A new graphical approach for simultaneous mass and energy minimisation

Heat and mass such as water and solvents are two key utilities in process industry. Simultaneous reduction of both utilities can reduce plant capital as well as operating costs. Though there are mathematical modeling techniques that can produce global optimal solutions, graphical methods are often preferred to provide insights through visualization. This paper presents a new graphical approach named superimposed mass and energy curves (SMEC) for simultaneous mass and heat reduction applicable to both mass transfer-based and non-mass transfer-based systems. Source and demand allocation curves and heat surplus diagram are superimposed on a plot of flowrate versus mass load/temperature to guide design towards the minimum utility targets. This method provides a useful visualization tool on the simultaneous effects of mass and energy reduction. Application of the graphical procedure on case studies involving water and ammonia solvents achieved the minimum mass consumption and near optimal energy usage

The shaping of an ibadah friendly hospital : learnings from the bimaristan of the evergreen past and the practicality of today’s demands

The history of medicine and the healing environment we promote today in healthcare design is not a new phenomenon. It has been a continuous effort through centuries by caregivers that recognizes environment as contributing factors to human wellbeing with or without scientific evidences, to provide appropriate environment under their care. It is an intuitive, honest and sincere consideration that reflects the caring environment of people of that day based on their faith and not on any gains. Today, with advance medical technology and the circumstantial demand of healthcare services and industry, hospitals begin to mushroom seemingly beautiful but without the soul. Why is this so? Although the answer to the question lies on the basic intention or niyah, the transparent process of implementation, clear design outcomes that support the functions and finally the acceptance of the people-users and caregivers, the live on-going experiment on a teaching hospital for International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), as an Ibadah Friendly Hospital, will hopefully be the testament to this enquiry. This paper thus intends to share the findings on what makes the hospital with a soul or Ibadah friendly. Ibadah means to do good deeds and actions for Allah's blessings only. It is a spiritual connotation and fundamental way of life for those who submit to Islam. For the purpose of this design based paper, a vivid description on the initial conception of the hospital project for IIUM, based from learning of the bimaristan, the shariah or Islamic law and industry experiences were extracted. Through qualitative approach of literature reviews, observations, discussions, workshops, interviews and meetings from all parties (user-client of academic background, and the contractors (with design consultants)) team under the Private Public Partnership (PPP) procurement system, findings made through project briefing, design development to current development stage prior construction were consolidated. As a design based paper, exclusions to details irrelevant in the discussion is intentional. Though preliminary as the hospital is yet to be built, in the spirit of Ibadah, the findings made should be shared and discuss in the shaping of a hospital of the future, with a soul. Wallahualam

Roles of human milk miRNAs and microbiota in infants gut: a systematic review

Early-life breastfeeding practice provides multiple advantages to infant subsequently contributing to significant short- as well as long-term positive health outcomes. The current notion suggested that in the first 1000 days of life, infant’s body is susceptible to external factors and highly inducible towards complex repertoire of components originated from mother’s milk. This condition permits diverse components of human breast milk ranging from microRNA and microbiome to larger size macronutrient to act by supplementing and supporting their under-developed body system in early life. Currently, the discoveries of milk miRNA as key effectors in multiple biological processes in different infant’s organs including gastrointestinal tract are growing rapidly. In addition, the perception on the translocation of bacteria from mother’s intestine to breast milk has given rise to the idea that these bacteria may as well dynamically transferred to the infant and provide protection to poor barrier integrity of their gut. Hence, the aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic review in order to collect, compile, and extract data related to human milk miRNAs and microbiota as well as their functions in infant’s gut following the relevant guidelines of Preferred Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA). A systematic search will be done on at least three databases such as Scopus, PubMed and Medline using relevant Medical Subject Headings (MESH) terms including human milk AND miRNA AND (microbiota OR microbiome) AND (infant OR child OR children) AND (gut OR intestine OR intestinal) from 2011 through 2021. From the databases, papers obtained will be sorted accordingly based on the objective, and inclusion and exclusion criteria and subject to Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool (CCAT) to further assess and ensure the quality, validity and eligibility of the research papers before reviewing thoroughly. This study is expected to provide a comprehensive presentation and information on the types of miRNAs and microbial species as well as their roles, functions and importance in boosting the system within infant’s gut. In depth, the miRNAs that capable of inducing genetic expression of their target genes or regulate particular important signalling pathways that would be beneficial in enhancing the immune system within infant’s gut may be presented in this study. Similarly, for some beneficial microbial species in the gut such as Lactobacilli with unique mechanisms and mode of actions in preventing the colonization of pathogenic bacterial within infant’s gastrointestinal tract and reduce clinical infection

Bit Communication in Artificial Swarm

Bit communication in swarm agents is a communication process of transmitting data within specific area. The data must be delivered to all agents in the area which this process also closely related to broadcasting manner through bit-communication as a way to spread out the data among all those agents. This research field is supposed to have a deep study of behavior of homogeneous agents by inspecting the reversing and non-reversing approach. It also included the investigation of the independent and characteristic of transmitting and receiving data for random process of swarm. In this paper, swarm technique is implemented which is useful for bit-communication behavior. There are two approaches are used for transmitting and receiving process. For the reverse approach, the data can be resend back to the sender for the next cycle where the program randomly select one-of nearest agent for transmitting the data. While in non-reversing approach, the data cannot retransmit back to the sender in the previous cycle; this approach may increase the system performance and efficiency

Energy efficiency award system in Malaysia for energy sustainability

Many countries have organised energyawards as an instrument to promote energy efficiency (EE), to contribute towards energy sustainability and to provide a mechanism for organisations to continuously search, benchmark and acknowledge initiatives and best practices in EE. To be effective, an award system must be tailored towards the needs, the level of readiness and the acceptance of a nation. This paper presents a framework for implementation of a national EE award in the context of Malaysia. The current energy scenario and energy issues relevant to Malaysia are first highlighted to establish the premise for organising a national energy award. Models and success stories of EE awards in other countries are discussed as possible benchmarks for implementation. The results of a survey conducted on various energy stakeholders in Malaysia confirmed the needs, readiness and acceptance for a national EE award. A framework for the implementation of a Malaysian EE award is proposed based on the survey conducted, and on various models of energy award implementation worldwide

Specific microRNAs among milk siblings: an epigenetics approach towards understanding the basis of milk kinship

Milk kinship is an Islamic belief described as a relationship established when infants receive breast milk from non-biological mothers. This form of kinship is said to bear a very close resemblance to blood relation whereby the recipients’ infants are regarded as milk siblings to the biological children of the breastfeeding mother. Any future marriage between these individuals is forbidden likewise between the recipient infant and the nursing mother herself as they are thought to have a form of consanguinity. The consanguinity formed by virtue of milk sharing might be due to the composition of human breast milk, especially milk microRNAs that are responsible for the epigenetic modulation of gene expression. miRNAs can regulate gene expression by modulating genome-wide epigenetic status of genes, and similarly-shared genes might be the basis that has led to milk kinship formation. Thus, the objective of the present study is to identify potential lactationspecific miRNAs that are similarly shared among milk siblings and their nursing mothers. The study began with molecular extraction of milk RNA from the nursing mothers and cell-free plasma RNA from all milk siblings and their nursing mothers. The RNAs extracted from both sample types were further analyzed using NanoString nCounter® miRNA Panel Analysis (NanoString Technologies, Seattle, WA) to measure the abundance of individual miRNAs biomarkers present within the samples. This study is expected to provide scientific explanation that could divulge the secrets behind milk kinship establishment with thorough presentation on the lactation-specific miRNAs shared between milk siblings. Hence, the way for future research would be paved, making the development of milk kinship identification tool possible

Specific MicroRNAs among milk siblings: an epigenetics approach towards understanding the basis of milk kinship

Introduction: Milk kinship is an Islamic belief described as a relationship established when infants receive breast milk from non-biological mothers. This form of kinship is said to bear a very close resemblance to blood relation whereby the recipients’ infants are regarded as milk siblings to the biological children of the breastfeeding mother. Any future marriage between these individuals is forbidden likewise between the recipient infant and the nursing mother herself as they are thought to have a form of consanguinity. The consanguinity formed by virtue of milk sharing might be due to the composition of human breast milk, especially milk microRNAs that are responsible for the epigenetic modulation of gene expression. miRNAs can regulate gene expression by modulating genome-wide epigenetic status of genes, and similarly-shared genes might be the basis that has led to milk kinship formation. Thus, the objective of the present study is to identify potential lactation-specific miRNAs that are similarly shared among milk siblings and their nursing mothers. Methods: The study began with molecular extraction of milk RNA from the nursing mothers and cell-free plasma RNA from all milk siblings and their nursing mothers. The RNAs extracted from both sample types were further analyzed using NanoString nCounter® miRNA Panel Analysis (NanoString Technologies, Seattle, WA) to measure the abundance of individual miRNAs biomarkers present within the samples. Expected Outcomes: This study is expected to provide scientific explanation that could divulge the secrets behind milk kinship establishment with thorough presentation on the lactation-specific miRNAs shared between milk siblings. Hence, the way for future research would be paved, making the development of milk kinship identification tool possible

Association between nutritional status, food insecurity and frailty amongelderly with low income

Aging is associated with increased risk of frailty and malnutrition. However, food insecurity has rarely been highlighted in the elderly population, especially among the low income group. Thus, a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the association between nutritional status, food insecurity and frailty among elderly in low income residences in Klang Valley. A total of 72 elderly individuals aged 60 years and above was selected (mean age 66 ± 6 years) through convenient sampling. Participants were interviewed to obtain information on socio-demographic, health status, food insecurity and cognitive status. Anthropometrics parameters and frailty assessments was measured using standard criteria. Results showed that 75.0% of the participants had abdominal obesity. Nearly half of the participants were overweight (41.7%), followed by normal (43.0%) and underweight (15.3%). With respect to food insecurity, most of them reported that they had enough food (93.1%). There were significant correlation (p < 0.05) between food insecurity with height (r = -0.263, p = 0.026). Most of the participants were pre-frail (58.3%), frail (27.8%) and followed by non-frail (13.9%). Calcium intake is inversely associated with frailty (t = -2.62, p = 0.011). In conclusion, food insecurity was not a problem, however, half of the subjects were overweight and pre-frail. Three out four subjects had abdominal obesity. There is a need to investigate further the pathogenesis of fat frail in this low income elderly population and formulate effective intervention strategies

Knowledge, attitude and practice about leptospirosis prevention among town service workers in northeastern Malaysia: a cross sectional study

Introduction. Many efforts have been done to reduce leptospirosis infections in Malaysia especially among high risk groups including town service workers. Town service workers are more likely to be exposed to the leptospiral infection resulting from their occupational activities.Methods. A cross sectional study was conducted in northeastern Malaysia involving 321 town service workers who were subjected to answer an interviewer-guided validated questionnaire which consists of sociodemographic, knowledge, attitude and practice information. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 20.Results. All of the respondents were Malay with mean (SD) age of 40.6 (10.28) years old. The mean (SD) duration of employment was 12.1 (9.62) years. Fifty four respondents (16.8%) had never heard of leptospirosis. Among the respondents, 215 (67.0%) of them had poor knowledge on leptospirosis. Meanwhile, 167 (52.0%) and only 128 (39.9%) of them had satisfactory attitude and practice respectively. It was found that knowledge on risk factors for leptospirosis was lacking. There were high risk attitudes such as drinking habit and protective equipment used during working with the favourable answers ranged from 67.3% to 89.1%. The weakest area identified in their practice was also on the use of protective equipment.Conclusions. The workers’ level of knowledge and practice were relatively poor despite an overall good practice on leptospirosis. This finding might expose them to an increased risk of contracting leptospirosis. Identified weak areas in their knowledge, attitude and practice will assist the policy makers to develop a focused and well-directed intervention program on leptospirosis infection. 

Association between Nutritional Status, Food Insecurity and Frailty among Elderly with Low Income

Aging is associated with increased risk of frailty and malnutrition. However, food insecurity has rarely been highlighted in the elderly population, especially among the low income group. Thus, a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the association between nutritional status, food insecurity and frailty among elderly in low income residences in Klang Valley. A total of 72 elderly individuals aged 60 years and above was selected (mean age 66 ± 6 years) through convenient sampling. Participants were interviewed to obtain information on socio-demographic, health status, food insecurity and cognitive status. Anthropometrics parameters and frailty assessments was measured using standard criteria. Results showed that 75.0% of the participants had abdominal obesity. Nearly half of the participants were overweight (41.7%), followed by normal (43.0%) and underweight (15.3%). With respect to food insecurity, most of them reported that they had enough food (93.1%). There were significant correlation (p < 0.05) between food insecurity with height (r = -0.263, p = 0.026). Most of the participants were pre-frail (58.3%), frail (27.8%) and followed by non-frail (13.9%). Calcium intake is inversely associated with frailty (t = -2.62, p = 0.011). In conclusion, food insecurity was not a problem, however, half of the subjects were overweight and pre-frail. Three out four subjects had abdominal obesity. There is a need to investigate further the pathogenesis of fat frail in this low income elderly population and formulate effective intervention strategies