Prevalence of internet addiction disorder in Chinese university students: A comprehensive meta-analysis of observational studies

Background and aims: Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is common in university students. A number of studies have examined the prevalence of IAD in Chinese university students, but the results have been inconsistent. This is a meta-analysis of the prevalence of IAD and its associated factors in Chinese university students. Methods: Both English (PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase) and Chinese (Wan Fang Database and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure) databases were systematically and independently searched from their inception until January 16, 2017. Results: Altogether 70 studies covering 122,454 university students were included in the meta-analysis. Using the random-effects model, the pooled overall prevalence of IAD was 11.3% (95% CI: 10.1%–12.5%). When using the 8-item Young Diagnostic Questionnaire, the 10-item modified Young Diagnostic Questionnaire, the 20-item Internet Addiction Test, and the 26-item Chen Internet Addiction Scale, the pooled prevalence of IAD was 8.4% (95% CI: 6.7%–10.4%), 9.3% (95% CI: 7.6%–11.4%), 11.2% (95% CI: 8.8%–14.3%), and 14.0% (95% CI: 10.6%–18.4%), respectively. Subgroup analyses revealed that the pooled prevalence of IAD was significantly associated with the measurement instrument (Q = 9.41, p = .024). Male gender, higher grade, and urban abode were also significantly associated with IAD. The prevalence of IAD was also higher in eastern and central of China than in its northern and western regions (10.7% vs. 8.1%, Q = 4.90, p = .027). Conclusions: IAD is common among Chinese university students. Appropriate strategies for the prevention and treatment of IAD in this population need greater attention

Generation of a stochastic precipitation model for the tropical climate

A tropical country like Malaysia is characterized by intense localized precipitation with temperatures remaining relatively constant throughout the year. A stochastic modeling of precipitation in the flood-prone Kelantan River Basin is particularly challenging due to the high intermittency of precipitation events of the northeast monsoons. There is an urgent need to have long series of precipitation in modeling the hydrological responses. A single-site stochastic precipitation model that includes precipitation occurrence and an intensity model was developed, calibrated, and validated for the Kelantan River Basin. The simulation process was carried out separately for each station without considering the spatial correlation of precipitation. The Markov chains up to the fifth-order and six distributions were considered. The daily precipitation data of 17 rainfall stations for the study period of 1954–2013 were selected. The results suggested that second- and third-order Markov chains were suitable for simulating monthly and yearly precipitation occurrences, respectively. The fifth-order Markov chain resulted in overestimation of precipitation occurrences. For the mean, distribution, and standard deviation of precipitation amounts, the exponential, gamma, log-normal, skew normal, mixed exponential, and generalized Pareto distributions performed superiorly. However, for the extremes of precipitation, the exponential and log-normal distributions were better while the skew normal and generalized Pareto distributions tend to show underestimations. The log-normal distribution was chosen as the best distribution to simulate precipitation amounts. Overall, the stochastic precipitation model developed is considered a convenient tool to simulate the characteristics of precipitation in the Kelantan River Basin

Replication and Meta-analysis of the Association between BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism and Cognitive Impairment in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.

Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) adversely affects cancer patients. We had previously demonstrated that the BDNF Val66Met genetic polymorphism is associated with lower odds of subjective CRCI in the multitasking and verbal ability domains among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. To further assess our previous findings, we evaluated the association of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism with subjective and objective CRCI in a temporally separate cohort of patients and pooled findings from both the original (n = 145) and current (n = 193) cohorts in a meta-analysis. Subjective CRCI was assessed using FACT-Cog. Objective CRCI was evaluated using computerized neuropsychological tests. Genotyping was carried out using Sanger sequencing. The association of BDNF Val66Met genotypes and CRCI was examined with logistic regression. A fixed-effect meta-analysis was conducted using the inverse variance method. In the meta-analysis (n = 338), significantly lower odds of CRCI were associated with Met allele carriers based on the global FACT-Cog score (OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.29-0.94). Furthermore, Met allele carriers were at lower odds of developing impairment in the domains of memory (OR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.17-0.70), multitasking (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.18-0.59), and verbal ability (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.24-0.88). Consistent with the previous study, lower odds of subjective CRCI among patients with the BDNF Met allele was observed after adjusting for potential confounders in the multitasking (OR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.14-0.67) domain. In conclusion, carriers of the BDNF Met allele were protected against global subjective CRCI, particularly in the domains of memory, multitasking, and verbal ability. Our findings further contribute to the understanding of CRCI pathophysiology

The effect of carbon-nanofiber and hydrated lime on weak soil stability

The vast amount of waste cooking oil (WCO) has invited odds effects on the environment when disposed of improperly. Incorporating waste materials into asphalt mixture is common practice these days as it minimizes the amount of waste material as well as improves the performance of the mixture. WCO is known for its natural fluidity characteristics, wherein affecting good cracking performance at low temperature, yet indicate poor rutting resistance at high temperature. Plus, less strength in porous asphalt has worsened the rutting condition. Hence, pretreatment of WCO is suggested before the modification was done. In this study, WCO is being treated with chemical treatment of the transesterification process. Then, the modified binder of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% untreated and treated WCO were tested with physical testing of penetration and softening point temperature. Later, a similar percentage of untreated and treated WCO were incorporated into porous asphalt mixture to analyze the mechanical performance of Marshall Stability, Flow and Stiffness. The result of porous asphalt mixture with 10% treated WCO showed an improvement in Marshall Stability, Flow and Stiffness. It can be concluded, samples with treated WCO indicated remarkable performance in terms of physical and mechanical evaluation, owing to similar polarity which enhances good interaction bonding that strengthens the asphalt mixture

Statistical modelling of extreme temperature in Peninsular Malaysia

Extreme temperature events bring significant effects on the environment and society. Consequently, investigating the best fit for extreme temperature data is important for hydrological study and event forecasting. The main aim of this study is to determine the best fit probability distribution for monthly and annual extreme temperatures. The maximum temperature data at monthly and annual time scales were obtained from MMD (Malaysia Meteorological department). The temperature data for 40 years were fitted to the 10 probability distributions for each station. The parameters of the distributions were estimated by the maximum likelihood method and L-moment method. Besides, three goodness of fit tests, namely Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S), Anderson-Darling (A2) and Chi-Squared Error (CSE) test were applied to evaluate the performances of the distributions. The best fit distribution was selected based on the lowest test scores from the summation of the three goodness of fit tests. The results of this study showed that Generalized Extreme Value distribution was selected as the best-fit distribution, followed by Log-Pearson 3, 3 Parameter Lognormal, Generalized Log Logistic and Gamma distributions. The results of this study can be used as a reference for development planners, agricultural sector, water management agencies in hydrological planning and disaster management

Mechanical properties of concrete containing recycle concrete aggregates and multi-walled carbon nanotubes under static and dynamic stresses

The growing demand for natural aggregates in the construction industry has motivated researchers to utilize recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) to preserve the natural resources and provide sustainable structure. However, the use of RCA in concrete applications has revealed defects in performance with low strength and rapid collapse under static and dynamic loads, respectively. Thus, the objective of present research is to improve these properties by using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). This study involves evaluating the fresh and hardened properties of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) modified with different levels of MWCNT. The study involves RCA (i.e., 0 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 % and 100 %) as replacement for natural aggregates, and MWCNT (i.e., 0.05 %, 0.1 % and 0.25 %) as weight of cement. The experimental testing consists of 240 specimens prepared from different mixtures. Workability is assessed using slump tests. Mechanical properties including static compressive strength and dynamic impact resistance are evaluated at 7 and 28 days. Experimental results show that incorporating MWCNT at all levels significantly reduces the slump values for all specimens. On the other hand, the compressive strength is increased by adding MWCNT to the concrete samples. The compressive strength of the RAC increased by as much as 70 % when modified with MWCNT. Furthermore, the inclusion of MWCNT is found to significantly increase the impact resistance of RAC specimens with percentage developments reaching approximately 11–508 % and 110–679 % at 7 and 28 days, respectively, at both first crack and failure stages. The dosage of 0.1 % MWCNT is shown to exhibit the highest percentage enhancement in impact resistance among the other nano levels. The failure patterns and cracks propagation are presented as well

Human cardiac pericytes are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection

COVID-19 is associated with serious cardiovascular complications, with incompletely understood mechanism(s). Pericytes have key functions in supporting endothelial cells and maintaining vascular integrity. We demonstrate that human cardiac pericytes are permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection in organotypic slice and primary cell cultures. Viral entry into pericytes is mediated by endosomal proteases, and infection leads to up-regulation of inflammatory markers, vasoactive mediators, and nuclear factor kappa-B-dependent cell death. Furthermore, we present evidence of cardiac pericyte infection in COVID-19 myocarditis patients. These data demonstrate that human cardiac pericytes are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and suggest a role for pericyte infection in COVID-19

Challenges of quantity surveyors in Klang Valley to work from home

With the uprising trend of modern management systems adoption, the enthusiasm for corporates to exercise the working culture of work from home are seemingly proliferated to fit in the recent corporate world. However, the published research papers and statistics regarding the information and comprehension of quantity surveyor to work from home are unexpectedly sporadic. Therefore, this research reviews the insights of quantity surveyor to work from home while drawing discussion and conclusion on the uprising challenges of work from home for quantity surveyors to execute their roles. The paper compiles the responses obtained from the methodology of surveying 145 related professions in construction industry around Klang Valley area. The questionnaire was designed with five-point Likert scale, and the data was analyzed by using SPSS software. The study displayed reduced supervision and direction as the greatest challenge, followed by significant challenges which include communication and coordination challenges, organization performance and productivity, job performance and productivity, and unclear performance metrics. Hence, personnel in the industry should be aware of the potential challenges of a quantity surveyor to work from home due to their roles, in order to indicate the potential effects that may incur to the individual and organization

The Yuan-Tseh Lee Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy

The Yuan-Tseh Lee Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) is the first interferometer dedicated to studying the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation at 3mm wavelength. The choice of 3mm was made to minimize the contributions from foreground synchrotron radiation and Galactic dust emission. The initial configuration of seven 0.6m telescopes mounted on a 6-m hexapod platform was dedicated in October 2006 on Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Scientific operations began with the detection of a number of clusters of galaxies via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. We compare our data with Subaru weak lensing data in order to study the structure of dark matter. We also compare our data with X-ray data in order to derive the Hubble constant.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ (13 pages, 7 figures); a version with high resolution figures available at http://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw/~keiichi/upfiles/AMiBA7/pho_highreso.pd

Challenges of quantity surveyors in Klang Valley to work from home

With the uprising trend of modern management systems adoption, the enthusiasm for corporates to exercise the working culture of work from home are seemingly proliferated to fit in the recent corporate world. However, the published research papers and statistics regarding the information and comprehension of quantity surveyor to work from home are unexpectedly sporadic. Therefore, this research reviews the insights of quantity surveyor to work from home while drawing discussion and conclusion on the uprising challenges of work from home for quantity surveyors to execute their roles. The paper compiles the responses obtained from the methodology of surveying 145 related professions in construction industry around Klang Valley area. The questionnaire was designed with five-point Likert scale, and the data was analyzed by using SPSS software. The study displayed reduced supervision and direction as the greatest challenge, followed by significant challenges which include communication and coordination challenges, organization performance and productivity, job performance and productivity, and unclear performance metrics. Hence, personnel in the industry should be aware of the potential challenges of a quantity surveyor to work from home due to their roles, in order to indicate the potential effects that may incur to the individual and organization