Discharge and flow coefficient analysis in internal combustion engine using computational fluid dynamics simulation

Intake system is one of the crucial sub-systems in engine which can inflict significant effect on the air-fuel mixing, combustion, fuel consumption, as well as exhaust gases formation. There are many parameters that will influence engine performances. Good engine breathing is required to get better air flow rate to the engine. One of the methods includes the improvement of intake system by modifying the intake port design. This paper presents the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis on two engines with different intake port shapes. Dimensionless parameters like discharge coefficient and flow coefficient are used to quantify the changes in intake flow at different valve lifts variation. Results show that when valve lift increases, this inflicted the increase in discharge coefficient because of greater mass flow rate of induction air. Both flow and discharge coefficient is dependent on valve lift. Flow analysis proved the relationship by computing the increase of flow coefficient as valve opening increase. The computed analysis shows that different intake port shapes does bring significant effect on discharge coefficient and flow coefficient

Tax Literacy Rate Among Taxpayers: Evidence From Malaysia

The extent of taxpayer knowledge can have a major impact on the degree of compliance with taxation rules and regulation. Low knowledge creates uncertainty about requirements of the tax regulation and can lead to high degree of involun-tary non-compliance. This study high¬lighted the importance of taxation knowledge by measuring Malaysian’s tax payers’ tax literacy rate taking into consideration the following criteria: 1) Individual ability to fill the tax return form inde¬pendently, 2) Taxpayer’s interest in learning about tax, and 3) Incident of errors in filling the tax re¬turn forms. Questionnaires were used in this study to ascertain the tax liter-acy rate. The results in¬dicate that among the respondents, professionals group has the highest percentage of tax literacy and the formers have the lowest percentage. Majority of the businessmen paid for services for fill¬ing tax return forms and high rank officers are the highest among the group for not employing oth¬ers for filling the tax forms. Businessmen have the highest incidence of error in filling tax return form and most of teachers reported no error in filling such forms. Most business-men showed interests and were willing to spend time to learn about taxation. They perceived taxation knowledge as an important tool for themselves and also for their family. Overall results indicate that more than 60% of respondents are tax lit-erate. However, a significant number of them are actually‘ functionally tax illiter-ate’. Most of them thought that they knew a lot about taxation as they had read them in the tax literature sent to them by the IRB. However, the evidence was con-trary to this conjecture. The in¬formation on the extent of taxpayers’ knowledge is potentially useful to the tax authorities to assist them in developing effective com-pliance enhancement policie

3D Numerical modelling on the thermal performance of reinforced concrete encased wide-flanged steel column

This paper presents the development and verification of a three-dimensional (3D) numerical modelling to predict the thermal performance of reinforced concrete encased wideflanged steel (RCEWFS) column. The numerical model was developed using finite element software, ABAQUS. Then, the verified model was used to determine the suitable value for heat transfer conductance, time step and mesh size that provide the most reliable prediction against the experimental results. The parametric studies were also conducted to study the effect of rising time of fire exposure, section size, and flange width of I-section on the thermal performance of the RCEWFS column. From this study, it can be concluded that the predictions by the 3D numerical model are reliable and accurate. The study on the contour of the model shows that the thermal behaviour of concrete is non-linear

A training monitoring system for cyclist based on wireless sensor networks

This paper presents a training monitoring system for cyclist that is based on the technology of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). A stable and reliable wireless cyclist monitoring system is vital to establish a smart and efficient sports management program. A training monitoring system has been developed and tested in a real cyclist training environment in a velodrome. The system is designed is such a way that the packet loss rate is minimum. Using TelG mote as the basis, customized sensor nodes that function as a forwarder node and the relay nodes are developed to form the WSN. This WSN is linked to the cloud network on the Internet. The cloud network is then established and end users application for data accessing is designed. Several experiments have been conducted in a real scenario in a velodrome to measure the reliability of the system architecture. It is shown from the experiments that the proposed system is reliable even when the cyclist is moving at a high speed. The packet loss is less than 2% which does not give a huge impact to the data transmission

Micropropagation of Arisaema spp. (filiforme and brinchangense): Explant selection and surface sterilization insights

Arisaema filiforme and A. brichangense are a perennial herbaceous plant (family Araceae) found distributed in mossy forest, Cameron Highlands, with the elevation of 1,900 meters above sea level (a.s.l). The unique inflorescence formation resembling cobra has given this plant the name Cobra lilies, and suitable to be planted as ornamental plant. In addition, it has been used traditionally as a herb. However, the population of these two species are very limited, only thrive in higher elevation and also considered as an endangered. Therefore, realizing its potential in the future as one of the new ornamental plant and materials for the herb bioindustry, a micropropagation approach was employed to produce these species in mass production. Seeds, rhizomes, and petioles were used as the explant materials, cultured onto Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1, 2 mg L-1) of 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP). The findings revealed rhizomes and seeds to be significant explants for micropropagation, where the survival rate for these two are more than 80%. Petioles had 0% of survivability after week eight of culture due to the fungi infection and tissue necrosis. This study provides an insight into explant selection, where different plant organs have different survival rate due to the tissue mechanical strength. Also, optimum surface sterilization process is very critical in micropropagation to avoid the contamination of the culture and also necrotizing

Characterisation of Tetrastigma rafflesiae mitochondrial genes and assessment of their potential as sequence markers

Tetrastigma rafflesiae (Miq.) Planch. is a climbing plant species that is known for its unique relationship with holoparasitic plants of Rafflesiaceae. Knowledge on the mitochondrial genes of this species may contribute towards the development of molecular approaches for species identification. This study aimes to identify and characterise genes from the T. rafflesiae mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) and assess their potential to discriminate different Tetrastigma species. Mitochondrial-specific sequences were first selected by mapping T. rafflesiae whole-genome sequences to mitogenomes from several reference plant species. De novo assembly of these selected sequences produced a T. rafflesiae mitogenome with a size of 336 kb. Gene annotation revealed that the T. rafflesiae mitogenome contains at least 40 protein coding genes, 20 tRNAs and two rRNAs. Phylogenetic analysis using several mitochondrial genes, namely ccmB, cob, matR, nad6 and rps3 was able to differentiate T. rafflesiae from three other Tetrastigma species, indicating the potential of these genes as species-specific sequence markers. These findings supplement additional genetic information on T. rafflesiae and may aid in the effort of species classification and conservation

NOTE ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF PTEROSPERMUM PECTENIFORME KOSTERM. (DOMBEYOIDEAE : MALVACEAE S .L.) IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

The rare species Pterospermum pecteniforme previously is only known from two herbarium collections in the late 1960 and early 1970 in Perlis and Kedah (Langkawi Islands; Pulau Timun), respectively. In this paper, we have added two additional localities from two islands of Langkawi Archipelago namely, Pulau Dayang Bunting and Pulau Singa Besar. This species is locally quite common on both islands. All fertile collections of this species are only from the fruits while the flower is still unknown

A multi-stakeholder strategy to identify conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysia, with its rapidly growing economy, exemplifies the tensions between conservation and development faced by many tropical nations. Here we present the results of a multi-stakeholder engagement exercise conducted to (1) define conservation priorities in Peninsular Malaysia and (2) explore differences in perceptions among and within stakeholder groups (i.e. government, academia, NGOs and the private sector). Our data collection involved two workshops and two online surveys where participants identified seven general conservation themes and ranked the top five priority issues within each theme. The themes were: (1) policy and management, (2) legislation and enforcement, (3) finance and resource allocation, (4) knowledge, research and development, (5) socio-economic issues, (6) public awareness and participation and (7) rights of nature. In spite of their very different backgrounds and agendas, the four stakeholder groups showed general agreement in their priority preferences except for two issues. Respondents from government and private sector differed the most from each other in their priority choices while academia and NGO showed the highest degree of similarity. This ranked list of 35 conservation priorities is expected to influence the work of policy-makers and others in Peninsular Malaysia and can be used as a model to identify conservation priorities elsewhere

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030