Tud-1 supported vanadium-doped titania photocatalyst

New photocatalyst of Techniche Universiteit Delft-1 (TUD-1) supported 5 mol% V doped TiO2 (5V-TiO2 /TUD-1) exhibited enhanced activity in methylene blue photodegradation. XRD results revealed the presence of both anatase and rutile phases in the V-doped TiO2 sample. After loading onto TUD-1, the crystallinity of the sample dropped significantly, implying well dispersion of both V and TiO2 on the TUD-1. DRUV-Vis results suggested alteration of Ti species in the presence of TUD-1. Besides, the band gap energy of V-doped TiO2 decreased after loading onto TUD-1. The sample 5V-TiO2 /TUD-1 possessed high surface area of 626 m2 /g. The photocatalytic performance of the sample was evaluated through the photodegradation of methylene blue under UV irradiation. It has been demonstrated that 5V-TiO2 /TUD-1 was a better photocatalyst compared to TUD-1 and unsupported V-doped TiO2 . The current findings strongly indicated that TUD-1 played an important role as support to improve the photocatalytic activity of V-doped TiO2

Comparative study on the perspective towards the benefits and hindrances of implementing building information modelling (BIM)

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is considered one of the most effective technologies to improve the productivity of the building process. BIM has proven its advantages throughout the building project life cycle. However, the lack of awareness towards BIM is due to the persistent practice of obsolete technology in construction. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore the industrial practitioners' perspectives on the benefits and hindrances of BIM implementation in order to understand their level of awareness. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 120 consultant companies in Kuala Lumpur where 52 responded. The data were analysed using frequency analysis and test for correlation was performed. Results revealed that respondents have a positive awareness of the benefits and hindrances towards the implementation of BIM. Both BIM and non-BIM users achieve a significant agreement on the benefits of BIM to control delay, cost, and improves management. On the other hand, all participants criticised that High Cost Allocation, Time Consuming, Lack of Information are hindering the implementation of BIM. In addition, there was a weak relationship between the BIM as a tool in company and the predictor variables which are level of understanding, time saving, cost saving, better management, cost allocation, time consumption and lack of awareness. The correlation coefficient values obtained were 0.419, 0.403, 0.376, 0.446, 0.324, 0.407 and 0.274 respectively. The outcomes indicate that construction industry experience constraint on implementing BIM mainly due to the BIM enforcement by the government industry. Thus, this paper is significant in contributing knowledge of awareness between BIM and non-BIM users on benefits and hindrances of BIM implementation. It also acts as a benchmark for the government to address the relevant issues provide a channel to drive the industry towards BIM level 2

Accelerating Extreme Learning Machine on FPGA by Hardware Implementation of Given Rotation - QRD

Currently, Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) is one of the research trends in the machine learning field due to its remarkable performances in terms of complexity and computational speed. However, the big data era and the limitations of general-purpose processor cause the increasing of interest in hardware implementation of ELM in order to reduce the computational time. Hence, this work presents the hardware-software co-design of ELM to improve the overall performances. In the co-design paradigm, one of the important components of ELM, namely Given Rotation-QRD (GR-QRD) is developed as a hardware core. Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is chosen as the platform for ELM implementation due to its reconfigurable capability and high parallelism. Moreover, the learning accuracy and computational time would be used to evaluate the performances of the proposed ELM design. Our experiment has shown that GR-QRD accelerator helps to reduce the computational time of ELM training by 41.75% while maintaining the same training accuracy in comparison to pure software of ELM

Comparative Study on the Perspective towards the Benefits and Hindrances of Implementing Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is considered one of the most effective technologies to improve the productivity of the building process.  BIM has proven its advantages throughout the building project life cycle. However, the lack of awareness towards BIM is due to the persistent practice of obsolete technology in construction. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore the industrial practitioners' perspectives on the benefits and hindrances of BIM implementation in order to understand their level of awareness. A questionnaire survey was distributed to 120 consultant companies in Kuala Lumpur where 52 responded. The data were analysed using frequency analysis and test for correlation was performed. Results revealed that respondents have a positive awareness of the benefits and hindrances towards the implementation of BIM. Both BIM and non-BIM users achieve a significant agreement on the benefits of BIM to control delay, cost, and improves management. On the other hand, all participants criticised that High Cost Allocation, Time Consuming, Lack of Information are hindering the implementation of BIM. In addition, there was a weak relationship between the BIM as a tool in company and the predictor variables which are level of understanding, time saving, cost saving, better management, cost allocation, time consumption and lack of awareness. The correlation coefficient values obtained were 0.419, 0.403, 0.376, 0.446, 0.324, 0.407 and 0.274 respectively. The outcomes indicate that construction industry experience constraint on implementing BIM mainly due to the BIM enforcement by the government industry. Thus, this paper is significant in contributing knowledge of awareness between BIM and non-BIM users on benefits and hindrances of BIM implementation. It also acts as a benchmark for the government to address the relevant issues provide a channel to drive the industry towards BIM level 2

Successful en bloc resection of complicated giant stomach gastrointestinal stromal tumor in an elderly patient

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and mostly affect the stomach. The size of the tumors vary, ranging from 0.6 cm to 25.5 cm, with a median size of 6.8 cm. Case Report: We report a case of a giant GIST (25×18×8.5 cm) in an 83-year-old woman, which we believe is the largest reported GIST, in Borneo, Malaysia. She presented with gradually increasing abdominal distension with occasional discomfort on movement for 1 month. Computed tomography revealed a large multilobulated enhancing mass measuring 10×20×22 cm with no clear plane with the posterior gastric wall, duodenum, and pancreas. We performed a distal gastrectomy and transverse colon segmentectomy, as the tumor was plastered to the mesentery of the transverse colon. Despite extensive surgery, she recovered well after surgery. Due to her advanced age and the tumor size, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor was not given owing to the possibility of adverse effects. Conclusions: The management of GIST is complicated, especially for a huge GIST with local invasion. Despite the benefits of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, the role of surgery in managing GIST is crucial, especially for patients with huge tumor size, advanced age, and local complications from the tumor

Entomologic and Virologic Investigation of Chikungunya, Singapore

Data from longitudinal analyses can be useful in the design and implementation of control strategies

IL-1β, IL-6, and RANTES as Biomarkers of Chikungunya Severity

Little is known about the immunopathogenesis of Chikungunya virus. Circulating levels of immune mediators and growth factors were analyzed from patients infected during the first Singaporean Chikungunya fever outbreak in early 2008 to establish biomarkers associated with infection and/or disease severity.Adult patients with laboratory-confirmed Chikungunya fever infection, who were referred to the Communicable Disease Centre/Tan Tock Seng Hospital during the period from January to February 2008, were included in this retrospective study. Plasma fractions were analyzed using a multiplex-microbead immunoassay. Among the patients, the most common clinical features were fever (100%), arthralgia (90%), rash (50%) and conjunctivitis (40%). Profiles of 30 cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors were able to discriminate the clinical forms of Chikungunya from healthy controls, with patients classified as non-severe and severe disease. Levels of 8 plasma cytokines and 4 growth factors were significantly elevated. Statistical analysis showed that an increase in IL-1beta, IL-6 and a decrease in RANTES were associated with disease severity.This is the first comprehensive report on the production of cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors during acute Chikungunya virus infection. Using these biomarkers, we were able to distinguish between mild disease and more severe forms of Chikungunya fever, thus enabling the identification of patients with poor prognosis and monitoring of the disease

A Pilot Study of Learning Programming with ScratchJr

Embedding technological tools in learning and providing learning environment that can support wider use of technology to equip students with computational thinking have become the trend in education. Computational thinking is a mental skill that can be acquired through coding activity. Various educational programming tools and coding software have been developed to help school children learn programming and coding at different levels including young children in preschool. This research aims to explore the use of ScratchJr, an educational programming tool in supporting young children learn programming principles and concepts. We found that ScratchJr that is developed with icon-based graphical programming blocks is a suitable educational programming tool for young children. The research findings provide insightful information for us to enrich the teaching modules for young children to progressively learn programming principles and concepts, and to acquire computational thinking

Different porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) vaccine regimes and its effect on pig immunity status at Southeast Asia pig farms

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a disease characterised by late-term reproductive failure in sows and gilts, and respiratory problems in piglets and growing pigs. In this study, 240 sera were collected from four farms that had been practicing different PRRS vaccination regime for more than a year and vaccinations were done at 2 months before sampling. Fifteen sera samples from four age groups: sows, growers, weaners and piglets were collected from each farm and analysed using IDEXX PRRS X3 ELISA for PRRSV antibodies. Pooled serum samples were tested by using nested-PCR that enable the differentiation of Type I and Type II PRRSV. Out of 80 pooled serum samples, none were positive for PRRSV indicating all age groups were not viraemic after vaccination. Results by ELISA test showed all the farms were seropositive for PRRS. ELISA testing showed no significant difference between the farms except for Farm B which practised whole herd US MLV vaccination. Farm B showed significantly lower (p< 0.05) S/P ratio in their piglet, grower and sow groups which suggest there was low virus circulation in herd. Farm A which practised US MLV on sow was the only farm found to have seronegative status in their weaners. Data indicates PRRS MLV vaccination will not cause viraemia post four weeks vaccination and whole herd MLV vaccination may help to reduce virus circulation in PRRS endemic farm

Robust Performance of Potentially Functional SNPs in Machine Learning Models for the Prediction of Atorvastatin-Induced Myalgia

10.3389/fphar.2021.605764FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY1