Boole's strategy in multistep block method for Volterra integro-differential equation

This article presents a numerical approach for solving the second kind of Volterra integro- differential equation (VIDE). The multistep block-Boole's rule method will estimate the solutions for the linear and nonlinear problems of VIDE. The method computes two solutions for VIDE along the interval. The proposed method is developed by derivation of the Lagrange interpolating polynomial. The convergence and stability analysis of the derived method are discussed. From the perspective of total function calls and time-saving, the computation results explained that the derived method performs better than other existing methods

Modelling of uncertainty on late delivery for construction industry in environmental issues: A preliminary review

The construction industry has many underlying causes and factors of uncertainty that impact on project completion schedule and time management. Uncertainties in design, procurement, operation and environmental issues are the major sources in construction project that should be managed. Most of researchers proposed a modelling and simulation techniques to solve these uncertainties problem nevertheless not for environmental issues. However, the environmental issues were also leading in significant deviations for project schedule as well in time management. The aims of this paper is to develop an initial model of uncertainty modelling to manage the underlying causes and factors that impact in environmental issue (EI) for construction industry (CI). The uncertainty structure is also presented to show the flows of uncertainty process which will be implemented in this case study as well. The simulation modelling and experimental study will base on a real case study and will verify and validate this suggestion. The validated model might be used as guidance to construction planners and managers to plan their project schedule. Further, the decision support system model-based will be developed for enhancement to integrate all uncertainty's sources to become as a powerful system in the direction of managing the uncertainty

Reducing cognitive impairment among dementia users through mobile application

Cognitive impairment includes the lacking ability to remember things, disorientation in remembering the current location, and the struggle to find the correct word. People with dementia (PwD) are often involved in this impairment. With that being said, this project proposes the use of a mobile application to help in improving their cognitive issues. To tackle this problem, features and functionality of a mobile application specifically for dementia users are identified which contributes to the development of a diary application. Identifying and gathering features from previous studies was the initial method. Development of the diary application followed the software development life cycle (SDLC) waterfall method and evaluation of the application was experimented with identified dementia users. The findings of this project are the application set of guidelines gathered from literature into the diary application. Four verified dementia people were involved in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the application. The evaluation of the application includes some good points. Some parts of the application are pointed out for their unsuitable design and suggestions are given to improve the application in the later future

Se-lection and Screening of Superior Genotypes for Quality Planting Stock Based on Vegetative Growth Performance of Some Selected 12-Year-Old Acacia Species

Abstract Production of quality wood is a big problem in forestry plantation since trees grown in plantation of some high value temperate and tropical hardwood species tend to produce low value, short butt logs and bolts due to crooked stems, low fork heights and delayed shedding of lower branches. Result from existing Acacia plantation in Malaysia indicated that most existing Acacia plantation trees especially Acacia auriculiformis and Acacia mangium, fork very heavily which leads to the formation of multiple leaders more than one and some are fork so close to the ground that they will produce little to no merchantable wood. In this context, a research study was initiated to select and recommend the best performing tree species or provenance suited for timber production in Malaysia with respect to growth and other characteristics. Species/provenance/progeny test was conducted on four species of Acacia namely, A. mangium, A. auriculiformis, A. crassicarpa and A. aulococarpa, each with 4 provenances originated from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Queensland (QL). The growth performance of the provenances was monitored in terms of some quantitative and qualitative characteristics to evaluate the genetic variation and growth performance of a base breeding population. 20 progenies for each species were selected and randomly planted with 16 trees representing each progenies in a trial plot laid out in a randomized complete block * Corresponding author. M. S. Kumar et al. 218 design consisting of four blocks as replication. The study showed that there were significant different (p < 0.05) between species, provenance and progenies for their growth performance. Generally with regard to growth, A. mangium performed better compared to other Acacia species in all of the aspect tested and it was followed by A. crassicarpa, A. aulococarpa and A. auriculiformis. There were also significant differences between provenance within regions and progenies within provenances in all quantitative and qualitative traits tested in this study. Generally, provenance and progenies selected from PNG excelled those from QL both in quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The top performing progenies of Acacia species are CG 1854 of (Bensbach WP) and KN000107 (SW of Boset WP) of A. mangium, BVG2609 (Bensbach WP) of A. crassicarpa, BVG 00835 (WP Morehead) and MM1016 (Arufi E Morehead WP) of A. aulococarpa and JSL363 (Wenlock River) and BVG 2657 (Bansbach) of A. auriculiformis

Polygonumins A, a newly isolated compound from the stem of Polygonum minus Huds with potential medicinal activities

Abstract Polygonumins A, a new compound, was isolated from the stem of Polygonum minus. Based on NMR results, the compound’s structure is identical to that of vanicoside A, comprising four phenylpropanoid ester units and a sucrose unit. The structure differences were located at C-3″″′. The cytotoxic activity of polygonumins A was evaluated on several cancer cell lines by a cell viability assay using tetrazolium dye 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). The compound showed the highest antiproliferative (p < 0.05) activities against K562 (Human Leukaemia Cell Line), MCF7 (Human breast adenocarcinoma cell line), and HCT116 (Colorectal cancer cells) cells. Cytotoxic studies against V79–4 cells were carried out and showed that polygonumins A was toxic at 50 µg/ml, suggesting that this compound may be used as an anticancer drug without affecting normal cells. Polygonumins A also showed promising activity as an HIV-1 protease inhibitor with 56% relative inhibition. Molecular docking results indicated that the compound possesses high binding affinity towards the HIV protease over the low binding free energy range of -10.5 to -11.3 kcal/mol. P. minus is used in Malaysian traditional medicine for the treatment of tumour cells. This is the first report on the use of P. minus as an HIV-1 protease inhibitor