Hand motion pattern recognition analysis of forearm muscle using MMG signals

Surface Mechanomyography (MMG) is the recording of mechanical activity of muscle tissue. MMG measures the mechanical signal (vibration of muscle) that generated from the muscles during contraction or relaxation action. It is widely used in various fields such as medical diagnosis, rehabilitation purpose and engineering applications. The main purpose of this research is to identify the hand gesture movement via VMG sensor (TSD250A) and classify them using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). There are four channels MMG signal placed into adjacent muscles which PL-FCU and ED-ECU. The features used to feed the classifier to determine accuracy are mean absolute value, standard deviation, variance and root mean square. Most of subjects gave similar range of MMG signal of extraction values because of the adjacent muscle. The average accuracy of LDA is approximately 87.50% for the eight subjects. The finding of the result shows, MMG signal of adjacent muscle can affect the classification accuracy of the classifier

A plant transformation vector containing the gene dehd for the development of cultivars resistant to monochloroacetic acid

A dehalogenase D gene (dehD) capable of degrading monochloroacetic acid (MCA) has been previously isolated from Rhizobium sp. RC1 and characterized. The 804-bp dehD gene was inserted into pCAMBIA under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter and designated pCAMdehD, with a total size of 10,592 bp. The pCAMdehD was introduced into tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The integration and expression of dehD in N. benthamiana was confirmed by PCR and reverse transcription PCR, respectively. MCA-resistant transformants were selected in tissue cultures containing 60 µg/L MCA. Analysis of plants using a leaf-painting assay revealed that transgenic N. benthamiana was resistant to 4.0 g/L MCA compared with 2.0 g/L for non-transformed controls. The use of dehD could thus be advantageous for herbicide-resistant plant breeding systems, and it is also a suitable marker gene for plant-transformation studies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report detailing transgenic N. benthamiana engineered with dehD from Rhizobium sp. RC1

Escherichia coli growth modeling using neural network

The assessment of water microbial quality is normally performed by verification ofEscherichia coli where the growth is in nonlinearity. NARX is computational tools that haveextensive utilization in solving nonlinear time series problems. It is well known as one of thetechnique that has the ability to predict with efficient and good performance. Using NARX, ahighly accurate model was developed to predict the growth of Escherichia coli (E. coli) basedon pH water parameter. The multiparameter portable sensor and spectrophotometer data wereused to build and train the neural network. The selection of neural network structure for pHand optical density modelling was optimized and also the training and validation wereanalyzed. The result exhibited that NARX modelling was able to predict the growth of E. colibased on pH water parameter with overall regression is 0.99956.Keywords: neural network; NARX; prediction; Escherichia coli; pH; optical density

The opportunity of magnetic induction tomography modality in breast cancer detection

The needs for non-invasive technique in breast cancer detection could enhance and preserve the future of medical field in Malaysia as well as countries around the world. Breast cancer has become the main concern nowadays not only for women but for man as well. In overall, the risk of women getting breast cancer is higher than man due to the denser tissue of breast in women compare to man. Beside the unawareness for the disease, the reason which contributes to this increasing number of breast cancer reported is also due to the limitations arising from modalities such as MRI, Mammography, ultrasound and other modalities. An alternative to current technologies should be improved for early detection and treatment which causes no physical harm to patients if possible. Thus, non-invasive and better technology in detecting breast cancer is very much needed in the current market. This paper will be discussing the insights of Magnetic Induction Tomography techniques in breast cancer detection

Identification of electro-hydraulic actuator using fractional model

Electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA system) identification is to describe the characteristic of the system that useful for prediction or control system design. There are numerous methods of EHA modeling but there has not been much model using fractional-order (FO) model. In this work, integer-order (IO) model and FO model are developed to model EHA system. Output-error method is used as the estimator for both model. The coefficient of IO model was first estimated and using the estimated coefficient, the derivative order of FO model is estimated. These models has been validated by comparison of error, coefficient of determination (R2), mean square error (MSE) and correlation function. The results for the proposed model show improvement compared to the IO model

The in vitro effects of artificial and natural sweeteners on the immune system using whole blood culture assays

This article investigates the effects of commercially available artificial (aspartame, saccharin, sucralose) and natural sweeteners (brown sugar, white sugar, molasses) on the immune system. Human whole blood cultures were incubated with various sweeteners and stimulated in vitro with either phytohemagglutinin or endotoxin. Harvested supernatants were screened for cytotoxicity and cytokine release. Results showed that none of the artificial or natural sweeteners proved to be cytotoxic, indicating that no cell death was induced in vitro. The natural sweetener, sugar cane molasses (10 ug=mL), enhanced levels of the inflammatory biomarker IL-6 while all artificial sweeteners (10 ug=mL) revealed a suppressive effect on IL-6 secretion (P<0.001). Exposure of blood cells to sucralose-containing sweeteners under stimulatory conditions reduced levels of the biomarker of humoral immunity, Interleukin-10 (P<0.001). The cumulative suppression of Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-10 levels induced by sucralose may contribute to the inability in mounting an effective humoral response when posed with an exogenous threat.Web of Scienc

Real time mass flow rate measurement using multiple fan beam optical tomography

This paper presents the implementing multiple fan beam projection technique using optical fibre sensors for a tomography system. From the dynamic experiment of solid/gas flow using plastic beads in a gravity flow rig, the designed optical fibre sensors are reliable in measuring the mass flow rate below 40% of flow. Another important matter that has been discussed is the image processing rate or IPR. Generally, the applied image reconstruction algorithms, the construction of the sensor and also the designed software are considered to be reliable and suitable to perform real-time image reconstruction and mass flow rate measurements

Innovative procurement adoption for Industrialised Building System (IBS) projects

Industrialised Building System [IBS] is a new method that used prefabrication components in building construction as an alternative towards enhancing construction performance. The Construction Industry Development Board [CIDB] embraced the IBS method to enhance productivity and building quality, reduce wastage on site, increase occupational safety and health, and reduce overall cost of construction. Currently, most of the IBS project developments in Malaysia are still adopting traditional procurement system. How-ever, traditional procurement system has been criticised for its fragmented procedure to project delivery in terms of integration and collaboration of the project team. As a result of that problem, a number of issues have recently arisen such as reworks, time delay, rising costs, lack of communication and coordination, and wastages. The purpose of this research is to identify challenges of the current procurement system and to investigate the possibilities of implementing innovative type of procurement method for IBS im-plementation. A deductive research approach was adopted. Reviewing relevant literature before embarking into any academic re-search project is one way of exploring a known theory in a holistic manner. It also appears to be one of an essential feature to create a firm foundation for the research. Based on extensive literature reviews; this paper describes what are initiatives that have been taken from developed nations which are known as earlier IBS adopters and through the findings these experiences may shed some light on the type of procurement that have been adopted. This study was conducted among Grade 7 IBS contractors in Malaysia to gain further clarification on the immensity of the issues as well as assessing the research instrument. The findings from this study reveal that financial matters, lack of early involvement, lack of integration and coordination, knowledge and understanding, role and responsibility, risk liability, communication and information, attitude and relationship matters are challenges embedded in the existing procurement approach in adopting IBS. Suggestion on how innovative type of procurement method such as Separation of IBS from Main Contract, Partnering and Integrated Project Delivery [IPD] will be able to minimise the fragmentation gaps will be concluded