• Architectural research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.93-103
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• 2022

In contemporary housing design, this cultural value has been ignored. Contemporary design has adapted quickly to global trends and houses have gradually lost their cultural identity (GhaffarianHoseini & Dahlan, 2012; Lim, 2001). Nevertheless, traditional housing culture persists in people's behavior and thoughts. Therefore, there is currently a pressing need to rebuild cultural identity in housing for cultural sustainability. This study aimed to analyze the traditional culture which was maintained, then transformed and disappeared in housing design through the quantitative survey and explore the cultural identity of Malaysian housing as a result. A quantitative survey was distributed to mothers of 129 married households living in a metropolitan area of Kuala Lumpur in August 2019. As a result, it was found that hosting guest was important even though the designated space (serambi) was disappeared. The LD/K layout, separating kitchen from living and dining area was philosophical and practical culture, still strong among older generation, but weakened among younger generation. To accommodate the traditional habit of diverse household work, wet kitchen, utility space for washing machine & drying, and outdoor space were needed to design carefully. When applied to future housing design, the findings will contribute to enhancing quality of life by strengthening residents' sense of place and social cohesion and by providing a culturally inherent design that eases the effects of globalization.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.6
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• pp.755-764
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• 2023

The article examines the impact response of the sandwich beam furnished by a novel bilayer core as inspired by the woodpecker's head architecture under different repeatedly exerted low-velocity impact loadings by employing the finite element package, ABAQUS. The sandwich beam forms four essential parts comprising bottom and top carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminates encasing bilayer core made of laterally arched solid hot melt adhesive material and aluminum honeycomb. Impact loadings are implemented repeatedly with a steel hemisphere impactor for various impact energies, 7.28 J, 9.74 J, and 12.63 J. Essentially, the commonly concentrated stresses at the impact region are regulated away by the arched core in all considered cases thus reducing the threat of failure. The sandwich beam can resist up to 5 continual impacts at 7.28 J and 9.74 J but only up to 3 times repeated loads at 12.63 J before visible failure is noticed. In the examination of several key impact performance indicators under numerous loading cases, the proposed beam demonstrates favorably up to 1.3-11.2 higher impact resistance efficacies compared to existing designs, therefore displaying an improvement in repeated impact resistance of the new design.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics Conference
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.63-79
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• 2007

Several remedial works were attempted to stabilize the collapsed area of the inlet slopes of diversion tunnel, but prevention of any further movement was being only carried out at beginning stage by filling the area with aggregates and rock debris, after several cracks had been initiated and developed around the area. The extra specialty developed folding zone is consisted with highly weathered Greywacke and Black shale. The suggested solution is to improve the properties of the rock mass of failed area by choosing the optimum level of reinforcement through the increment of slope rock support design so as to control the movement of slopes during the re-excavation. The Bakun hydroelectric project includes the construction of a hydroelectric power plant with an installed capacity of 2,520MW and a power transmission system connecting to the existing transmission networks in Sarawak and Western Malaysia. The power station will consist of a 210m height Concrete Faced Rockfill Dam. During the construction of the dam and the power facilities the Balui River has to be diverted of the tunnels is 12m and the tunnel width is 16m at the portal area. This paper describes the stability analysis and design methods for the open cut rock slopes in the inlet area of the diversion tunnels. The geotechnical parameters employed in stability calculations were given as a function of four defined Rock Mass Type (RMT) which were based on RMR system from Bieniawski. The stability calculations procedure of the rock slopes are divided into two stages. In the first stage, it is calculated for the stability of each "global" slope without any rock support and shotcrete system. In the second stage, it is calculated for each "local" slope stability with berms and supported with rock bolts and shotcrete. The monitoring instrumentation was performed continuously and some of the design modification was carried out in order to increase the safety of failed area based on the unforeseen geological risks during the open cut excavation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.367-375
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• 2006

Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) is well adopted for community wastewater treatment for its simplicity, performance and various advantageous treatment options. SBR is now drawing attention for its process modification such as coupled with membrane bioreactor, reverse osmosis or applying different media to achieve high removal efficiency. This study focused on the improved efficiency of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous removal by applying zeolite materials called bioceramics to the SBR. Two laboratory-scale SBR units were operated in the same operating conditions - one with bioceramics called Bioceramic SBR (BCSBR) and the other without bioceramics used as control. Routine monitoring of COD, TP, $NH_3-N$, $NO_3-N$ was performed throughout this study. COD removal was about 80% to 100% and phosphorous removal was about 60% in the process whereas $NH_3-N$ removal efficiency was found to be 99.9% in the BCSBR unit. Addition of bioceramics also improved sludge characteristics such as sludge dewaterability, specific gravity and particle size. BCSBR can withstand high ammonia shock loading leading to the better treatment capacity of high ammonia containing wastewater. The cause of improved removal efficiencies within the biological reactor could be attributed to the biochemosorption mechanisms of bioceramics. Absorption/adsorption or desorption capacity of bioceramics was tested through laboratory experiments.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6821-6832
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• 2013

Background: Soft-tissue sarcomas require tailored and multidisciplinary treatment and management. However, little is known about how sarcomas are treated and managed throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Materials and Methods: MEDLINE was systematically searched using prespecified criteria. Publications (previous 10 years) that reported tumour characteristics, treatment patterns, survival outcomes, and/or safety outcomes of patients with soft-tissue sarcoma were selected. Exclusion criteria were studies of patients <18 years of age; ${\leq}10$ patients; countries other than Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, or Thailand; >20% benign tumours; sarcomas located in bones or joints; gastrointestinal stromal tumour; Kaposi's sarcoma; or not reporting relevant outcomes. Results: Of the 1,822 publications retrieved, 35 (32 studies) were included. Nearly all patients (98%, 1,992/2,024; 31 studies) were treated with surgery, and more studies used adjuvant radiotherapy than chemotherapy (24 vs 17 studies). Survival outcomes and recurrence rates varied among the studies because of the different histotypes, sites, and disease stages assessed. Only 5 studies reported safety findings. Conclusions: These findings highlight the lack of specific data available about soft-tissue sarcomas in the Asia-Pacific region. Better efforts to understand how the sarcoma is managed and treated will help improve patient outcomes in the region.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.703-710
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• 2011

Enzymatic saccharification of corn stover using Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Gloeophyllum trabeum and subsequent fermentation of the saccharification products to ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli K011 were achieved. Prior to simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for ethanol production, solid-state fermentation was performed for four days on ground corn stover using either P. chrysosporium or G. trabeum to induce in situ cellulase production. During SSF with S. cerevisiae or E. coli, ethanol production was the highest on day 4 for all samples. For corn stover treated with P. chrysosporium, the conversion to ethanol was 2.29 g/100 g corn stover with S. cerevisiae as the fermenting organism, whereas for the sample inoculated with E. coli K011, the ethanol production was 4.14 g/100 g corn stover. Corn stover treated with G. trabeum showed a conversion 1.90 and 4.79 g/100 g corn stover with S. cerevisiae and E. coli K011 as the fermenting organisms, respectively. Other fermentation co-products, such as acetic acid and lactic acid, were also monitored. Acetic acid production ranged between 0.45 and 0.78 g/100 g corn stover, while no lactic acid production was detected throughout the 5 days of SSF. The results of our experiment suggest that it is possible to perform SSF of corn stover using P. chrysosporium, G. trabeum, S. cerevisiae and E. coli K011 for the production of fuel ethanol.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.115-124
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• 2018

Background: Substantial empirical research has shown conflicting results regarding the influence of organizational external factors on construction risk management, suggesting the necessity to introduce a moderator into the study. The present research confirmed whether rules and regulations matter on the relationships between organizational external factors and construction risk management. Methods: Based on discouragement and organizational control theory, this research examined the effects of organizational external factors and rules and regulations on construction risk management among 238 employees operating in construction companies in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria. A personally administered questionnaire was used to acquire the data. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results: A significant positive relationship between organizational external factors and construction risk management was asserted. This study also found a significant positive relationship between rules and regulations and construction risk management. As anticipated, rules and regulations were found to moderate the relationship between organizational external factors and construction risk management, with a significant positive result. Similarly, a significant interaction effect was also found between rules and regulations and organizational external factors. Implications of the research from a Nigerian point of view have also been discussed. Conclusion: Political, economy, and technology factors helped the construction companies to reduce the chance of risk occurrence during the construction activities. Rules and regulations also helped to lessen the rate of accidents involving construction workers as well as the duration of the projects. Similarly, the influence of the organizational external factors with rules and regulations on construction risk management has proven that most of the construction companies that implement the aforementioned factors have the chance to deliver their projects within the stipulated time, cost, and qualities, which can be used as a yardstick to measure a good project.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.515-535
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• 2020

Essential oils (EOs) have gained a renewed interest in many disciplines such as plant disease control and medicine. This review discusses the components of ginger EOs, their mode of action, and their potential nanotechnology applications in controlling tropical plant diseases. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography, and headspace procedures are commonly used to detect and profile their chemical compositions EOs in ginger. The ginger EOs are composed of monoterpenes (transcaryophyllene, camphene, geranial, eucalyptol, and neral) and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (α-zingiberene, ar-curcumene, β-bisabolene, and β-sesquiphellandrene). GC-MS analysis of the EOs revealed many compounds but few compounds were revealed using the headspace approach. The EOs have a wide range of activities against many phytopathogens. EOs mode of action affects both the pathogen cell's external envelope and internal structures. The problems associated with solubility and stability of EOs had prompted the use nanotechnology such as nanoemulsions. The use of nanoemulsion to increase efficiency and supply of EOs to control plant diseases control was discussed in this present paper. The findings of this review paper may accelerate the effective use of ginger EOs in controlling tropical plant diseases.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.296-303
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• 2022

Background In recent years thread lift has become widespread; however, existing methods need to improve their long-term outcome, which requires considering topographic anatomy of face and neck, especially the ligamentous apparatus. This study aims to assess the effectiveness and safety of an innovative method of one-time three-step thread facelift, which provides an additional support to the ligamentous structures of the upper, middle, and lower thirds of the face and neck. Methods The study included 357 patients aged 32 to 67 years with various morphotypes of aging. The original method of thread lift was applied, and its effectiveness was followed up for to 2 years. The Wrinkle Severity Rating Score (WSRS) and Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS) scores were used for assessment by investigators, independent observers, and patients. Statistical significance was determined using paired t-test and chi-square test. Results The mean WSRS score was 3.88 ± 0.88 before the thread lift, 1.93 ± 0.81 one month after the procedure, and 2.36 ± 0.85 after 2 years of follow-up. The mean GAIS was 4.80 ± 0.04 one month after thread lift, and 4.01 ± 0.04 after 2 years, while in the patients' assessment Global Satisfaction Scale was 4.86 ± 0.02 and 4.10 ± 0.02, respectively. There were no clinically significant complications throughout the observation period. Conclusion The new method of one-time three-step thread fixation of the soft tissues of the face and neck demonstrated a high degree of satisfaction by both experts and patients after 2 years of follow-up. It showed high efficacy and safety, including in the group of patients with pronounced age-related changes of the skin of face and neck.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.202-213
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• 2022

Antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli cases are increasing high especially in Southeast Asia. Illegal use of the antibiotic in the aquaculture farming may become the culprit of the outbreak and spread into environmental source. A study was conducted to: 1) detect the chloramphenicol (CAL)-resistant gene in E. coli isolated from three aquaculture farms and six rivers of northwestern Borneo and 2) investigate the correlation between cat gene with five common antibiotics used. Isolation of E. coli was done on Eosin methylene blue agar and characterized using indole, methyl red, Voges-Proskauer, citrate tests. E. coli isolates were subsequently tested for their susceptibility to five antibiotics commonly used in aqua-farming. The CAL-resistant E. coli were further analyzed for the presence of resistant genes (cat I, cat II, cat III, cat IV) using multiplex polymerase chain reaction. 42 bacterial colonies were isolated from a total of 80 individual water samples, 34 of which were identified as E. coli. Result showed 85.3% of the E. coli isolates were resistant to amoxicillin, 35.3% were resistant to tetracycline, 29.4% were resistant to CAL, 17.6% were resistant to nitrofurantoin and 8.8% were resistant to nalidixic acid. All of the 10 CAL resistant E. coli isolateswere detected with cat II genes; five isolates detected with cat IV genes; three isolates detected with cat III genes; and another two detected with cat I genes. Pearson correlation coefficient shows highly significant relationship between resistance pattern of CAL with amoxicillin; and CAL with tetracycline. Our findings provide the supplementary information of the CAL resistance gene distribution, thereby improving our understanding of the potential risk of antibiotic resistance underlying within this microbial ecosystem.