Improved Visible Light Communication Receiver Performance by Leveraging the Spatial Dimension

In wireless communications systems, signals can be transmitted as time (temporal) or spatial variants across 3D space, and in both ways. However, using temporal variant communication channels in high-speed data transmission introduces inter-symbol interference (ISI) which makes the systems unreliable. On the other hand, spatial diversity in signal processing reduces the ISI and improves the system throughput or performance by allowing more signals from different spatial locations at the same time. Therefore, the spatial features or properties of visible light signals can be very useful in designing a reliable visible light communication (VLC) system with higher system throughput and making it more robust against ambient noise and interference. By allowing only the signals of interest, spatial separability in VLC can minimize the noise to a greater extent to improve signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) which can ensure higher data rates (in the order of Gbps-Tbps) in VLC. So, designing a VLC system with spatial diversity is an exciting area to explore and might set the foundation for future VLC system architectures and enable different VLC based applications such as vehicular VLC, multi-VLC, localization, and detection using VLC, etc. This thesis work is motivated by the fundamental challenges in reusing spatial information in VLC systems to increase the system throughput or gain through novel system designing and their prototype implementations

Patterns of language choice and use among undergraduates of different ethnic groups in a malaysian public university

Language choice and use are sociolinguistic phenomena. The choice and use of language refers to selecting languages for different purposes in different contexts. In a bi-/multilingual society, these phenomena are very important issues. Fishman’s (1972) domain analysis is used to investigate the choice of language in a multilingual context in this study. The analysis answers questions directed at ‘who speaks what language to whom, when, where and even why’. In answering these questions, a host of variables come into play. These variables are language planning and policy, language user’s social background, linguistic profile, profession, educational background, and social domains. The objectives of this study were to identify UPM undergraduates’ patterns of language choice and use in the domains of family, friendship, neighborhood, transaction, education, office, religion and media; and to investigate the effect of ethnicity, gender, discipline of study and proficiency on their patterns of language choice and use. Data for the study were collected through a questionnaire survey administered to 300 UPM undergraduates. The analysis of data was done both quantitatively and qualitatively. SPSS was used to get percentage values and frequencies through descriptive statistics and correlations between variables were obtained through Chi-square tests. The strength of relationship was measured using Contingency Coefficient and the relationship was interpreted with reference to Guilford’s rule of thumb. Findings of the study indicate that the informants chose and used different languages in different domains with consideration to the status of the domains. They were found to use ethnic languages in those domains which were more informal and intimate such as family, religion and media. Bahasa Melayu and English were chosen in more formal domains such as education and office. In the patterns of language choice among the informants, the study found the influence of ethnicity and language proficiency in all the domains investigated. The discipline of study was also found to influence language choice partially, while the influence of gender was not found. In short, this study found variation of choice of languages to be constrained and influenced by different factors

Patterns of language choice in the education domain: The Malaysian context

With Malaysia being a multilingual, multicultural and multiracial country, it is not surprising that everyone in Malaysia speaks at least two or more languages. Such a multilingual situation leads people to choose and use different languages for different purposes in different domains. Even within a single domain the choice of language varies on contexts, topics and participants. The purpose of this study was thus to investigate the patterns of language choice and use in the domain of education in Malaysia and also to investigate what influences this choice. The study examined the patterns of language choice among UPM(University Putra Malaysia) undergraduates through a questionnaire survey and the data was analyzed. The findings reveal that language choice in education varies on sub-domains. It is also found that language proficiency, ethnicity, gender, and discipline of study constrain the choice and use of language

A Bibliometric Review of Global Research on Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management

Human resource management (HRM) and supply chain management (SCM) play a growingly vital role in the organizational prosperity and economic development of countries that accelerate the importance of tracing the trajectory relating to this emerging field. However, till recently, limited number of research has examined the evolution of HRM-SCM research quantitatively. Aiming to provide an overall insight into the research in HRM-SCM field, this study utilized science mapping tools for analysing 469 articles from Scopus database explicitly related to HRM-SCM research. This bibliometric review aimed at documenting the size, geographic distribution of relevant literature, and growth trajectory, identifying key authors, journals, and documents, highlighting emerging topics, and analysing the intellectual structure of HRM-SCM knowledge base. Being the first bibliometric analysis on HRM-SCM research, this review is intended to provide a key reference for researchers entering this field, along with guidance regarding high value frameworks, and foci for further research

What determines the choice of language with friends and neighbors? the case of Malaysian university undergraduates.

Bi-/multilingual people exercise choices of language among the languages of their linguistic repertoire for different purposes in different domains. The choice is determined by various factors such as ethnicity, proficiency, attitudes, socio-cultural background, language policy, and in particular, the domain itself.Malaysia being a multilingual country, what languages are chosen with friends and relatives, and what determines the choice constitute the main objectives of this paper.Data for this paper was collected through a questionnaire survey administered to a sample of university undergraduates and analyzed those using SPSS. The findings show that respondents from the major ethnic groups preferred their respective ethnic languages with friends and neighbours of the same ethnic backgrounds but choice of Bahasa Malaysia (BM) among the non-Malays and choice for English among respondents irrespective of ethnicity increase while the interlocutors belong to other ethnic backgrounds. Ethnicity, proficiency and domain of use were found to be contributing factors of language choice with friends and neighbours in Malaysia

Assessment of the Carbon Footprint and VOCs Emissions Caused by the Manufacturing Process of the Footwear Industry in Bangladesh

Every industry has an impact on the environment, either good or bad, and leather and footwear industries are no exception. For the footwear industry, the main environmental impacts are the releasing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and solid wastes. The pressure of reducing harm to the environment is coming from both the consumers and the legislation. CO2 and VOCs are hazardous to human health and also trigger serious environment problems, such as ozone layer depletion, offensive odour, photochemical smog, acid rain and many others. Adhesives, finishing products and cleaners contribute to VOCs emissions in the footwear manufacturing industry. VOCs emission may also arise from primers, separating agents, printing inks or finishing pastes. Some most commonly produced VOCs in the footwear manufacturing industry are benzene, toluene, styrene, ethylene, xylene, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, methyl ethyl ketone, chlorobenzene, phenol etc. All of these cause severe health problems in humans and have an adverse effect on the environment. An increasing number of footwear factories adversely affects the environment and human health. One of the largest environmental impacts of shoe industry comes from the manufacturing stages of the shoe’s life cycle. This study was carried out to measure the carbon footprint and VOCs emissions among ten selected footwear factories. The results revealed that the total energy footprint for one pair of shoes is 18.004826 MJ, the water footprint is 8.37167 litres and the carbon footprint is 9.174979 kg CO2 eq. The highest impact in terms of the carbon footprint lies in the shoe manufacturing process with a 5.85109 eq. CO2 (kg). The total VOCs consumption for a fashion shoe is around 36.5 g/pair on average. There should be an initiative taken with the aim of adjusting the choice of methods, materials, machines and the monitoring systems as well as the safety policy for the workers and the environment

Availability of pearl producing marine bivalves in south-eastern coast of Bangladesh and culture potentialities

The present study was conducted during September 2014 to July 2015 to identify the pearl bearing bivalves in south-eastern coast of Bangladesh and culture potentialities of marine oyster in captivity based on field investigation. A total of 7 pearl bearing bivalve species were identified in the coast with a salinity of 18-34 ppt, pH 8.1-8.3 and water depth ranged 0.2-2.0 meter in their habitat. From the collected bivalves, most abundant oyster species windowpane oyster, Placuna placenta (Linnaeus, 1758) was reared in fiber glass tanks with seawater for a period of 6 months. During rearing highest survival rate of 88% was observed in T1 with sandy and gravel substratum and lowest survival rate of 78% was found in T2 with muddy substratum.  Average temperature and salinity were varied between 24 °C-25 °C and 21-26 ppt respectively. From the reared oyster, highest 54 nos. small pearls in the month of April and lowest 7 pearls in December from a single P. placenta were obtained. The study proved that pearls can be obtained from the marine oysters in captivity in Bangladesh, and this offers large scale culture potentialities in our coast

The nutritional composition of mayonnaise and salad dressing in the Malaysian market

Mayonnaise and salad dressing are fast becoming popular condiments for Malaysian. The aim of this study was to obtain the nutritional composition of mayonnaise and salad dressing commercially available in the Malaysian market. The data will be used to update the Malaysian Food Composition Database which was last updated in 1997. A total of six brands from each type of mayonnaise and salad dressing were sampled from local supermarkets in the Klang Valley and analysed using standard methods. The validity of test data was monitored with the application of internal quality controls in line with the requirements of ISO 17025. The energy contents of mayonnaise and salad dressings were up to 626.40 kcal/100 g. Our findings were also in agreement with the energy labelling on the packaging. Sodium was high in mayonnaise and salad dressing because it is used in the final mixture of both condiments to improve their characteristics for certain reasons. Mayonnaise and salad dressing have been identified as potent sources of vitamin A and vitamin E and both condiments were found to contain high levels of these antioxidants. It can be concluded that this study are useful not only in providing information on the nutritional content of several commercial types of mayonnaise and salad dressing, but also in improving the public understanding of healthy food choices

Mechanistic insight of Staphylococcus aureus associated skin cancer in humans by Santalum album derived phytochemicals: an extensive computational and experimental approaches

An excessive amount of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is commonly associated with actinic keratosis (AK) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) by secreted virulence products that induced the chronic inflammation leading to skin cancer which is regulated by staphylococcal accessory regulator (SarA). It is worth noting that there is currently no existing published study that reports on the inhibitory activity of phytochemicals derived from Santalum album on the SarA protein through in silico approach. Therefore, our study has been designed to find the potential inhibitors of S. aureus SarA protein from S. album-derived phytochemicals. The molecular docking study was performed targeting the SarA protein of S. aureus, and CID:5280441, CID:162350, and CID: 5281675 compounds showed the highest binding energy with −9.4 kcal/mol, −9.0 kcal/mol, and −8.6 kcal/mol respectively. Further, molecular dynamics simulation revealed that the docked complexes were relatively stable during the 100 ns simulation period whereas the MMPBSA binding free energy proposed that the ligands were sustained with their binding site. All three complexes were found to be similar in distribution with the apoprotein through PCA analysis indicating conformational stability throughout the MD simulation. Moreover, all three compounds’ ADMET profiles revealed positive results, and the AMES test did not show any toxicity whereas the pharmacophore study also indicates a closer match between the pharmacophore model and the compounds. After comprehensive in silico studies we evolved three best compounds, namely, Vitexin, Isovitexin, and Orientin, which were conducted in vitro assay for further confirmation of their inhibitory activity and results exhibited all of these compounds showed strong inhibitory activity against S. aureus. The overall result suggests that these compounds could be used as a natural lead to inhibit the pathogenesis of S. aureus and antibiotic therapy for S. aureus-associated skin cancer in humans as well