An In Vivo Study Of A Locally-Manufactured Hydroxyapatite -Based Material As Bone Replacement Material.

Synthetic HA has excellent biocompatibility, but it has limited application due to its low toughness and flexural strength. In order to improve the mechanical properties (impact resistance, and tensile strength), metals and other elements were added to HA

Optimization of Interdigitated Electrodes in Electric Field Distribution and Thermal Effect

Microfluidic is used to separate, transport and manipulate particles through a micro-scale device. This paper presents the numerical simulation of interdigitated electrodes that is commonly used for continuous particle separation using electrical separation microfluidic device which demonstrates dielectrophoretic (DEP) force. The strength of DEP force depends on the gradient of electric field generated by the electrodes. Besides, the effect of Joule heating generated by the electrodes would harm the living particles. The interdigitated electrodes arrays are simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5. The gradient of electric field distribution and temperature generated are simulated for different width and gap of the electrode. The simulation results are analysed and discussed to determine the best electrode dimension to be fabricated for bio-particles separation application. The optimum interdigitated electrode dimension identified in this research was 60µm:180µm (width:gap) that generate 1.92x1016 V2m-3 of electric field gradient and temperature of 68°C on the electrode surface, and electric field gradient of 1.83x1013 V2m-3 and temperature about 40°C when 80µm above the electrode with the conductivity of the fluid is 1.09 S/m (mimic blood conductivity)

ASSIMILATING GEOSPATIAL METAMODEL AND INVENTORY MAPPING FOR NON-STRUCTURAL MITIGATION OF LANDSLIDE

In Malaysia, issues related to disaster management are always given attention in society and by the responsible parties. However, in general, citizen do not think of the consequential impact of disaster due to less of knowledge regarding the early phase in disaster management. Therefore, citizen in those areas will be more vulnerable to landslide as the citizen face difficulties in identifying specific areas with the tendency of landslides. This paper presents a geospatial metamodel approach for non-structural mitigation of landslide using data from airborne LiDAR and aerial photograph. Disaster management metamodel with geospatial element combines activity for managing disaster along with geospatial database that makes it handy for appreciating the metamodel. On the other hand, the digital terrain model (DTM) from LiDAR and aerial photograph is required to produce landslide inventory mapping. The case study area is located in Kundasang, Sabah, where landslides occur frequently. In order to get better visual in identifying landslides in the study area, three types of data are required to carry out image interpretation. The three types of data are hillshade, topographic openness and colour composite. The result of the landslide inventory map shows that there are five types of landslide, which is debris flow, debris fall, mud flow, deep-seated landslide and shallow landslide. Finally, the result of landslide inventory map will be integrated into the developed metamodel for presentation to the users. This landslide inventory map is used as a non-structural mitigation step in one of disaster management phases that is suitable to prepare and use in mitigating the landslide hazard impact

VOTERS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS POLITICAL PARTY: A GEOSPATIAL CASE STUDY OF YOUNG VOTERS IN JOHOR BAHRU

The application of Geographic Information System (GIS) and election is a study that stresses geospatial aspects which gives support to election boundaries, election information management system along with GIS analysis in election boundaries. This article, as a concept, explains the role and function of GIS and geopolitics as an introduction to examine the election pattern in Malaysia. This study was aimed at understanding the issue that influenced youth voters in DUN Nusajaya to cast their votes in General Election, thus charting new strategies for future election. In doing so, nine issues are carefully selected and analysed from a geographical perspective by using GIS method. Socio-demographic data, issues influenced and assessment of state political figure, are used to explore geographic variability in relationships between each variable at a detailed spatial level. Spatial analysis using geographically weighted regression (GWR) was employed, which enables the investigation of local variations in voting patterns. The results demonstrate that assessment of state political figures do vary over geographic space and some of the variables that are traditionally assumed affect certain locations

Experiment and simulation of reflected slow and fast wave correlation with cancellous bone models

Incorporating fast and slow wave analysis into ultrasound measurements can improve the accuracy of bone quality estimation to detect the risk of osteoporosis-related fractures. Since the pulse-echo technique can perform measurements at critical bone locations, this technique is offered by applying fast and slow wave analysis to improve the accuracy of the measurement technique. Thus, the objective of this paper is to conduct simulation and experiment for the pulse-echo technique to investigate correlation reflected fast and slow wave with various porosity of cancellous bone models. The recorded reflected wave (mix wave) is separated method into individual reflected fast and slow wave using bandlimited deconvolution. Further, the parameters for the mix, fast and slow waves are calculated, plotted against porosity and correlation of the parameter's data is observed. The result between simulation and experiment also compared in terms of parameters behaviour versus porosity. The result shows that the reflected fast and slow wave separated using bandlimited deconvolution method has characteristics that represent wave that propagate through solid or pore part of the porous structure as found by previous works. Moreover, the simulation result shows that the parameter of reflected fast and slow wave shows a high correlation with porosity. However, for experiment, only attenuation parameters shows significant correlation with porosity ({\mathrm{R}^{2}}_{\text{fast}}=0.51 and {\mathrm{R}^{2}}_{\text{slow}}=-0.76). The experiment may experience additional undesired noise in comparison with the simulation. Nevertheless, the attenuation parameters were consistent between the simulation and the experiment. The overall result shows that studying fast and slow waves instead of mix waves for bone quality estimation can help improve the accuracy of pulse-echo measurement

Particle Image Velocimetry and Finite Volume Method Study of Bi-leaflet Artificial Heart Valve

The key feature of the bi-leaflet valve is the geometry of the two leaflets, which can be crucial in determining the flow field. In this paper, observations were made on the flow pattern of the blood through the use of bi-leaflet type mechanical prosthetic valve (MHV). Finite volume method (FVM) analysis was conducted using fluid-structure interaction (FSI) method that solved on a dynamic mesh. In terms of the validation, particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to verify the findings obtained from FVM analysis. The results of velocity and vorticity were the main parameters to be compared. Based on the findings, the results computed for the leaflets motion and the flow field using FVM was found to be in agreement with PIV experimental data. The pressure obtained for the simulation is in the range of 10,666 – 16,000 Pa, which is an ideal and healthy blood pressure level of human. The vorticity was observed to be formed behind the valve with DVI value of 1.275 (simulation) and 1.457 (experiment), lower than the expected range for a normal DVI in mitral valve. The maximum shear stress achieved (22.5481 Pa) is in the range of platelets activation, which could lead to thrombus formation. The maximum Von Mises stress was found to be at the hinge region of the bi-leaflet valve. These results will serve as a basis for valve design to improve the hemodynamic properties of the heart valve

The barriers and causes of building information modelling usage for interior design industry

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has since developed alongside the improvement in the construction industry, purposely to simulate the design, management, construction and documentation. It facilitates and monitors the construction through visualization and emphasizes on various inputs to virtually design and construct a building using specific software. This study aims to identify and elaborate barriers of BIM usage in interior design industry in Malaysia. This study is initiated with a pilot survey utilising sixteen respondents that has been randomly chosen. Respondents are attached with interior design firms that are registered by Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia (LAM). The research findings are expected to provide significant information to encourage BIM adoption among interior design firms

The effects of dietary supplementation of methanolic extracts of herbal medicine on haematological variable of red hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis sp.)

The most common strategy to treat in aquaculture disease is the use of antibiotics, however, such utilization has been accounted to have antagonistic impacts like accumulation of drugs in tissues, development of drug resistance and immunosuppression. One of the most promising methods of controlling diseases in aquaculture is strengthening the defence mechanisms through therapeutic administration. Vitex trifolia, Strobilanthes crispus, and Aloe vera have been reported to have better antimicrobial activity in vitro against Streptococcus agalactiae. However, there is no report on the application of the extracts on the treatment of Oreochromis sp. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of diet supplementation of selected plant extract for 14 days as disease treatment. In red blood cell (RBC), haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), white blood cell (WBC), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) showed significant differences between treatment and control. RBC, Hb and WBC levels of the infected group were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of the control group indicating improve defence system in the fish fed with V. trifolia, S. crispus, and A. vera. These results suggested that of methanolic mixed herbal to applying S. agalactiae infected Oreochromis sp had a synergistic restorative effect on the haematological variables