• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2011

Due to restriction of vehicle emissions and high demand for fossil fuels nowadays, car manufacturers around the world are looking into alternative ways in introducing new car model that would vastly captured the market. Thus, Electric Vehicle (EV) has been further developed to take the advantage of the current global issues on price of fossil fuels and impact on the environment. Since car battery plays the crucial role on the overall performance of EV, many researchers have been working on improving the component. This paper focused on the reliability of EV battery which involves recognizing failure types, testing method and life prediction method. By focusing on these elements, the reliability feature being identified and as a result the batteries life will be prolonged.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Corpus Research
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.1-15
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• 2021

The study aims to explore the use of metadiscourse in the Bank Negara Malaysia Governor's speeches based on Hyland's Interpersonal Model of Metadiscourse. The corpus data consist of 343 speech texts, which were extracted from the Malaysian Corpus of Financial English (MacFE), amounting to 688,778 tokens. Adopting both quantitative and qualitative approaches to data analysis the study investigates (1) the overall use of metadiscourse in the Bank Negara Governor's speech texts and (2) the functions of the most prominent metadiscourse resources used and their functions in the speech texts. The findings reveal that the Governor's speech texts to be interactional rather than interactive, revealing a rich distribution of interactional metadiscourse resources, namely engagement markers, self-mention, hedges, boosters and attitude markers throughout the texts. The interactional metadiscourse resources function to establish speaker-audience engagement and alignment of views, as well as to express degree of uncertainty and certainty and attitudes. The study concludes that the speech texts are not merely informational or propositional, but rather interpersonal.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.515-519
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• 2004

A Propeller-Anemometer is an instrument used specifically, to measure the wind speed. The accurate measurement of the wind speed is vitally important such required by any weather stations. In this research, the measurand of the instrumentation was the rotational speed of the propeller and the instrumentation result or output data was wind velocity. The speed measured was recorded digitally in the computer by using specific software. A specific sensor used to measure a variable by converting information of the variable (rotational speed of the propeller) into a dependent signal such as electrical signal in form of voltage. The development of Propeller-Anemometer involved few sets of instrumentation process and equipment. It included three major parts, mechanical, electronics and computer. The main instrumentation processes were physical and signal interfacing, signal conditioning, logic interfacing, data transmission to computer and processing the data. Generally, this paper presents the overall concept and design of Propeller-Anemometer Instrumentation. However, an emphasis was mainly in designing and building the interfacing system, hardware and software. Basically, for the first phase of the development, this project designed and built the RS232 terminal using Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC), PIC16F873. The hardware can be interfaced to computer or other compatible devices. This routine converted input voltage from the circuit to speed (velocity) and transmitted them afterwards to the target device by using the RS232 transmission protocol. This implementation implied a computer display as visual interface. For the purpose of this paper, RS232 data transmission was carried out using a Microsoft Visual Basic software routine.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.667-674
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• 2015

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy in Malaysia, where data are limited regarding knowledge and barriers in regard to CRC and screening tests. The aim of the study was to assess these parameters among Malaysians. Materials and Methods: The questionnaires were distributed in the Umra Private Hospital in Selangor. The questionnaire had four parts and covered social-demographic questions, respondent knowledge about CRC and colorectal tests, attitude towards CRC and respondentaction regarding CRC. More than half of Malay participants (total n=187) were female (57.2%) and 36.9% of them were working as professionals. Results: The majority of the participants (93.6%) never had a CRC screening test. The study found that only 10.2% of the study participants did not consider that their chances of getting CRC were high. A high percentage of the participants (43.3%) believed that they would have good chance of survival if the cancer would be found early. About one third of the respondents did not want to do screening because of fear of cancer, and concerns of embarrassment during the procedure adversely affected attitude to CRC screening as well. Age, gender, income, family history of CRC, vegetable intake and physical activity were found to be significant determinants of knowledge on CRC. Conclusions: The major barriers identified towards CRC screening identified in our study were fear of pain and embarrassment. The findings have implications for understanding of similarities and differences in attitude to CRC amongst elderly patients in other cultural/geographic regions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6109-6113
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• 2012

Background: Oral cancer has become one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide and human Papillomavirus is one of the risk factors for developing oral cancer. For this study HPV18 was chosen as it is one of the high risk HPV types and may lead to carcinogenesis. However, prevalence of HPV18 infection in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Malaysia remains unclear. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the viral load of HPV18 DNA in OSCC and potentially malignant lesions using saliva samples. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNAs of thirty saliva samples of normal subjects and thirty saliva samples compromised of 16 samples from potentially malignant lesions and 14 of OSCC patients were amplified for HPV18 DNA using a nested polymerase chain reaction analysis. All PCR products were then analyzed using the Bioanalyzer to confirm presence of HPV18 DNA. Result: From thirty patients examined, only one of 30 (3.3%) cases was found to be positive for HPV18 in this study. Conclusion: The finding of this study revealed that there is a low viral detection of HPV18 in Malaysian OSCC by using saliva samples, suggesting that prevalence of HPV18 may not be important in this group of Malaysian OSCC.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2015

The aim of this cross sectional case control study was to examine the serofrequency and serointensity of Toxoplasma gondii (Tg) IgG, IgM, and DNA among patients with schizophrenia. A total of 101 patients with schizophrenia and 55 healthy controls from Sungai Buloh Hospital, Selangor, Malaysia and University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) were included in this study. The diagnosis of schizophrenia was made based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). The presence of Tg infection was examined using both indirect (ELISA) and direct (quantitative real-time PCR) detection methods by measuring Tg IgG and IgM and DNA, respectively. The serofrequency of Tg IgG antibodies (51.5%, 52/101) and DNA (32.67%, 33/101) among patients with schizophrenia was significantly higher than IgG (18.2%, 10/55) and DNA (3.64%, 2/55) of the controls (IgG, P=0.000, OD=4.8, CI=2.2-10.5; DNA, P=0.000, OD=12.9, CI=2.17-10.51). However, the Tg IgM antibody between patients with schizophrenia and controls was not significant (P>0.005). There was no significant difference (P>0.005) in both serointensity of Tg IgG and DNA between patients with schizophrenia and controls. These findings have further demonstrated the strong association between the active Tg infection and schizophrenia.

• CELLMED
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.38.1-38.6
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• 2012

The present study aimed to determine the possible mechanisms of the peripheral antinociception of the aqueous extracts of Dicranopteris linearis (AEDL), Melastoma malabathricum (AEMM) and Bauhinia purpurea (AEBP) leaves in mice. Briefly, the antinociceptive profile of each extract (300, 500, and 1000 mg/kg; subcutaneous (s.c.)), was established using the abdominal constriction test. A single dose (500 mg/kg) of each extract (s.c.) was pre-challenged for 10 min with various pain receptors' antagonists or pain mediators' blockers and 30 min later subjected to the antinociceptive assay to determine the possible mechanism(s) involved. Based on the results obtained, all extracts exerted significant (p < 0.05) antinociceptive activity with dose-dependent activity observed only with the AEMM. Furthermore, the antinociception of AEDL was attenuated by naloxone, atropine, yohimbine and theophylline; AEMM was reversed by yohimbine, theophylline, thioperamide, pindolol, reserpine, and 4-chloro-DL-phenylalanine methyl ester hydrochloride; and of AEBP was inhibited by naloxone, haloperidol, yohimbine and reserpine. In conclusion, the antinociceptive activity of those extracts possibly involved the activation of several pain receptors (i.e. opioids, muscarinic, ${\alpha}_2$-adrenergic and adenosine receptors, adenosine, H3-histaminergic and $5HT_{1A}$, dopaminergic receptors).

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.291-295
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of under and over refractive correction on visual acuity performance and the variation of the visual performance measurement using two different visual acuity charts. Methods: Ten young adults, aged between 19 and 25 years old, were recruited. Inclusion criteria: no history of ocular injury or pathology with a best-corrected visual acuity of 6/6 on dominant eye. The over and under refractive corrections were induced using minus and plus spherical ophthalmic lenses in 0.50 D steps up to 3.00 D; as well as using three axis orientations of cylindrical ophthalmic lenses ($45^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$ and $180^{\circ}$) in 0.50 D steps. The variation of visual acuity performance measurements was investigated using Bailey-Lovie LogMAR chart and Landolt C chart. Results: The visual acuity changes with lenses were significantly different between two charts [F = 49.15, p < 0.05 with plus spherical ophthalmic lenses and F = 174.38, p < 0.05 with minus spherical ophthalmic lenses]. The visual acuity changes with three different cylindrical axis showed no significant difference between Bailey-Lovie LogMAR chart [F = 2.35, p > 0.05] and Landolt C chart [F = 3.12, p = 0.05]. Conclusions: The over and under refractive correction affected the visual acuity performance differently. The Landolt C chart and Bailey-Lovie LogMAR chart demonstrated variation in measurements.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.86-94
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• 2021

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of micro-osteoperforations (MOPs) on external apical root resorption (EARR) during the initial orthodontic alignment phase of maxillary anterior crowding. Methods: Thirty patients (25 females, 5 males; mean age, 22.66 ± 3.27 years) who presented with moderate crowding of the upper labial segment and underwent extraction-based fixed appliance treatment were recruited. They were randomly allocated to receive adjunctive therapy with MOPs (n = 15) or treatment with fixed appliances only (control group; n = 15). EARR was measured from long-cone periapical radiographs taken at the start and the sixth month of treatment. A correction factor for the enlargement difference was used to calculate EARR. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: The mean root lengths of 168 teeth were measured and showed no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) after six months of fixed appliance treatment in the MOP (mean difference [MD] = 0.13 mm; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.10-0.35) and control group (MD = 0.14 mm; 95% CI = -0.10-0.37). Most of the roots in the MOP and control groups (42.86% and 52.38%, respectively) showed only mild resorption. Less than 8% of the roots in both groups (7.14% in the MOP group and 4.76% in the control group) showed moderate resorption. Conclusions: Acceleration of orthodontic tooth movement with adjunctive MOPs therapy during the alignment phase does not exacerbate EARR in patients with moderate crowding of the upper labial segment in comparison with controls.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.393-407
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• 2022

Due to the enormous cement content, pozzolanic materials, and the use of different aggregates, sustainable controlled low-strength material (CLSM) has a higher material cost than conventional concrete and sustainable construction issues. However, by selecting appropriate materials and formulations, as well as cement and aggregate content, whitethorn costs can be reduced while having a positive environmental impact. This research explores the desire to optimize plastic properties and 28-day unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of CLSM containing powder content from unprocessed-fly ash (u-FA) and recycled fine aggregate (RFA). The mixtures' input parameters consist of water-to-cementitious material ratio (W/CM), fly ash-to-cementitious materials (FA/CM), and paste volume percentage (PV%), while flowability, bleeding, segregation index, and 28-day UCS were the desired responses. The central composite design (CCD) notion was used to produce twenty CLSM mixes and was experimentally validated using MATLAB by an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Variance analysis (ANOVA) was used for the determination of statistical models. Results revealed that the plastic properties of CLSM improve with the FA/CM rise when the strength declines for 28 days-with an increase in FA/CM, the diameter of the flowability and bleeding decreased. Meanwhile, the u-FA's rise strengthens the CLSM's segregation resistance and raises its strength over 28 days. Using calcareous powder as a substitute for cement has a detrimental effect on bleeding, and 28-day UCS increases segregation resistance. The response surface method (RSM) can establish high correlations between responses and the constituent materials of sustainable CLSM, and the optimal values of variables can be measured to achieve the desired response properties.