Mechanical and thermal properties of Kenaf reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)-natural rubber (NR) composites

In this paper, natural rubber (NR) was mixed with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and kenaf as fillerreinforcement for the polymer composite. Mixing the material using the internal mixer and hot press machine was able toblend the material homogeneously. Investigation of the new polymer composite characterisation was carried out by thermalgravimetric analysis (TGA), along with tensile, flexural and impact tests. The TGA for the polymer composite achieved322⁰C before degradation and increase in tensile and impact strength with the increase of TPU in the polymer compositematrices were observed. The result indicated an improvement in tensile, flexural and impact strength for the kenaf filledTPU-NR composites. The mixing of kenaf fibre and TPU-NR polymer showed degradation that was gradually diminishingturned into ashes. TGA result showed all compositions of kenaf filled TPU-NR composites samples shared the same peaktemperature, being degraded at 600⁰C

Fatalistic: The Land of Sufi and Allah Jey Likhay Khay

Flood has been noted as one of the major natural disaster contributors in the world causing huge suffering to human beings. Majority of flood victims link natural disaster to an act of God, whereas God is punishing human beings because of sins committed by individuals. However, Pakistani society, which is deeply intertwined with religion, hence, its flood related narratives must have impact on its flood experiences. Since present research participants are Kacha farmers from Sindh, province of Pakistan and they are prone to flooding. Thus, present research investigated flood narratives impacted by religious beliefs. This research study employed qualitative research methodology and recorded flood narratives of 31 research participants. This research design is appropriated for current research and subsequently a thematic analysis was performed. The key finding noted that Kacha farmers strongly believe in Sufism, hence they supposed that they are protected by Sufi saints, whose tombs are near flood site. Moreover, they also viewed that floods are God’s wrath upon those individuals who have committed sins and must be punished. These flood narratives contradict with modern flood hazard management practices in the developed countries who firmly argue that any flood disaster is subjected to human act and thus concerned people are accountable. This is sharp contrast with the present finding where Kacha farmers link natural disasters to act of God thus, all related officials and individuals absolve themselves from accountability about flood related management decisions

Design and analysis of ankle foot orthosis for disabled children

Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) is a brace or device that is worn on the lower leg to support and correct the foot and ankle position. AFO is also used to correct the foot drop. In this paper, a new design of AFO is proposed and its analysis using AUTODESK Inventor will be discussed. The design concept was based on the short and long size of pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM). The PAM are custom made in the laboratory with the short and long size are 150mm and 250mm respectively. Single point statics analysis including reaction force and moment at selected points were conducted for both designs. Based on the von Mises stress, displacement, safety factor and PAM experiment result, the long size design is selected for this research. Fabrication and further testing needs to be conducted in order to evaluate the device

The forward physics facility at the high-luminosity LHC

High energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe standard model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF's physics potential

Application of luminescent detectors in quality assurance of clinical electron beam

International audienceThermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) are widely applied in quality assurance of external radiotherapy beam. The aim of this study is to check the possible use of radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeters (RPLGD), and optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLD) in quality assurance of clinical electron beam (used in radiotherapy treatments). For this purpose, we give in this paper, an estimation and a comparison of dosimetric parameters, characterizing dose profile and percentage depth dose (PDD) curves, for electron beam using the different studied detectors. The Monte Carlo MCNP5 simulation code was utilized to calculate the distribution of deposited energy along X-axis and PDD curves in a water phantom using RPLGD (FD-7glass), TLD (LiF: Mg, Ti) and OSLD (Al2O3:C) for electron beam energies of 9, 12, 16 and 20 MeV. Our calculations show that the profiles for different electron energies are almost identical for all used materials: we found similar average penumbra and full width at half maximum (FWHM). For flatness and symmetry, our results show a good correspondence with the recommended values where the flatness and symmetry calculated in all dosimeters materials are less than 1.7%. We also found concordance with the literature for the parameters derived from PDD curves, such as various ranges (R100, R90, R80, R50 and Rp) and energies specification (Ep,o and E0) for different electron beams (9, 12, 16 and 20 MeV). In conclusion, this study demonstrates a good correspondence with the results of measurements and Monte Carlo simulations found in the literature. RPLGD and OSLD can be as TLD useful detectors for quality assurance (QA) verifications concerning dose profile and PDD curve for clinical electron beam. Further research is recommended to broaden the scope of the current study

Assessing the Competency of University of Malaya Dental Graduates: Employers’ and Graduates’ Perceptions

A survey was conducted to assess competencies of dental graduates of the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, as perceived by the graduates and their employers, based on the five-year undergraduate curriculum introduced in 1995. All senior dental officers in the Ministry of Health (MOH), representing employers, and all 164 dental graduates of the years 2000, 2001, and 2002 were sent a self-administered questionnaire covering eight areas of competency. The respondents had to rate these areas on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 4 (very good). The responses for each area were then dichotomized into poor (1 and 2) and good (3 and 4). If less than 60 percent of the respondents rated an area as good, then it was categorized as needing attention; 60–69 percent as satisfactory; and 70 percent and above as excellent. One hundred and six graduates (64.6 percent) and twenty-nine employers (96.7 percent) responded; of the graduates, 73.6 percent were working in the MOH and 22.6 percent in private practice. About 57.1 percent of employers reported that at least five graduates have worked under them. Graduates (85.7 percent) and employers (83.3 percent) agreed that graduates have excellent skills in communication. Although all graduates perceived their competency to be excellent in the four areas (treatment planning; community-based skills; management, administrative skills, and personal management; and professional development skills), employers felt that these are the areas that are of concern and needed attention. In conclusion, whilst generally the graduates’ level of competency in almost all areas is acceptable or good, there are areas of concern that need to be addressed to further improve the five-year curriculum at the University of Malaya