Environmental and sustainability issues are now widely discussed on a global scale. In Malaysia, the rapid development of the manufacturing sectors has resulted in a negative impact on the environment. Given the increased attention to environmental awareness, many manufacturing firms in Malaysia are keen on adopting green procurement practices because of the positive benefits derived from its implementation towards achieving sustainability in manufacturing (environmental, economic, and social performances). This study has examined the synergistic effect of antecedents (top management support, collaboration with suppliers, financial investments, and internal environment orientation) and the interrelationship of sustainable manufacturing. This study has also gained insight into the mediating role of green procurement in the relationship between antecedents and the success of sustainable manufacturing. In addition, this study includes procurement ethics as the moderator between green procurement practices and sustainable manufacturing performance. The focus of this study is on the context of medium and large size manufacturing firms in Malaysia. A total of 330 response samples drawn from large and medium-sized manufacturing firms were used to test the hypotheses in this study. Analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that there is sufficient evidence to support six of the ten hypotheses, including hypotheses of mediating roles with one partial mediator and two full mediators. The results indicated that financial investment, internal environmental orientation, and green procurement practices have positive effects on sustainable manufacturing. On the other hand, top management support and collaboration with suppliers have no relationship with sustainable manufacturing performance. Green procurement practices have fully mediated the relationship with both top management support and collaboration with sustainable manufacturing. In addition, green procurement practices partially mediated the relationship between financial investment and sustainable manufacturing. However, green procurement practices have no significant effects on internal environmental orientation and sustainable manufacturing. The moderating effect of procurement ethics showed a negative relationship between green procurement and sustainability. This study found no moderating effect on green procurement practices and sustainable manufacturing performance. Utilizing the Natural Resource Based View (NRBV) theory for theory building, this study explores how the procurement functions should use their supply base, together with their antecedents of green procurement practices, toward the sustainable manufacturing performance of firms in Malaysian context. The research findings provide useful insights and policy implications for firms seeking to adopt green procurement practices, as well as insights for manufacturing industries to further promote green procurement practices. The research may be limited by its narrow focus on specific antecedents for green procurement practices, possibly overlooking other factors impacting sustainable manufacturing performance.

Illegal industries are a prominent challenge to the land administration as it contradicts with the existing system of land use and consequently has caused many adverse impacts on economic growth, social well-being, and the environment. The expansion of the industrial sector also raises problems such as traffic congestion and loss of income to the state government. Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh, Shah Alam is chosen as the study area due to the location wise and has a well-known image of a main furniture manufacturing centre of Selangor. Therefore, the research aims to assess the illegal industries within Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh and to propose recommendations on how to improve the conditions of the area in order for the area to functions properly as a promising industrial area in Selangor. Three objectives were formulated to achieve the aim: (i) To identify the current land use condition of the case study area in relation to illegal land use activities; (ii) To analyses the current road infrastructure capacity and level of service within the study area; and (iii) To propose appropriate recommendations to improve the road condition of the area. From the data collected from a site survey and secondary data, the majority of the industry in the study area is categorised as illegal due to their land category and planning permission are not compliance with the standard procedure. Also, their existence has led to a poor level of road service and encroachment on land reserve. The results from this research reinforce the need for appropriate recommendations, which can hold up the relevant authorities in providing better planning for Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh as an industrial area.

ABSTRACT This research seeks to elucidate the social challenges facing the Farah region of Afghanistan and propose remedies based on the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. It constitutes an analytical examination that presents a comprehensive Qur'anic approach to attaining social peace in a region that grapples with social discord more acutely than any other in the Islamic world, given its persistent history of crises. Within Farah Governorate, the well-being of humanity and the pursuit of social harmony are paramount concerns. The research employs an inductive, objective, and analytical methodology by first gathering Qur'anic verses related to social peace and adhering to unbiased interpretations of these verses. Additionally, it identifies social issues that jeopardize and disrupt peace, subsequently subjecting these verses to analysis in order to formulate a Qur'anic strategy for guiding society towards the attainment of lasting social peace. The ultimate goal is to achieve the desired outcomes. The research culminates in a series of solutions and techniques for addressing the challenges to social peace by fostering values conducive to societal security. These values include brotherhood, love, a sense of unity within the Islamic community, the administration of justice, and the promotion of virtues such as honesty, compassion, and patience. Furthermore, the research advocates the incorporation of Qur'anic verses to counteract negative behaviors that undermine social harmony, such as self-harm and harm to fellow Muslims. Additionally, the research emphasizes the importance of educating the populace on the jurisprudence of marriage and child-rearing. It is unequivocal that the applying these Qur'anic principles holds the potential to resolve numerous societal issues within the province of Farah, Afghanistan, while aligning with the teachings of the Holy Qur'an.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has drawn great attention nowadays, because of its great potential for use in many applications. Size of the RFID tags, its read range and its ability to work with metallic objects are among the main challenges to this technology. Miniaturize the size of the RFID antennas cause gain degradation, while nearby metallic objects cause detuning of the antenna. Two different types of RFID tag antennas have been proposed to overcome these challenges. A compact planar inverted–F (PIFA) antenna was designed using two parallel patches. A PIFA of 50 mm × 50mm × 8 mm has a read range of more than 5 m at the resonant frequency of 915 MHz. compact. PIFA can be attached to metallic objects without performance degradation. Recently there are new interests on applying ultra-wideband (UWB) technology in developing RFID systems. UWB has advantages over the conventional narrowband RFID. Crescent antenna of 35 mm × 30 mm × 1.6 mm was designed for UWB-RFID tags. The conductive material has a great impact on UWB-RFID. To overcome this effect a layer of foam was attached to the antenna to act as a buffer. The proposed antenna has a maximum read range of between 0.9m and 4.4m with the ability to cover the UWB with the existing of metallic objects.

Even though the modern financial theory of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) developed by Sharpe (1964), Lintner (1965) and Mossin (1966) implies that variation in the pure risks that a firm assumes does not affect the firm’s value, some studies like Mayers and Smith (1990); Yamori (1999), Hoyt and Khang (2000); Zou et al. (2003); Daniel and Paul (2003) and Zou and Adam (2006) suggest that insurance helps managers to alleviate business risks such as bankruptcy following a major accidental loss. The general takaful industry in Malaysia has recorded progressive growth, particularly over the last six years. Demand for general takaful products has continuously risen, as reflected in the improvement in contributions (premiums) of general takaful. Besides that, the conventional insurance industry also continued to register positive growth in 2005, buoyed by stronger growth in the general insurance sector. In addition, over 50 percent of total premiums were from the business corporation for takaful and conventional insurance in Malaysia. Hence, there appears to be a conflict in the implications of the CAPM and the actual behaviour of corporations in their takaful and conventional insurance demand in Malaysia. Moreover, although numerous theoretical and empirical articles investigate corporate demand for conventional insurance, empirical tests of the theories have never been conducted for Islamic insurance which is known as takaful. The main contribution of this study is that it is the first attempt to empirically investigate the determinants of corporate demand for takaful and also conventional insurance for property or assetbased risk exposures of non-financial corporations using data from the main board of public listed companies at Bursa Malaysia. Besides that, the unique data of this study i.e. pooled data of corporate demand for conventional insurance and takaful is performed to show the overall perspective of the corporate demand for insurance in Malaysia. Factors like underinvestment and leverage, growth opportunities, expected bankruptcy costs, tax considerations, managerial ownership, company size and regulatory environment have been examined in this study to identify the determinants of corporate demand for Islamic and conventional insurance in Malaysia. The data covers a five-year period from year 2002 – 2006. Three models of panel data estimation were employed, namely GLS with non-effects, GLS with fixed effects and GLS with random effects. The findings are robust to alternative specifications of the model i.e. GLS with the fixed effects model that help us to control for unobservable heterogeneity. The findings show that leverage, expected bankruptcy costs, tax considerations, company size, and managerial ownership play an important role in determining the corporate demand for conventional insurance and takaful in Malaysia. These findings are also parallel with the findings of the pooled data of the corporate demand for conventional insurance and takaful to represent the overall perspective of the corporate demand model for insurance in Malaysia. This study gives some important implications for various groups like the insurers and takaful operators, the shareholders and creditors as well as the regulators in reflecting with the financial exposition factors that determine the corporate demand for Islamic and conventional insurance in Malaysia.

ECE1 encodes the toxic fungal protein candidalysin, which is integral to mucosal infections by Candida albicans. The role of ECE1 in C. albicans virulence in the planktonic state is known, but its role in the more virulent biofilm state has not been studied. Methods A ribonucleoprotein-based CRISPR-Cas9 method for generation of C. albicans ECE1 knockout strain, ece1?/? was developed, involving design of donor DNA (dDNA), selection of guide RNA (gRNA) targets, Cas9 to gRNA ratio and transformation methods. C. albicans SC5314 was used in all transformation experiments. ece1?/? was compared against SC5314 for C. albicans aggregation, biofilm formation, dimorphism, and immunomodulation in host cells. ECE1 was studied in C. albicans monoculture biofilm, and dual-culture with the probiotic S. salivarius K12. Results The dDNA design was a linear double-stranded DNA fragment containing a C. albicans codon-optimized CaNAT1 nourseothricin selection marker and 500bp flanking homology arms for insertion into the ECE1 locus; use of plasmid vectors for delivery of the selection marker resulted in unstable expression. Delivery of the dDNA into C. albicans was most effective using electroporation. Among the three gRNAs (sgRNA3’, sgRNAmid and sgRNA5’) selected, in vitro cleavage assay that showed sgRNA5’ and sgRNAmid had highest targeting efficiency. For CRISPR-Cas9 RNP delivery experiments, using sgRNAmid at Cas9 to sgRNA ratio of 1:3 resulted in highest transformation efficiency (49 colonies/µg). The HDR dDNA was integrated into the C. albicans genome to stably express nourseothricin resistance. However, colony PCR and sequencing results indicate ECE1 was not knocked out and replaced with knock-in of the dDNA, suggesting off-target integration of the dDNA. C. albicans aggregation, biofilm formation and dimorphism were significantly (p<0.05) different in ece1?/? compared to SC5314. However, biofilm supernatant from ECE1 did not significantly affect proliferation, migration and IL-6 and IL-8 immunomodulation in KD oral cells (p>0.05). S. salivarius K12 did not affect ECE1 function in C. albicans across all virulence traits tested.

The increasing prevalence of depression and anxiety highlight the urgent need for innovative solutions beyond conventional therapy due to barriers like cost and stigma. Investigations into digital interventions reveal varying effectiveness of mobile applications in mental health support, underlining the necessity for approaches that are both user-centric and evidence-based. The integration of cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness within a mobile framework emerges as an interesting proposition aimed at providing effective, scalable mental health interventions. Challenges persist in current systems, notably the accessibility and personalization of mental health resources. The proposed mobile application endeavors to bridge these gaps by offering a tailored experience that leverages cognitive-behavioral techniques and mindfulness practices. The research method combines new technology and effective psychological techniques, utilizing platforms such as React Native to create user interfaces and NestJS for protecting data. This ensures a comprehensive approach to promoting user mental wellness. Specifically, 62.1% reported a positive change in their mental health, while 78.6% of participants deemed the app's resources beneficial. These outcomes illustrate the app's potential in significantly enhancing mental health management, thereby validating the combined use of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness techniques within a digital context. In summary, the developed application has demonstrated substantial benefits in mental health management, marking a significant advancement in digital mental health interventions. The empirical evidence supports the application's utility in enhancing user empowerment and promoting mental health well-being.

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Lead (Pb) is one of the main environmental toxicant that cause physiological and biochemical dysfunction in plants. Compounds involved in modification of heavy metals stress are important to mitigate the toxicity effect of heavy metals. Salicylic acid (SA) is one of the compounds that has the ability to counteract Pb toxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of SA on the physiology, oxidative level, Pb content and transcript level of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) in Pb-treated N. tabacum. N. tabacum was propagated and treated with SA and Pb. The morphology and physiology of Pb-treated N. tabacum were visually observed and measured. Histochemical staining of diaminobenzidine (DAB) and nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) was conducted to assesses the effect of SA on the accumulation of O2– and H2O2, and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was performed to examine Pb content and Pb translocation factor in Pb-treated N. tabacum. The transcript levels of SOD, CAT and POD were measured using real time PCR. The present study demonstrated that the application of SA improved growth parameters, abolished the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O2–), and reduced the content of Pb in leaves of Pb-treated N. tabacum. Transcript level of SOD, CAT and POD were not regulated by SA and Pb treatments. SA mitigation of Pb toxicity in Pb-treated N. tabacum might be not at the level of gene expression, but affected the uptake, detoxification, and sequestration of Pb. The results of this study has shown the importance of SA in alleviating the Pb stress and suggests that SA could be used as a potential growth regulator to improve plant growth under Pb stress.

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The Internet attack has been made possible by lack of source authentication in the IP protocol. The nature of identifying the internet attacker has been made difficult because of the open, trusting nature of the protocol which makes it possible for an attacker to spoof the source address. By using IP spoofing the attackers are able to hide their identity, thus making it extremely difficult to identify the source of the attack. Therefore, the main aim of using IP trace back scheme is to detect the source of the attack. This work focuses on enhancing IP trace back algorithm and applies egress filtering to detect denial of service attack. Qualnet 5.2 simulation software is used to simulate denial of service attack and IP trace back is used for trace back. The enhancement algorithm compromises of egress filtering and packet marking, the use of egress filtering is to discard the packets with illegitimate IP address. The performance metrics are throughput, jitter and delay, the simulation results shown that IP trace back enhancement improves detection of denial of service attack by observing performance metrics. The performance metrics is verified and the effectiveness is observed through simulation. The average percentage reduction of throughput was 44%, average delay was 63% and average jitter was 61% when comes to detection of DoS attack by using egress filtering. It is expected that further research would help improve the performance of this algorithm to expected level.

Many people with mental health issues suffer from stress, which eventually can lead to depression if no intervention steps are taken. Physical activities such as exercise and sports are the most common advice given by therapists to remedy the issue due to their effectiveness. However, the lack of motivation and mismanaged priorities in daily life has hindered many from getting the benefits of a healthy routine. Social robots have been shown to be a great assistive tool to encourage a healthier lifestyle. However, social cues are typically not the focus of studies involving the use of social robots despite evidence suggesting their impact. To help solve these issues, the current research aims to design effective social cues for persuasive robots in motivating and persuading Malaysian youth to do make healthier choices to reduce the risk of mental health problems, specifically stress. This research investigates the influence of language coerciveness and social praises (as social cues) of persuasive robots on social responses by Malaysian youths. Sixty participants were randomly assigned to four separate groups and were asked to play a decision-making game related to exercise. A social robot employing high or low controlling language and with or without social praises were assigned to each of the four groups, depending on the assigned social cues modality (high controlling language with social praise, low controlling language without social praise, etc.). An analysis was conducted and discussed on the perceived social responses, correlations between responses and compliance. The findings suggest that the applied social cues have no effect on compliance with the robot’s suggestions. Using statistical analysis, the results demonstrated significant, strong correlations between several social responses, including liking and beliefs. Additionally, a robot with high-controlling language without any social praise was perceived as useful in making decisions. Overall, regardless of the social cues used by the robots, Malaysian youth perceived the robot positively in making persuasive decisions in terms of liking, trusting beliefs, and the intention to use the robot again in the future. This study is crucial to support people in having a better quality of life assisted by social robots, and importantly, to help prevent the occurrence of serious mental illness that can lead to depression.

This era of globalization has generated unprecedented challenges for the companies in the market place, where the competition is now being waged between supply chains and not confined to only between companies any more. The conventional business models must, therefore, integrate an array of activities across the supply chains; this, however, calls for an effective knowledge transfer to the appropriate employees across the organizations. Dtie to its technological nature, the pharmaceutical industry is intimately involved in the adoption, generation and preservation of knowledge; thus for the strategic initiatives to bear fruits in this competitive business landscape, effective knowledge management across different entities of the supply chain is of utmost importance. The current research examines, from managerial perspective, the impact of supply chain management (SCM) and knowledge management (KM) practices on business performance among drug manufacturers in the pharmaceuticals industry of Bangladesh. In so doing, it explores the interrelationships among the above three constructs of the proposed model that incorporates two other mediating ones, namely, business competitiveness and customer satisfaction. For this purpose, a questionnaire containing fifty five statements, besides those of demographic and general information of the companies, is provided to the managers working in different pharmaceutical companies. In order to ensure the reliability of the measurement scales of the underlying constructs as well as the readability of the statements, a pilot study is performed. A total of three hundred and four managers have participated in this survey with a response rate of fifty eight percent. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is employed as the principal data analysis technique using software AMOS version 16.0. The findings of the study demonstrate that out of ten research hypotheses, five are validated with customer satisfaction fully mediating between the two antecedents, namely, SCM and KM practices and the two consequences, namely, business competitiveness and business performance. Five competing models are put forward and compared with the baseline model, the revised research framework. The study also performs two structural invariances and finds that although the managerial positions of the executives exert moderating influence on the baseline model, their boundary-spanning roles do not. The theoretical implications of the study call for adopting systems thinking theory and theory of constraints, where the current approach of cost minimization is to be supplanted by that of throughput maximization, with each entity considering its profitability being contingent upon that of the whole supply chain. The policy recommendations of the study vis-a-vis the industry relate to a host of issues: shrinking the current large supplier base, recognition of purchasing as a strategic weapon, considering the business operations from a holistic perspective and tailoring the IT infrastructure to the needs across the supply chain, the paramount importance of top management commitment and imparting of training, instituting benchmarking practices and rewarding the executives based on their know-how and for knowledge sharing in the performance appraisal process. The study concludes with a few limitations and suggestions for future research.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) stands adopted in various parts of the world as convenient most vehicles for the resolution of disputes. Its adoption among other things is basically to correct the problems created by litigation or the adversarial justice system. The problems associated with litigation are multi-dimensional as excessive cost, undue delay, formalism and acrimony which affect the relationship of the parties. These have in ways affected justice delivery system thus, access to justice and quick justice delivery have become only a mirage. These problems are manifest in the resolution of disputes in Nigerian Courts. Thus, backlog of cases and delays are hallmarks of the Nigerian judicial system too. Different laws have been adopted or enacted in various jurisdictions in furtherance of the practice of the ADR processes. Although some such laws have been adopted in Nigeria too, but the extent to which the laws can guarantee a successful implementation of ADR in Nigeria is uncertain. Thus, the study adopts the traditional research method encompassing the primary and secondary sources of law as well as the qualitative methods to examine and find solutions to the problems. However, the study examines the laws on the practice of ADR in Nigeria. It shows the shortcomings in these laws and the fact that the search for ADR remains confined to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 2004 which only deals with arbitration and conciliation. There are other meaningful ADR processes. The study also examines various customary ADR practices in Nigeria and the possibilities of finding in these practices some solutions. The study reveals that arbitration is fraught with litigation in Nigeria. International commercial arbitration is infected with problems of excessive cost, delay and formalism. However, reforms are proposed to make arbitration and conciliation more user-friendly. It is also recommended that certain concepts should be injected into the practice of international commercial arbitration to make it more settlement savvy. That Islamic ADR practices like Sulh, Tahkim, and Fatwa, etc are practiced in a formal way, particularly in the North. It shows as well that ADR processes, particularly Courtannexed mediation, need a legislation to spread its practice nationally in Nigeria. The study therefore, proposes a reform and recommends the adoption of the ADR Act of 1998 (USA) in order to legalize and formalize the application of ADR in all civil courts and to open the doors for court-annexed mediation. A Mediation Act is also found necessary to strengthen the practice of mediation in Nigeria. It is hoped that these reforms will entrench ADR in Nigeria to achieve quick justice delivery and to ensure the participation of every strata of the society in dispute resolution.

Extensive deterioration of water quality caused by the intensive land use activities in rivers and rapid response of pollutants from different sources may harm the aquatic organisms, human, and environment. This alarming occurrence has inspired the study to measure water quality parameters, the concentration of radioactive elements and heavy metals in surface water and sediment, and investigating the main sources of pollution in rivers. For achieving all these objectives, data collection was done for Balok and Tunggak Rivers in wet seasons for surface water while for sediment, only baseline data were collected. The data were compared and analyzed by using environmetric analysis (Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis) based on different points at the selected rivers in Gebeng, Pahang. The physicochemical parameters such as temperature, specific conductivity, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), and salinity were measured by using the Hydrolab. The water and sediment samples were then collected for tracing the radioactive elements and heavy metals by using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Prior to analysis, the sediment samples were undergoing the full-digestion process. Both the Malaysian and International standards were used as a reference and it was found that water quality parameters were all within the permissible limit except for turbidity and specific conductivity. Besides, heavy metals and radioactive elements investigated in surface water showed that the concentration of Iron was exceeding the permissible limit at most of the sampling points and Thorium exceed the permissible limit at SB1 with value of 0.0005 ppm. While for sediment, the concentration of Iron was exceeding the permissible limit at the upstream area of both rivers and the concentration of Arsenic were exceeding at downstream area which recorded at 10.3713 ppm. Then, the finding from the environmetric analysis showed that the main pollutants loading in Balok and Tunggak River were Lead (first component), specific conductivity (second component), Thorium (third component), and pH (fourth component). The study outcomes showed that the presence of the pollutants in rivers were originated from both point and non-point sources.

The upregulation of kappa opioid receptor (KOR) may results in dysphoria which could contribute to relapse towards various drugs of abuse. This research work is conducted to further investigate the involvement of KOR system in mediating relapse related to this poly-drug dependence at the brain level (striatum, amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex). The reinstatement (relapse) model was initially developed for morphine (7.5 mg/kg), methamphetamine (1.0 mg/kg), and poly-drug (7.5 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg, respectively) using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. During reinstatement, a combination of 0.3 mg/kg buprenorphine and 1.0 mg/kg naltrexone (BUP/NTX) or saline was administered prior to the drug priming of morphine (2.5 mg/kg), methamphetamine (1.0 mg/kg), and poly-drug (2.5 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg, respectively). The change in KOR expression was quantitatively measured through the immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique by using the rabbit monoclonal antibody (EPR 18881) since it specifically binds at the KOR. Only the poly-drug group was investigated in order to evaluate the potential of this BUP/NTX treatment in IHC. The CPP results showed that the drug dependence models were successfully established in all groups, where the preference at the drug-paired compartment was significantly different (p < 0.001) compared to its baseline (23.45 ± 5.24 %, n = 10 vs. ?8.55 ± 4.82 %, n = 12 [morphine]; 42.84 ± 6.83 %, n = 12 vs. ?7.84 ± 4.31 %, n = 14 [methamphetamine]; and 34.91 ± 7.59 %, n = 10 vs. ?11.16 ± 4.28 %, n = 13 [poly-drug]). During reinstatement, the BUP/NTX treatment successfully attenuated reinstatement to morphine (2.05 ± 11.04 %, n = 11 vs. ?13.50 ± 5.18 %, n = 13, p > 0.05), but not for methamphetamine (35.03 ± 12.50 %, n = 10 vs. ?6.75 ± 2.73 %, n = 14, p < 0.05). This treatment also successfully attenuated the reinstatement to poly-drug in the subgroup of mice that did not develop desensitisation behaviour (e.g., freezing behaviour), where the preference at the drug-paired compartment was not significantly different compared to its own baseline (19.14 ± 16.89 %, n = 5 vs. ?16.14 ± 4.81 %, n = 12, p > 0.05). In IHC, only the striatum showed an increment in the KOR expression during reinstatement compared to post-conditioning in the saline group (33.390 ± 5.595 %, n = 12 vs. 16.730 ± 5.265 %, n = 12, p < 0.01). From the CPP results, it is suggested that the concomitant use of morphine and methamphetamine has triggered the opioid receptor system, which was not evidenced when methamphetamine alone was abused at low dose tested (1 mg/kg). Therefore, it is suggested that the KOR receptor system can be used as one of the targets to treat poly-drug dependence that involve opioid and methamphetamine.

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This project describes a simulation model and field test to study the basic design parameters of a Low Ground Pressure (LGP-30) wheeled vehicle on Sepang peat terrain in Malaysia. The tractive performance justification of an off-road vehicle is so important that it ensures the vehicle mobility over the unprepared peat terrain. Tractive performance of (LGP-30) wheeled vehicle is investigated on the low bearing capacity moderate peat terrain in Malaysia. The simulation results showed that the vehicle sinkage is more than the critical sinkage value of 100 mm, ground contact pressure is more than 17 kN/m2 and rolling motion resistance due to terrain compaction is very often more than the tractive effort of the vehicle. The vehicle was tested on the unprepared moderate peat terrain after increasing the tire-terrain interfaced by decreasing the tire inflation pressure of 5%, 10% and 15% respectively. The vehicle was found to traverse on the terrain smoothly when the tire inflation pressure was decreased by 15%. It is thus concluded that the vehicle would not be suitable to traverse on the peat terrain at other inflation pressure. Finally, some suggestions were made on the design optimization as well as recommendation for operation-wise approaches.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are regarded as the backbone of the growth of the world economy. They had recently experienced rapid growth and improved their business activities in terms of customer numbers and revenue expansion when they began using e-commerce in their business. Although there is a growing interest in e-commerce, its use is still insufficient in Algeria. SMEs show a little acceptance of e-commerce in their business processes. Consequently, e-commerce has not yet found its place in Algeria, since it has not achieved the desired start as an approved means of trade. The main objective of this study is to identify the direct, indirect and mediating factors that have prevented SMEs from adopting e-commerce in Algeria and develop a model to be adopted. To obtain a clear vision on the subject of adopting e-commerce in Algeria, a preliminary study was established with semi-structured interviews that were conducted with 7 SME managers. Then, the conceptual model was developed through the models and theories which are among the most frequently applied theoretical models on the adoption of e-commerce in developing countries. These models are Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Technology Organisation Environment (TOE), and Perceived eReadiness Model (PERM) as well as from the results of the preliminary study. This research uses the quantitative research method, where a survey responded by 315 SMEs in Algeria. The research hypotheses were examined, and the proposed research model was validated through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using AMOS software. The main findings of the present study comprise some key factors that have a significant effect on e-commerce adoption which are competitive pressure, delivery systems, necessary guidance and assistance, buying habits, enterprise financial resource, human resources, and trust in the state system and IT skills. The significant effects were mediated by three variables which are awareness, fear of risk in e-commerce, and the intention to adopt e-commerce. At the same time, there are three non-significant factors which are government e-readiness, bank e-readiness and technology resources. Besides, the measures of goodness-of-fit indices GOFI indicate that the conceptual model revised is a fit model for e-commerce adoption by SMEs in Algeria. This model would be provided useful information for SMEs, policymakers, and academics.

An efficient solar collector design that effectively absorbs solar energy and converts it into heat is required during intermittent solar radiation. Existing Flat Plate Collector (FPC) and Heat-Pipe Evacuated Tube Collector (HP ETC) are designed for water heating required storage tanks, while an additional heat exchanger is required for air heating application which leads to extra spacing and cost. The installation also needs to be tilted at the correct angle and positioned to south/north facing to optimize the system performance. These could lead to design limitations. Therefore, this study aims to design, develop and investigate the thermal performance of an Evacuated Glass-Thermal Absorber Tube Collector (EGATC) for air heating applications. EGATC was designed from a conventional HP ETC, and the performance was compared through parameter and performance experimental setup. The three days performance experiments showed EGATC performed better with daily outlet temperature increased by 9.0%, 7.2%, and 4.9%, respectively, with an average of 7.0% compared with HP ETC. EGATC also had greater efficiency compared to HP ETC, with the average efficiency for EGATC being 51.3% compared with HP ETC's 41.8%. EGATC's inner absorber was designed to create a double pass flow with the ventilated chamber. The parameter experiment shows the design could increase the outlet temperature by a difference of 6.3% (for stainless-steel inner absorber compared with insulation material inner absorber). Regarding energy storage, the stainless-steel inner absorber also had an advantage compared to the insulation material inner absorber, with a 1.3% difference. On the effect of other parameters such as inner absorber surface area air contact (perforated fin), outer absorber selective coating surface, outer absorber wall thickness, double layer non-vacuum glass tube, single layer transparent outer glass tube, and single-layer thin film inner glass tube was investigated by parameter experimental setup on energy storage. It was proven that the outlet temperature, energy store, and energy buffer could be enhanced with the combination of wind speed 0.9 m/s, zero (0) perforated fin, non-coating outer absorber, and 1 mm outer absorber wall thickness. It was also reported that double-layer vacuum glass tubes promise better thermal performance enhancement compared with double-layer non-vacuum glass tubes, single-layer transparent outer glass tubes, and single-layer thin film inner glass tubes. The mathematical equation of each EGATC component was formulated based on the first law of thermodynamics. The total acceptable error of 5% shows that the model at each node was valid. The performance curves for those 0 fins (equation), 0 fin (experimental), and 3 fins (experimental) were obtained. The results showed that the efficiency (collector + storage) was affected by the number of fins. The efficiency (collector + storage) was 68.7%, 71.2%, and 71.0%, respectively. In conclusion, the application of EGATC in air heating applications proved beneficial to the application of solar drying processes, especially in equatorial climate countries such as Malaysia.