• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제54권5호
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• pp.673-678
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• 2016

Epidemiological study on strongyloidiasis in humans is currently lacking in Malaysia. Thus, a cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis infection among the inhabitants of longhouse indigenous communities in Sarawak. A single stool and blood sample were collected from each participant and subjected to microscopy, serological and molecular techniques. Five species of intestinal parasites were identified by stool microscopy. None of the stool samples were positive for S. stercoralis. However, 11% of 236 serum samples were seropositive for strongyloidiasis. Further confirmation using molecular technique on stool samples of the seropositive individuals successfully amplified 5 samples, suggesting current active infections. The prevalence was significantly higher in adult males and tended to increase with age. S. stercoralis should no longer be neglected in any intestinal parasitic survey. Combination of more than 1 diagnostic technique is necessary to increase the likelihood of estimating the 'true' prevalence of S. stercoralis.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.299-308
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• 2020

This study aims to carry out the experimental and numerical investigation on the flexural behavior of sandwich honeycomb composite (SHC) beams reinforced with novel triaxially woven fabric composite skins. Different stacking sequences of the carbon fiber reinforcement polymer (CFRP) laminate; i.e., 0°-direction of TW (TW0), 0°-direction of UD (UD0), and 90°-direction of UD (UD90) were studied, from which the flexural behavior of SHC beam behaviors reinforced with TW0/UD0 or TW0/UD90 novel laminated skins were compared with those reinforced with UD0/90 conventional laminated skins under four-point loading. Generally, TW0/UD0 SHC beams displayed the same flexural stiffness as UD0/90 SHC beams in terms of load-deflection relationships. In contrast, TW0/UD90 SHC beams showed a 70% lower efficiency than those of UD0/90 SHC. Hence, the TW0/UD0 laminate arrangement is more effective with a mass reduction of 39% compared with UD0/90 for SHC beams, although their stiffness and shear strength are practically identical.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권11호
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• pp.145-155
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• 2021

This study examines the export competitiveness of four major natural rubber exporters in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region and investigates the factors affecting bilateral natural rubber export. This study utilized the revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) to measure export competitiveness. Next, this study employed the gravity model using the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimation to analyze the factors affecting bilateral export from the four major natural rubber exporters to 46 countries in the region. The analysis is conducted by using annual data from 2001 till 2018. The findings showed that all four major exporters maintained their export competitiveness. Indonesia and Vietnam notably exhibited increasing trends in the early 2000s. Besides, the market share for Malaysia and Vietnam have increased from 2013 to 2015 with the BRI implementation in 2013. In addition, this study discovered that non-tariff measures (NTM) have a positive and significant impact on the bilateral export of natural rubber. The overall findings strongly indicate that the natural rubber export has increased post BRI announcement. The outcome highlighted the benefits of BRI implementation on the natural rubber export. This study is the first attempt to apply the gravity model on the natural rubber exports within the BRI region.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제39권4호
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• pp.367-381
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• 2021

Reinforced concrete (RC) columns can be strengthened by direct fastening of steel plates around a column, forming composite actions. This method can increase both the total load bearing area and the concrete confinement stress. To predict the axial load resistance of strengthened RC columns, the equivalent passive confinement stress of the stirrups and the steel jacket should be accurately quantified, which requires the stress in the stirrups and shear force in the connections to be first obtained. In this paper, parameters, i.e., the stress ratio of the stirrups and shear force ratio of steel plate connectors are utilized to quantify the stress of the stirrups and shear force in the connections. A mechanical model for determining the stress ratio of the stirrups and shear force ratio of steel plate connectors is proposed and validated using the experimental results in a previous study. The model is found to be robust. Subsequently, a parametric study is conducted and the optimum stress ratios of the stirrups and the optimum shear force ratios of connectors are proposed for engineering designs.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권7호
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• pp.657-669
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• 2021

This study seeks to empirically investigate the impact of transformational leadership on employees' innovation with the mediating effect of technological diversity. Employees have evolved into leaders in organizing work within institutions over the last few decades. This shift presents new demands for leaders, who are forced to reinvent individual workers while also improving workplace innovation. This research proposes a conceptual model for considering transformational leadership and the impact of technological diversity on innovation. Structured questionnaire is used in the study and the analysis of the data from 633 employees of universities in the United Arab Emirates uses stratified sampling technique and hypotheses verified through Structural Equations Modelling (AMOS-21). According to the results, transformational leadership has a big effect on employees' innovation. Furthermore, in the relationship between transformational leadership and workforce innovation, technological diversity has a partial mediation impact. This research adds to the growing body of knowledge about how transformational leadership influences employees' innovation and how it affects employees' success, especially in the context of UAE-based universities. Overall, this research contributes to the previous studies wherein transformational leadership plays a critical role in influencing the innovative performance of employees and that, in turn, will promote diversification of technology in the organization.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권7호
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• pp.393-402
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• 2021

This study aims to examine whether symmetric effects or asymmetric effects of exchange rates exist in determining the money demand in Indonesia. Simple-sum money and Divisia money were included in different models for comparison due to the financial developments in Indonesia. This study uses time-series data from 1996Q1 to 2019Q4 for the estimation. The nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model is utilized to verify the asymmetric effects of exchange rates on money demand. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller and Phillips-Perron unit root tests were performed to verify the order of integration of the variables. The findings of this study revealed that the exchange rate is one of the most important determinants of money demand in Indonesia and the effect is asymmetric. The findings further indicated that money demand function, which incorporates Divisia monetary aggregate is parsimonious. Monetary targets such as money supply and interest rates are critical for monetary policy conduct to achieve inflation levels set by government. As the adoption of an inflation targeting framework needs to be in keeping with the flexible exchange rate system, the asymmetric effect of exchange rate changes can be used in exchange rate policy conduct to achieve financial system and price stability.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권8호
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• pp.271-285
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• 2021

The aim of this research was to look into the relationship between leadership; transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and employee innovation, as well as the mediating impact of cultural diversity between leadership and employee innovation. Structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from 633 public and private universities' employees in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the help of the stratified sampling technique, and hypothesis verified through structural equations modelling (AMOS-21). Findings of the study shows that leadership has positive impact on employee innovation and cultural diversity partially mediates the relationship between leadership and innovative performance of UAE universities' employees. Practical implication of the study is to understand how universities can enhance their employees' innovation which is crucial for their competitiveness and survival. Moreover, the increasing prevalence of cultural diversity, as work arrangements in universities, raises the question of how to successfully manage employees. Although few studies have looked into how transformational and transactional leadership styles affect employees' innovation performance, this study expands on the topic by concentrating on sub-dimensions of leadership that foster innovation through idea generation and execution at the United Arab Emirates universities. This study offers valuable insights for educational leaders and throws light on the main characteristics of leadership which helps the employees to perform better in terms of innovation.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• 제49권2호
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• pp.191-209
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• 2021

Australia has significant wood resources in its native forest, but the resource available for harvest becomes lesser due to the conversion of native forest to conservation reserves. The natural occurrences of bushfires, droughts, and cyclones are highly destructive, making the situation worse. The shortage of wood resources is having a significant negative impact on Australia because wood is so scarce that they cannot meet domestic demands, especially durable wood. Australia cleared approximately 100 million hectares of its land to establish forest plantations, and two million trees were planted. However, most of these plantations are for pulpwood production; however, their application for high-value products is limited due to their undesirable properties. Wood modification is a process of improving unfavorable wood properties to be utilized for a wide range of applications. Australia has not adopted any of these modification processes; it still depends on the less toxic wood preservative to treat wood. This study focuses on the recent advancement in industrial wood modification worldwide and how it may be used to modify Eucalyptus wood for high-value applications. The opportunities and suggestions for Eucalyptus wood modification in Australia will be discussed. Before the study concludes, the future of commercial wood modification for Eucalyptus plantation in Australia will also be presented.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권4호
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• pp.1323-1330
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• 2021

This work reported the radiation shielding characteristic of the bismuth titanium vanadium sodium tellurite glass system. The density of the specially-developed glass samples was increased from 2.21 to 4.01 g/cm³ with the addition of Bi₂O₃, despite the fact the molar volume is decease within 85.43-54.79 cm³/mol. The WinXcom program was used to approximate the effect of Bi₂O₃ on the gamma radiation shielding parameters of bismuth titanium vanadium sodium tellurite glasses. The ㎛ values decrease with the increase of Bi₂O₃ concentration. The computed data shows that the glass sample with 20 mol.% of Bi₂O₃ content has the greatest radiation attenuation performance in comparison to other selected glasses. The Bi₂O₃-TiO₂-V₂O₅-Na₂O-TeO₂ glass system shows excellent neutron shielding material with high long-term light transmittance and discharge resistance and could be potentially used as transparent radiation-resistant shielding glass applications.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제44권1호
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• pp.105-117
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• 2022

Impact resistance efficiency of the newly designed sandwich beam with a laterally arched core as bio-inspired by the woodpecker is numerically investigated. The principal components of the beam comprise a dual-core system sandwiched by the top and bottom laminated CFRP skins. Different materials, including hot melt adhesive, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), epoxy resin (EPON862), aluminum (Al6061), and mild carbon steel (AISI1018), are considered for the side-arched core layer of the beam for impact efficiency assessment. The aluminum honeycomb takes the role of the second core. Contact force, stress, damage formation, and impact energy for beams equipped with different materials are examined. A diversity in performance superiority is noticed in each of these indicators for different core materials. Therefore, for overall performance appraisal, the impact resistance efficiency index, which covers several chief impact performance parameters, of each sandwich beam is computed and compared. The impact resistance efficiency index of the structure equipped with the AISI1018 core is found to be the highest, about 3-10 times greater than other specimens, thus demonstrating its efficacy as the optimal material for the bio-inspired dual-core sandwich beam system.