Showing papers by "University of Malaya published in 2013"
TL;DR: The attributes of BODIPY dyes for PDT are summarized, and substituents with appropriate oxidation potentials are summarized in some related areas.
Abstract: BODIPY dyes tend to be highly fluorescent, but their emissions can be attenuated by adding substituents with appropriate oxidation potentials. Substituents like these have electrons to feed into photoexcited BODIPYs, quenching their fluorescence, thereby generating relatively long-lived triplet states. Singlet oxygen is formed when these triplet states interact with 3O2. In tissues, this causes cell damage in regions that are illuminated, and this is the basis of photodynamic therapy (PDT). The PDT agents that are currently approved for clinical use do not feature BODIPYs, but there are many reasons to believe that this situation will change. This review summarizes the attributes of BODIPY dyes for PDT, and in some related areas.
1,599 citations
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of 9 genome-wide association studies, including 10,052 breast cancer cases and 12,575 controls of European ancestry, and identified 29,807 SNPs for further genotyping suggests that more than 1,000 additional loci are involved in breast cancer susceptibility.
Abstract: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women Common variants at 27 loci have been identified as associated with susceptibility to breast cancer, and these account for ∼9% of the familial risk of the disease We report here a meta-analysis of 9 genome-wide association studies, including 10,052 breast cancer cases and 12,575 controls of European ancestry, from which we selected 29,807 SNPs for further genotyping These SNPs were genotyped in 45,290 cases and 41,880 controls of European ancestry from 41 studies in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) The SNPs were genotyped as part of a collaborative genotyping experiment involving four consortia (Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study, COGS) and used a custom Illumina iSelect genotyping array, iCOGS, comprising more than 200,000 SNPs We identified SNPs at 41 new breast cancer susceptibility loci at genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10(-8)) Further analyses suggest that more than 1,000 additional loci are involved in breast cancer susceptibility
1,048 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the linkages among economic growth, energy consumption, financial development, trade openness and CO2 emissions over the period of 1975Q1-2011Q4 in the case of Indonesia.
Abstract: This study examines the linkages among economic growth, energy consumption, financial development, trade openness and CO2 emissions over the period of 1975Q1-2011Q4 in the case of Indonesia. The stationary analysis is performed by using Zivot-Andrews structural break unit root test and the ARDL bounds testing approach for a long run relationship between the series in the presence of structural breaks. The causal relation between the concerned variable is examined by the VECM Granger causality technique and robustness of causal analysis is tested by innovative accounting approach (IAA). Our results confirm that the variables are cointegrated; it means that the long run relationship exists in the presence of structural break stemming in the series. The empirical findings indicate that economic growth and energy consumption increases CO2 emissions, while financial development and trade openness compact it. The VECM causality analysis has shown the feedback hypothesis between energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Economic growth and CO2 emissions are also interrelated i.e. bidirectional causality. Financial development Granger causes CO2 emissions. The study opens up a new policy insights to control the environment from degradation by using energy efficient technologies. Financial development and trade openness can also play their role in improving the environmental quality.
1,020 citations
TL;DR: The use of non-edible plant oils is very significant because of the tremendous demand for edible oils as food source as mentioned in this paper, however, edible oils’ feedstock costs are far expensive to be used as fuel.
Abstract: World energy demand is expected to increase due to the expanding urbanization, better living standards and increasing population. At a time when society is becoming increasingly aware of the declining reserves of fossil fuels beside the environmental concerns, it has become apparent that biodiesel is destined to make a substantial contribution to the future energy demands of the domestic and industrial economies. There are different potential feedstocks for biodiesel production. Non-edible vegetable oils which are known as the second generation feedstocks can be considered as promising substitutions for traditional edible food crops for the production of biodiesel. The use of non-edible plant oils is very significant because of the tremendous demand for edible oils as food source. Moreover, edible oils’ feedstock costs are far expensive to be used as fuel. Therefore, production of biodiesel from non-edible oils is an effective way to overcome all the associated problems with edible oils. However, the potential of converting non-edible oil into biodiesel must be well examined. This is because physical and chemical properties of biodiesel produced from any feedstock must comply with the limits of ASTM and DIN EN specifications for biodiesel fuels. This paper introduces non-edible vegetable oils to be used as biodiesel feedstocks. Several aspects related to these feedstocks have been reviewed from various recent publications. These aspects include overview of non-edible oil resources, advantages of non-edible oils, problems in exploitation of non-edible oils, fatty acid composition profiles (FAC) of various non-edible oils, oil extraction techniques, technologies of biodiesel production from non-edible oils, biodiesel standards and characterization, properties and characteristic of non-edible biodiesel and engine performance and emission production. As a conclusion, it has been found that there is a huge chance to produce biodiesel from non-edible oil sources and therefore it can boost the future production of biodiesel.
1,017 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the performance of Web of Science and Scopus and provided a comprehensive comparison of these two databases to answer frequent questions which researchers ask, such as: How web of science and scopus are different? In which aspects these two database are similar? Or, if the researchers are forced to choose one of them, which one should they prefer?
Abstract: Nowadays, the world’s scientific community has been publishing an enormous number of papers in different scientific fields. In such environment, it is essential to know which databases are equally efficient and objective for literature searches. It seems that two most extensive databases are Web of Science and Scopus. Besides searching the literature, these two databases used to rank journals in terms of their productivity and the total citations received to indicate the journals impact, prestige or influence. This article attempts to provide a comprehensive comparison of these databases to answer frequent questions which researchers ask, such as: How Web of Science and Scopus are different? In which aspects these two databases are similar? Or, if the researchers are forced to choose one of them, which one should they prefer? For answering these questions, these two databases will be compared based on their qualitative and quantitative characteristics.
868 citations
01 May 2013
TL;DR: A comprehensive comparative study has been carried out to show the performance of the MBA over other recognized optimizers in terms of computational effort (measured as the number of function evaluations) and function value (accuracy).
Abstract: A novel population-based algorithm based on the mine bomb explosion concept, called the mine blast algorithm (MBA), is applied to the constrained optimization and engineering design problems. A comprehensive comparative study has been carried out to show the performance of the MBA over other recognized optimizers in terms of computational effort (measured as the number of function evaluations) and function value (accuracy). Sixteen constrained benchmark and engineering design problems have been solved and the obtained results were compared with other well-known optimizers. The obtained results demonstrate that, the proposed MBA requires less number of function evaluations and in most cases gives better results compared to other considered algorithms.
716 citations
The Chinese University of Hong Kong1, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital2, North District Hospital3, United Christian Hospital4, Tseung Kwan O Hospital5, St. Vincent's Health System6, University of Kelaniya7, Singapore General Hospital8, University of Malaya9, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital10, Sichuan University11, Fourth Military Medical University12, University of Indonesia13
TL;DR: The Asia-Pacific Crohn's and Colitis Epidemiology Study as discussed by the authors was a large-scale population-based study and found that although the incidence of IBD varies throughout Asia, it is still lower than in the West.
626 citations
TL;DR: Five types of beat classes of arrhythmia as recommended by Association for Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) were analyzed and dimensionality reduced features were fed to the Support Vector Machine, neural network and probabilistic neural network (PNN) classifiers for automated diagnosis.
586 citations
TL;DR: The development in solar PV technology is growing very fast in recent years due to technological improvement, cost reductions in materials and government support for renewable energy based electricity production as mentioned in this paper, which makes photovoltaic as one of the fastest growing industries.
Abstract: The development in solar PV technology is growing very fast in recent years due to technological improvement, cost reductions in materials and government support for renewable energy based electricity production. Photovoltaic is playing an important role to utilize solar energy for electricity production worldwide. At present, the PV market is growing rapidly with worldwide around 23.5 GW in 2010 and also growing at an annual rate of 35–40%, which makes photovoltaic as one of the fastest growing industries. The efficiency of solar cell is one of the important parameter in order to establish this technology in the market. Presently, extensive research work is going for efficiency improvement of solar cells for commercial use. The efficiency of monocrystalline silicon solar cell has showed very good improvement year by year. It starts with only 15% in 1950s and then increase to 17% in 1970s and continuously increase up to 28% nowadays. The growth in solar photovoltaic technologies including worldwide status, materials for solar cells, efficiency, factor affecting the performance of PV module, overview on cost analysis of PV and its environmental impact are reviewed in this paper.
566 citations
Stig E. Bojesen1, Stig E. Bojesen2, Karen A. Pooley3, Sharon E. Johnatty4 +452 more•Institutions (129)
TL;DR: Using the Illumina custom genotyping array iCOGs, SNPs at the TERT locus in breast, ovarian and BRCA1 mutation carrier cancer cases and controls and leukocyte telomere measurements are analyzed to find associations cluster into three independent peaks.
Abstract: TERT-locus SNPs and leukocyte telomere measures are reportedly associated with risks of multiple cancers. Using the Illumina custom genotyping array iCOG, we analyzed similar to 480 SNPs at the TERT locus in breast (n = 103,991), ovarian (n = 39,774) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (n = 11,705) cancer cases and controls. Leukocyte telomere measurements were also available for 53,724 participants. Most associations cluster into three independent peaks. The minor allele at the peak 1 SNP rs2736108 associates with longer telomeres (P = 5.8 x 10(-7)), lower risks for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative (P = 1.0 x 10(-8)) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (P = 1.1 x 10(-5)) breast cancers and altered promoter assay signal. The minor allele at the peak 2 SNP rs7705526 associates with longer telomeres (P = 2.3 x 10(-14)), higher risk of low-malignant-potential ovarian cancer (P = 1.3 x 10(-15)) and greater promoter activity. The minor alleles at the peak 3 SNPs rs10069690 and rs2242652 increase ER-negative (P = 1.2 x 10(-12)) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (P = 1.6 x 10-14) breast and invasive ovarian (P = 1.3 x 10(-11)) cancer risks but not via altered telomere length. The cancer risk alleles of rs2242652 and rs10069690, respectively, increase silencing and generate a truncated TERT splice variant.
522 citations
Mae Fah Luang University1, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg2, George Mason University3, University of Graz4, University of Trieste5, University of Chicago6, National Taiwan Ocean University7, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign8, Biotec9, Hirosaki University10, Beijing Forestry University11, Royal Botanic Gardens12, University of Malaya13, King Saud University14, Federal University of Pernambuco15, Goa University16, Natural History Museum17, Complutense University of Madrid18, Guizhou University19, University of California, Riverside20, Landcare Research21, Illinois Natural History Survey22, World Agroforestry Centre23, Kunming Institute of Botany24, Universidade Nova de Lisboa25, University of North Carolina at Greensboro26, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh27
TL;DR: Dothideomycetes comprise a highly diverse range of fungi characterized mainly by asci with two wall layers (bitunicate asci) and often with fissitunicate dehiscence, and it is hoped that by illustrating types they provide stimulation and interest so that more work is carried out in this remarkable group of fungi.
Abstract: Dothideomycetes comprise a highly diverse range of fungi characterized mainly by asci with two wall layers (bitunicate asci) and often with fissitunicate dehiscence. Many species are saprobes, with many asexual states comprising important plant pathogens. They are also endophytes, epiphytes, fungicolous, lichenized, or lichenicolous fungi. They occur in terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats in almost every part of the world. We accept 105 families in Dothideomycetes with the new families Anteagloniaceae, Bambusicolaceae, Biatriosporaceae, Lichenoconiaceae, Muyocopronaceae, Paranectriellaceae, Roussoellaceae, Salsugineaceae, Seynesiopeltidaceae and Thyridariaceae introduced in this paper. Each family is provided with a description and notes, including asexual and asexual states, and if more than one genus is included, the type genus is also characterized. Each family is provided with at least one figure-plate, usually illustrating the type genus, a list of accepted genera, including asexual genera, and a key to these genera. A phylogenetic tree based on four gene combined analysis add support for 64 of the families and 22 orders, including the novel orders, Dyfrolomycetales, Lichenoconiales, Lichenotheliales, Monoblastiales, Natipusillales, Phaeotrichales and Strigulales. The paper is expected to provide a working document on Dothideomycetes which can be modified as new data comes to light. It is hoped that by illustrating types we provide stimulation and interest so that more work is carried out in this remarkable group of fungi.
TL;DR: This paper reviews different methods of producing crude glycerol as the major by-product of biodiesel production by transesterification, soap manufacturing by saponification as well as hydrolysis reaction.
Abstract: Glycerol is a valuable byproduct in biodiesel production by transesterification, soap manufacturing by saponification as well as hydrolysis reaction. The purity of glycerol obtained is low due to the presence of impurities such as remaining catalyst, water, soaps, salts and esters formed during the reaction. Purification of glycerol as well as the conversion of glycerol into valuable products has attained growing interest in recent years due to the dramatic growth of the biodiesel industry. This paper reviews different methods of producing crude glycerol as the major by-product. Purification of glycerol was reported as well as value-added products produced from glycerol.
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of different catalysts used for producing biodiesel using findings available in the open literature are analyzed. And a critical review could allow identification of research areas to explore and improve the catalysts performance commonly employed in producing BDI fuel.
TL;DR: It was found that the cytotoxicity of DESs was much higher than their individual components (e.g. glycerine, ChCl) indicating that their toxicological behavior is different.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors employed robust estimation techniques of cointegration to provide more conclusive evidence on the nexus of CO2 emissions, economic growth and coal consumption in China and India.
TL;DR: It is estimated that the breast cancer lifetime risks for the5% of BRCA1 carriers at lowest risk are 28%–50% compared to 81%–100% for the 5% at highest risk, and the ovarian cancer lifetime risk is 63% or higher, based on the known cancer risk-modifying loci.
Abstract: BRCA1-associated breast and ovarian cancer risks can be modified by common genetic variants. To identify further cancer risk-modifying loci, we performed a multi-stage GWAS of 11,705 BRCA1 carriers (of whom 5,920 were diagnosed with breast and 1,839 were diagnosed with ovarian cancer), with a further replication in an additional sample of 2,646 BRCA1 carriers. We identified a novel breast cancer risk modifier locus at 1q32 for BRCA1 carriers (rs2290854, P = 2.7 x 10(-8), HR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09-1.20). In addition, we identified two novel ovarian cancer risk modifier loci: 17q21.31 (rs17631303, P = 1.4 x 10(-8), HR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38) and 4q32.3 (rs4691139, P = 3.4 x 10(-8), HR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.17-1.38). The 4q32.3 locus was not associated with ovarian cancer risk in the general population or BRCA2 carriers, suggesting a BRCA1-specific association. The 17q21.31 locus was also associated with ovarian cancer risk in 8,211 BRCA2 carriers (P = 2 x 10(-4)). These loci may lead to an improved understanding of the etiology of breast and ovarian tumors in BRCA1 carriers. Based on the joint distribution of the known BRCA1 breast cancer risk-modifying loci, we estimated that the breast cancer lifetime risks for the 5% of BRCA1 carriers at lowest risk are 28%-50% compared to 81%-100% for the 5% at highest risk. Similarly, based on the known ovarian cancer risk-modifying loci, the 5% of BRCA1 carriers at lowest risk have an estimated lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer of 28% or lower, whereas the 5% at highest risk will have a risk of 63% or higher. Such differences in risk may have important implications for risk prediction and clinical management for BRCA1 carriers.
Montserrat Garcia-Closas, Fergus J. Couch1, Sara Lindström2, Kyriaki Michailidou3 +284 more•Institutions (82)
TL;DR: SNPs at four loci were associated with ER-negative but not ER-positive breast cancer (P > 0.05), providing further evidence for distinct etiological pathways associated with invasive ER- positive and ER- negative breast cancers.
Abstract: Estrogen receptor (ER)-negative tumors represent 20-30% of all breast cancers, with a higher proportion occurring in younger women and women of African ancestry. The etiology and clinical behavior of ER-negative tumors are different from those of tumors expressing ER (ER positive), including differences in genetic predisposition. To identify susceptibility loci specific to ER-negative disease, we combined in a meta-analysis 3 genome-wide association studies of 4,193 ER-negative breast cancer cases and 35,194 controls with a series of 40 follow-up studies (6,514 cases and 41,455 controls), genotyped using a custom Illumina array, iCOGS, developed by the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study (COGS). SNPs at four loci, 1q32.1 (MDM4, P = 2.1 × 10(-12) and LGR6, P = 1.4 × 10(-8)), 2p24.1 (P = 4.6 × 10(-8)) and 16q12.2 (FTO, P = 4.0 × 10(-8)), were associated with ER-negative but not ER-positive breast cancer (P > 0.05). These findings provide further evidence for distinct etiological pathways associated with invasive ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancers.
TL;DR: A model development process is described that includes all the original elements of the original IPDAS criterion, expanded to include consideration of format and distribution plans as well as prototype development.
Abstract: The original version of the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) recommended that patient decision aids (PtDAs) should be carefully developed, user-tested and open to scrutiny, with a well-documented and systematically applied development process. We carried out a review to check the relevance and scope of this quality dimension and, if necessary, to update it. Our review drew on three sources: a) published papers describing PtDAs evaluated in randomised controlled trials and included in the most recent Cochrane Collaboration review; b) linked papers cited in the trial reports that described how the PtDAs had been developed; and c) papers and web reports outlining the development process used by organisations experienced in developing multiple PtDAs. We then developed an extended model of the development process indicating the various steps on which documentation is required, as well as a checklist to assess the frequency with which each of the elements was publicly reported. Key features common to all patient decision aid (PtDA) development processes include: scoping and design; development of a prototype; ‘alpha’ testing with patients and clinicians in an iterative process; ‘beta’ testing in ‘real life’ conditions (field tests); and production of a final version for use and/or further evaluation. Only about half of the published reports on the development of PtDAs that we reviewed appear to have been field tested with patients, and even fewer had been reviewed or tested by clinicians not involved in the development process. Very few described a distribution strategy, and surprisingly few (17%) described a method for reviewing and synthesizing the clinical evidence. We describe a model development process that includes all the original elements of the original IPDAS criterion, expanded to include consideration of format and distribution plans as well as prototype development. The case for including each of the elements outlined in our model development process is pragmatic rather than evidence-based. Optimal methods for ensuring that each stage of the process is carried out effectively require further development and testing.
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of transportation sector's energy consumption and foreign direct investment on CO2 emissions for ASEAN-5 economies using the cointegration and Granger causality methods was investigated.
Abstract: In this study, we incorporate new variables and assess the impact of transportation sector's energy consumption and foreign direct investment on CO2 emissions for ASEAN-5 economies using the cointegration and Granger causality methods. This study also attempts to validate the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Our results reveal that the CO2 emissions and their determinants are co-integrated only in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The long-run elasticity estimation suggests that income and transport energy consumption significantly influence CO2 emissions whereas FDI is not significant. Economic growth plays a greater role in contributing to CO2 emission in ASEAN-5. Nonetheless, we find that the inverted U-shape EKC hypothesis is not applicable to the ASEAN-5 economies, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In the long run, the bi-directional causality between economic growth and CO2 emissions is detected in Indonesia and Thailand, while we find unidirectional causality running from GDP to CO2 emissions in Malaysia. We also observe bi-directional causality between transport energy consumption, FDI and CO2 emissions in Thailand and Malaysia. As an immediate policy option, controlling energy consumption in transportation sector may result in a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. However, this may slow the process of economic growth in Malaysia and Indonesia. Alternatively, we suggest policymakers to place more emphasis on energy efficient transportation system and policies to minimise fossil fuel consumption. Thus, the quality of environment can be improved with less deleterious impact on economic growth.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the dynamic relationship between coal consumption, economic growth, trade openness and CO2 emissions in case of India and found that coal consumption as well as trade openness contributes to CO2 emission.
Abstract: This study investigates the dynamic relationship between coal consumption, economic growth, trade openness and CO2 emissions in case of India. In doing so, Narayan and Popp, Journal of Applied Statistics 2010; 37:1425–1438, structural break unit test is applied to test the order of integration of the variables. Long run relationship between the variables is tested by applying the ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration developed by Pesaran et al. Journal of Applied Econometrics 2001; 16:289–326. The results confirm the existence of cointegration for long run between coal consumption, economic growth, trade openness and CO2 emissions. Our empirical exercise indicates the presence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in long run as well as in short run. Coal consumption as well as trade openness contributes to CO2 emissions. The causality analysis reports the feedback hypothesis between economic growth and CO2 emissions and same inference is drawn between coal consumption and CO2 emissions. Moreover, trade openness Granger causes economic growth, coal consumption and CO2 emissions.
01 Dec 2013
TL;DR: This paper introduces a new dataset called StreetViewText-Perspective, which contains texts in street images with a great variety of viewpoints and significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art on perspective texts of arbitrary orientations.
Abstract: This paper presents an approach to text recognition in natural scene images. Unlike most existing works which assume that texts are horizontal and frontal parallel to the image plane, our method is able to recognize perspective texts of arbitrary orientations. For individual character recognition, we adopt a bag-of-key points approach, in which Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) descriptors are extracted densely and quantized using a pre-trained vocabulary. Following [1, 2], the context information is utilized through lexicons. We formulate word recognition as finding the optimal alignment between the set of characters and the list of lexicon words. Furthermore, we introduce a new dataset called StreetViewText-Perspective, which contains texts in street images with a great variety of viewpoints. Experimental results on public datasets and the proposed dataset show that our method significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art on perspective texts of arbitrary orientations.
TL;DR: This review discusses the available methods of various retinal feature extractions and automated analysis for diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy.
TL;DR: In this paper, 70 DESs were synthesized successfully based on glycerol (Gly) as the HBD with different phosphonium and ammonium salts, namely methyl triphenyl phosphono-bromide (MTPB), benzyl triphenyi-triphenyl-phosphonium bromide(BTPC), allyl triphethenyl phono-phonium (ATPB), choline chloride (ChCl), N,N-diethylethanolammonium chloride (DAC), and tetra-
TL;DR: An integrated molecular analysis of genes and regulatory regions at these loci provided evidence for functional mechanisms underlying susceptibility and implicated CHMP4C in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer.
Abstract: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified four susceptibility loci for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), with another two suggestive loci reaching near genome-wide significance. We pooled data from a GWAS conducted in North America with another GWAS from the UK. We selected the top 24,551 SNPs for inclusion on the iCOGS custom genotyping array. We performed follow-up genotyping in 18,174 individuals with EOC (cases) and 26,134 controls from 43 studies from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. We validated the two loci at 3q25 and 17q21 that were previously found to have associations close to genome-wide significance and identified three loci newly associated with risk: two loci associated with all EOC subtypes at 8q21 (rs11782652, P = 5.5 × 10(-9)) and 10p12 (rs1243180, P = 1.8 × 10(-8)) and another locus specific to the serous subtype at 17q12 (rs757210, P = 8.1 × 10(-10)). An integrated molecular analysis of genes and regulatory regions at these loci provided evidence for functional mechanisms underlying susceptibility and implicated CHMP4C in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer.
TL;DR: A model that shows senior managers' perception of both the antecedents to and the consequences of Green IS adoption by a firm suggests that coercive pressure influences the attitude toward GreenIS adoption while mimetic pressure does not.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present different applications of electrical energy storage technologies in power systems emphasizing on the collaboration of such entities with renewable energy systems (RESs), where the role of ESSs in intelligent micropower grids is also discussed where the stochastic nature of renewable energy sources may affect the power quality.
Abstract: The ever increasing penetration of renewable energy systems (RESs) in today deregulated intelligent power grids, necessitates the use of electrical storage systems. Energy storage systems (ESSs) are helpful to make balance between generation and demand improving the performance of whole power grid. In collaboration with RESs, energy storage devices can be integrated into the power networks to bring ancillary service for the power system and hence enable an increased penetration of distributed generation (DG) units. This paper presents different applications of electrical energy storage technologies in power systems emphasizing on the collaboration of such entities with RESs. The role of ESSs in intelligent micropower grids is also discussed where the stochastic nature of renewable energy sources may affect the power quality. Particular attention is paid to flywheel storage, electrochemical storage, pumped hydroelectric storage, and compressed air storage and their operating principle are discussed as well. The application of each type in the area of power system is investigated and compared to others.
TL;DR: The findings of this study will contribute to the decision making process by CEOs, managers, manufacturers and policy makers from the mobile manufacturing industry, businesses and financial institutions, mobile commerce, mobile telecommunication providers, mobile marketers, private or government practitioners and etc.
Abstract: The main aim of this study is to determine the factors influencing the adoption of Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile credit card, an innovation in contactless payment for the future generation. Constructs from psychological science, trust-based and behavioral control theories were incorporated into the parsimonious TAM. Using empirical data and Structural Equation Modeling-Artificial Neural Networks approach together with multi group analysis, the effects of social influence, personal innovativeness in information technology, trust, perceived financial cost, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were examined. The significance of indirect effects was examined using the bias-corrected percentile with two-tailed significance through bootstrapping. Gender, age, experience and usage were introduced as the moderator variables with industry being the control variable in the research model. The scarcity in studies regarding the moderating effects of these variables warranted the needs to further investigate their impacts. The mediating effect of perceived usefulness was examined using the Baron–Kenny’s technique. The findings of this study have provided invaluable theoretical, methodological and managerial implications and will contribute to the decision making process by CEOs, managers, manufacturers and policy makers from the mobile manufacturing industry, businesses and financial institutions, mobile commerce, mobile telecommunication providers, mobile marketers, private or government practitioners and etc.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss comparative physicochemical properties of ethanol and gasoline and discuss different fuel composition, engine parameter and engine modification effects on NOx formation as well as mathematical approach for NOx prediction using ethanol.
Abstract: The stricter worldwide emission legislation and growing demands for lower fuel consumption and anthropogenic CO2 emission require significant efforts to improve combustion efficiency while satisfying the emission quality demands. Ethanol fuel combined with gasoline provides a particularly promising and, at the same time, a challenging approach. Ethanol is widely used as an alternative fuel or an effective additive of gasoline due to the advantage of its high octane number and its self-sustaining concept, which can be supplied regardless of the fossil fuel. As a result, vast study has been carried out to study its effects on engine performance and emission. The first part of this article discusses prospect of fuel ethanol as a gasoline substitute. Then it discusses comparative physicochemical properties of ethanol and gasoline. The slight differences in properties between ethanol and gasoline fuels are enough to create considerable change to combustion system as well as behaviors of SI engines. These effects lead to several complex and interacting mechanisms, which make it difficult to identify the fundamentals of how ethanol affects NOx emission. After that, general NOx forming mechanisms are discussed to create a fundamental basis for further discussion. Finally, the article discusses different fuel composition, engine parameter and engine modification effects on NOx formation as well as mathematical approach for NOx prediction using ethanol.
TL;DR: In this article, the concept and mechanism behind quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) are reviewed, and possible approaches for improving the Cd chalcogenide QDSSC performance are also discussed.
Abstract: The emergence of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) has provided an alternative way to harvest sunlight for energy conversion. Among all the QDSSCs, cadmium chalcogenide (CdX, X=S, Se or Te) based QDSSCs have gained a significant interest due to their easy fabrication, low cost and high performance. However, their performance still does not match with that of their dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) counterpart. In this review, the concept and mechanism behind the QDSSCs are reviewed. Fabrication methods and possible approaches for improving the Cd chalcogenide QDSSC performance are also discussed. It is worthwhile to note that the efficiency of a QDSSC depends on the fabrication method of the quantum dots, morphology of the photoanode, type of electrolyte used and the choice of the counter electrode. It is therefore, imperative for engineering of materials and optimization of the fabrication method for the improvement of QDSSCs performance.
TL;DR: In this paper, the impacts of biodiesel combustion on NOx emissions and their reduction approaches in diesel engines are reviewed and the results of reduction approaches of the NOx emission implies, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and retarded injection timing are effective as well as low cost techniques than others.
Abstract: Increasing energy demand and environment concerns have prompted an evolution of alternative fuel sources. As an alternative fuel source, biodiesel is attractive because it reduces engine emissions. However, biodiesel produces higher NOx emissions compared to ordinary diesel fuel. Previous researches have established many factors that cause biodiesel to produce elevated NOx emissions. This study reviews the impacts of biodiesel combustion on NOx emissions and their reduction approaches in diesel engines. The first part of this study recaps the NOx formation mechanisms for understanding the kinetics behind the NOx forming reactions. The second part describes the factors affecting on NOx emissions. This paper established that higher NOx emissions are produced for biodiesel combustion which influenced by several factors such as physicochemical properties and molecular structure of biodiesel, adiabatic flame temperature, ignition delay time, injection timing and engine load conditions etc. The final section discusses on the reduction of NOx emissions from biodiesel fuelled engines for both pre and post combustion techniques. The results of reduction approaches of the NOx emissions implies, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and retarded injection timing are effective as well as low cost techniques than others. Between these two techniques, EGR reduces the NOx emissions at 5–25% EGR rate adequately in biofuelled engine by controlling oxygen content and combustion peak temperature with slightly decreasing HC and CO emissions. However this technique shows few penalties on smoke and PM emissions as well as brake specific fuel consumption if not perfectly optimized.