate the PV array to reach the MPP faster while it helps the PV array to produce a more stable output power

Predictive direct power control for dual-active-bridge multilevel inverter based on conservative power theory

This paper explores the feasibility of multilevel dual-active bridge-inverter (DABMI) applications for grid-connected applications of a modern Model of Predictive Direct Power Control (MPDPC) based on the conservative power theory (CPT). In the case of unbalanced grid voltages, the objective of the study is to promote continued active and reactive energy in MPDPC without reducing effciency such as transient response and current harmonics. The nature of the instantaneous p-q theory permits only one out of three control targets to be fulfilled. The proposed control approached directly regulates the instantaneous active and reactive power to achieve three particular control objectives namely sinusoidal and symmetrical grid current, cancelling twice of fundamental grid frequency reactive power ripples, and removing twice grid frequency active power ripple. The techniques of complicated Grid part sequence extraction are unnecessary and improved at no extra expense, as is the case with current MPDPC fault-tolerant approaches. The instantaneous power at the next sampling instant is predicted with the newly developed discrete-time model. Each possible switching state will then be evaluated in the cost function defined until the optimal state which lead to the minimum power errors is determined. In MATLAB/Simulink simulation, the proposed CPT-based MPDPC measures reliability and performance at balanced and unbalanced grid voltages then compared with the conventional and existing MPDPC The proposed method manages to achieve all of three control targets which generates sinusoidal grid currents and attenuates active and reactive power ripple of twice the grid frequency exactly at the same time without losing its critical effciency including transient reaction and current harmonics

Cost estimation methods for internet infrastructure deployment in Rural Sarawak: a review

In rural Sarawak, the internet accessibility is low due to unreliable power grids to support telecommunication network and large geographical area. The risk for network infrastructure implementation is high for internet service provider (ISP), thus more practical and accurate cost estimation methods should be used. This paper reviews different types of cost estimation methods and the accuracy and feasibility of each methods are discussed and compared for network infrastructure implementation in rural Sarawak. The unique characteristics of rural Sarawak are considered in this work, including the topography, development of rural areas and acceptance of new technologies. Different cost estimation methods are identified for different senarios and availability of data

Loss minimization DTC electric motor drive system based on adaptive ANN strategy

Electric motor drive systems (EMDS) have been recognized as one of the most promising motor systems recently due to their low energy consumption and reduced emissions. With only some exceptions, EMDS are the main source for the provision of mechanical energy in industry and accounts for about 60% of global industrial electricity consumption. Large energy efficiency potentials have been identified in EMDS with very short payback time and high-cost effectiveness. Typical, during operation at rated mode, the motor drive able to hold its good efficiencies. However, a motor usually operates out from rated mode in many applications, especially while under light load, it reduced the motor’s efficiency severely. Hence, it is necessary that a conventional drive system to embed with loss minimization strategy to optimize the drive system efficiency over all operation range. Conventionally, the flux value is keeping constantly over the range of operation, where it should be highlighted that for any operating point, the losses could be minimize with the proper adjustment of the flux level to a suitable value at that point. Hence, with the intention to generate an adaptive flux level corresponding to any operating point, especially at light load condition, an online learning Artificial Neural Network (ANN) controller was proposed in this study, to minimize the system losses. The entire proposed strategic drive system would be verified under the MATLAB/Simulink software environment. It is expected that with the proposed online learning Artificial Neural Network controller efficiency optimization algorithm can achieve better energy saving compared with traditional blended strategies

Maximum power point tracking of partially shaded photovoltaic arrays using particle swarm optimization

This paper presents the particle swarm optimization based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) approach for maximizing output power of photovoltaic (PV) array under partially shaded conditions (PSC). During PSC, the P-V characteristic becomes more complex with multiple maximum power points (MPP). Most of the conventional MPPT approaches will be trapped at the local MPP and hence limiting the maximum power generation. As such, the investigation on particle swarm optimization (PSO) based MPPT is carried out to maximize the PV generated power principally under PSC operation. The performances of conventional MPPT approach and the proposed PSO-MPPT are investigated particularly on the transient and steady state responses under various shaded conditions. The simulation results show that the PSO-MPPT is able to facilitate the PV array to reach the global MPP as well as to assist the PV array to produce more stable output power compared to the conventional perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm

Direct Conversion of Mouse Fibroblasts into Cholangiocyte Progenitor Cells

Disorders of the biliary epithelium, known as cholangiopathies, cause severe and irreversible liver diseases. The limited accessibility of bile duct precludes modeling of several cholangiocyte-mediated diseases. Therefore, novel approaches for obtaining functional cholangiocytes with high purity are needed. Previous work has shown that the combination of Hnf1β and Foxa3 could directly convert mouse fibroblasts into bipotential hepatic stem cell-like cells, termed iHepSCs. However, the efficiency of converting fibroblasts into iHepSCs is low, and these iHepSCs exhibit extremely low differentiation potential into cholangiocytes, thus hindering the translation of iHepSCs to the clinic. Here, we describe that the expression of Hnf1α and Foxa3 dramatically facilitates the robust generation of iHepSCs. Notably, prolonged in vitro culture of Hnf1α- and Foxa3-derived iHepSCs induces a Notch signaling-mediated secondary conversion into cholangiocyte progenitor-like cells that display dramatically enhanced differentiation capacity into mature cholangiocytes. Our study provides a robust two-step approach for obtaining cholangiocyte progenitor-like cells using defined factors