Evaluation of whole body vibration and back pain problem among Light Rapid Transit (LRT) drivers

A cross sectional study was conducted to evaluate whole body vibration (WBV) and back pain problem among light rail transit (LRT) driver. This study was carried out to determine exposure level of whole body vibration and identify back pain problem due to whole body vibration exposure among LRT driver. Standardized Nordic questionnaire was used for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms, to identify the prevalence of back pain, information about health history, working time duration, and working experiences was obtained from 52 drivers of light rail transit (LRT) train. HVM 100 Larson Davis was used to measure whole body vibration measurement of eight LRTs with different vehicle number. The measurement of whole body vibration was done during operation working time. The data collected from HVM 100 were transferred to the Blaze software for getting the vibration magnitude of the experiment while data collected from survey were analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for statistical analysis. The analysis of graph patterns and the differentiation of magnitude value from each LRT were studied to determine the exposure level of vibration. A high prevalence of back pain (82.7%) among LRT drivers was found and high daily exposure level was obtained. The finding showed that, there are relations between back pain and daily vibration exposure which resulted in a correlation coefficient of 0.709, with significant at α = 0.05. In conclusion, it was expected that the individuals subjected to the high vibration levels would tend to report back pain

Physical fatigue assessment for intrastate bus driver

Fatigue is considered a psychological or mental fatigue type characterized by subjective feelings of a disinclination to continue driving, drowsiness, fatigue, and deduction motivation. Bus drivers in Malaysia have been facing physical fatigue from driving for many years. Therefore, investigating the psychophysiological factor that related to fatigue could improve understanding and management for fatigue in the transport industry. Physical factors are divided by two parts that is upper and lower body. The objective of this study is to identify the cause, determine the level and analyze the physical fatigue on bus driver. There were two methods applied in this study, which were Modified Nordic Questionnaires that represent subjective measurement and surface Electromyography (sEMG) the objective measurement. Results from sEMG showed neck and upper back muscle groups leads to fatigue as the muscle is running out of energy based from the graph. Through the sEMG data, it can determine the level of physical fatigue on bus driver and analyzed the physical fatigue. Findings of this study from the questionnaire data analysis using the Statistical Package Social Science software, it is proved that physical fatigue really occurred to the intrastate bus driver. Results also showed significant correlation relationship between physical and mental

Performance analysis of stacked capacitive antenna for lightning remote sensing

Antennas are the important elements in the lightning detection system. To improve performance of the lightning detection system, it is so necessary to improve the efficiency of the antennas. There are two types of antennas used in the system which are capacitive antenna for electric field sensing and loop antenna for magnetic field sensing [1]. Both of these antennas are big in size and causing inconvenient during set up. Thus, small and portable antennas are designed. It is so important to remain or improve the sensitivity of the antennas even though it is small in size. Stacking method is used in capacitive antenna by increase copper plate layer in between the parallel plate antenna. After prototype the multi-stacked capacitive antenna, performance analysis is carried out. Performances of the antennas are compared using CST simulation and hardware set up. Multi-stacked capacitive antenna is compared with the single plate antenna and found that the performance of the antenna increases as the stacked number increases

Evaluation of air-gap stacked capacitive antennas for lightning remote sensing

This paper evaluates the capacitive antenna performance (sensitivity and frequency shifting) as a lightning sensor in different antenna design structures. Two experiments were carried out, Experiment A - using two different structure antennas, an A3 size capacitive antenna and a quarter A4- sized capacitive antenna, capturing the electric field (E-field) generated by the small spark at a distance of 1 meter away from both antennas. The results were taken in a ratio form of the 1st pulse amplitude captured by quarter A4 size antenna verses 1st pulse amplitude of the waveform captured by A3 antenna for each corresponding spark. Same set up and measurement were taken during the Experiment B except for the quarter A4 size antenna was now being slotted with 6 copper plates were slotted within the gap between the top plate and bottom plate. The result from Experiment A showed an average ratio at 0.1957 with a range of 0.0333 to 0.3085 while the results of Experiment B showed the average value laid at 0.2606 within the range of 0.1581 to 0.4510. The comparison results of Experiment A with Experiment B gave an increment of the sensitivity of the quarter A4 antenna from no stack to fully stacked antenna. However, there was also a significant frequency shifting of the quarter A4 antenna with the change of antenna structure (15% for quarter A4 capacitive antenna without stack; 20% for quarter A4 stacked capacitive antenna)

Characterization of greater middle eastern genetic variation for enhanced disease gene discovery

The Greater Middle East (GME) has been a central hub of human migration and population admixture. The tradition of consanguinity, variably practiced in the Persian Gulf region, North Africa, and Central Asia1-3, has resulted in an elevated burden of recessive disease4. Here we generated a whole-exome GME variome from 1,111 unrelated subjects. We detected substantial diversity and admixture in continental and subregional populations, corresponding to several ancient founder populations with little evidence of bottlenecks. Measured consanguinity rates were an order of magnitude above those in other sampled populations, and the GME population exhibited an increased burden of runs of homozygosity (ROHs) but showed no evidence for reduced burden of deleterious variation due to classically theorized ‘genetic purging’. Applying this database to unsolved recessive conditions in the GME population reduced the number of potential disease-causing variants by four- to sevenfold. These results show variegated genetic architecture in GME populations and support future human genetic discoveries in Mendelian and population genetics

Parking Space Occupancy at Rail Stations in Klang Valley

The development of Klang Valley Integrated Rapid Transit system in Klang Valley, Malaysia has been quickly gaining momentum during the recent years. There will be two new MRT lines (MRT Line 1 and MRT Line 2) and one new LRT line (LRT Line 3) extended from the current integrated rail transit system by year 2020 with more than 90 new rail stations. With the substantial addition of potential rail passengers, there are doubts whether the existing Park and Ride facilities in Klang Valley are able to accommodate the future parking space demand at rail stations. This research studies the parking occupancy at various Park and Ride facilities in Klang Valley namely Taman Jaya, Asia Jaya, Taman Paramount, Taman Bahagia and Kelana Jaya by applying the non-conventional method utilizing Google Earth imageries. Results showed that the parking occupancy rate at these LRT stations were 100% or more before the commencement of LRT extension (Kelana Jaya and Ampang Lines) in 2016 and in the range of 36% to 100% after the commencement of LRT extension due to the additionally built car parks and changes in parking pattern with dispersed passenger traffic

Frequent Route Map For Transit Users In Klang Valley, Malaysia

Abstract. Public transit has gained significant attention among Malaysian citizens for the past few years. The increase in the number of private vehicles on the road leads to massive traffic jam especially during peak hours, thus causing them to consider switching towards public transit. Our mission in Prasarana Malaysia Berhad is to ensure that people can get stress-free experience while using public transports. One of the elements that contribute towards stress-free experience is passenger information system. In this paper, an alternative method to channel transit information to passenger is proposed that is by using frequent route map (FRM). In FRM, the frequency schedule of public bus is presented graphically on the GIS. The lower the operation frequency, the thinner the route line on the map will be and vice versa. As a result, the frequency schedule-GIS combination has made it easier for viewer to both identify the service availability and frequency

Parking Space Occupancy at Rail Stations in Klang Valley

The development of Klang Valley Integrated Rapid Transit system in Klang Valley, Malaysia has been quickly gaining momentum during the recent years. There will be two new MRT lines (MRT Line 1 and MRT Line 2) and one new LRT line (LRT Line 3) extended from the current integrated rail transit system by year 2020 with more than 90 new rail stations. With the substantial addition of potential rail passengers, there are doubts whether the existing Park and Ride facilities in Klang Valley are able to accommodate the future parking space demand at rail stations. This research studies the parking occupancy at various Park and Ride facilities in Klang Valley namely Taman Jaya, Asia Jaya, Taman Paramount, Taman Bahagia and Kelana Jaya by applying the non-conventional method utilizing Google Earth imageries. Results showed that the parking occupancy rate at these LRT stations were 100% or more before the commencement of LRT extension (Kelana Jaya and Ampang Lines) in 2016 and in the range of 36% to 100% after the commencement of LRT extension due to the additionally built car parks and changes in parking pattern with dispersed passenger traffic

Frequent Route Map For Transit Users In Klang Valley, Malaysia

Abstract. Public transit has gained significant attention among Malaysian citizens for the past few years. The increase in the number of private vehicles on the road leads to massive traffic jam especially during peak hours, thus causing them to consider switching towards public transit. Our mission in Prasarana Malaysia Berhad is to ensure that people can get stress-free experience while using public transports. One of the elements that contribute towards stress-free experience is passenger information system. In this paper, an alternative method to channel transit information to passenger is proposed that is by using frequent route map (FRM). In FRM, the frequency schedule of public bus is presented graphically on the GIS. The lower the operation frequency, the thinner the route line on the map will be and vice versa. As a result, the frequency schedule-GIS combination has made it easier for viewer to both identify the service availability and frequency