Displaying publications 41 - 54 of 54 in total

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  1. ADA-SR: Activity detection and analysis using security robots for reliable workplace safety
    Zhang G, Jing W, Tao H, Rahman MA, Salih SQ, Al-Saffar A, et al.
    Work, 2021;68(3):935-943.
    PMID: 33612535 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203427
    BACKGROUND: Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) has become a prominent solution to improve the robustness of real-time service provisioning through assisted functions for day-to-day activities. The application of the robotic system in security services helps to improve the precision of event detection and environmental monitoring with ease.

    OBJECTIVES: This paper discusses activity detection and analysis (ADA) using security robots in workplaces. The application scenario of this method relies on processing image and sensor data for event and activity detection. The events that are detected are classified for its abnormality based on the analysis performed using the sensor and image data operated using a convolution neural network. This method aims to improve the accuracy of detection by mitigating the deviations that are classified in different levels of the convolution process.

    RESULTS: The differences are identified based on independent data correlation and information processing. The performance of the proposed method is verified for the three human activities, such as standing, walking, and running, as detected using the images and sensor dataset.

    CONCLUSION: The results are compared with the existing method for metrics accuracy, classification time, and recall.

    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  2. Fulltext Diversity and host associations of Myrsidea chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) in the tropical rainforest of Malaysian Borneo
    Madrid RS, Sychra O, Benedick S, Edwards DP, Efeykin BD, Fandrem M, et al.
    Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl, 2020 Dec;13:231-247.
    PMID: 33294362 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2020.10.011
    The tropical rainforests of Sundaland are a global biodiversity hotspot increasingly threatened by human activities. While parasitic insects are an important component of the ecosystem, their diversity and parasite-host relations are poorly understood in the tropics. We investigated parasites of passerine birds, the chewing lice of the speciose genus MyrsideaWaterston, 1915 (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) in a natural rainforest community of Malaysian Borneo. Based on morphology, we registered 10 species of lice from 14 bird species of six different host families. This indicated a high degree of host specificity and that the complexity of the system could be underestimated with the potential for cryptic lineages/species to be present. We tested the species boundaries by combining morphological, genetic and host speciation diversity. The phylogenetic relationships of lice were investigated by analyzing the partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and the nuclear elongation factor alpha (EF-1α) genes sequences of the species. This revealed a monophyletic group of Myrsidea lineages from seven hosts of the avian family Pycnonotidae, one host of Timaliidae and one host of Pellorneidae. However, species delimitation methods supported the species boundaries hypothesized by morphological studies and confirmed that four species of Myrsidea are not single host specific. Cophylogenetic analysis by both distance-based test ParaFit and event-based method Jane confirmed overall congruence between the phylogenies of Myrsidea and their hosts. In total we recorded three cospeciation events for 14 host-parasite associations. However only one host-parasite link (M. carmenae and their hosts Terpsiphone affinis and Hypothymis azurea) was significant after the multiple testing correction in ParaFit. Four new species are described: Myrsidea carmenaesp.n. ex Hypothymis azurea and Terpsiphone affinis, Myrsidea franciscaesp.n. ex Rhipidura javanica, Myrsidea ramonisp.n. ex Copsychus malabaricus stricklandii, and Myrsidea victoriaesp.n. ex. Turdinus sepiarius.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  3. Landslide spatial modelling using novel bivariate statistical based Naïve Bayes, RBF Classifier, and RBF Network machine learning algorithms
    He Q, Shahabi H, Shirzadi A, Li S, Chen W, Wang N, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2019 May 01;663:1-15.
    PMID: 30708212 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.329
    Landslides are major hazards for human activities often causing great damage to human lives and infrastructure. Therefore, the main aim of the present study is to evaluate and compare three machine learning algorithms (MLAs) including Naïve Bayes (NB), radial basis function (RBF) Classifier, and RBF Network for landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) at Longhai area in China. A total of 14 landslide conditioning factors were obtained from various data sources, then the frequency ratio (FR) and support vector machine (SVM) methods were used for the correlation and selection the most important factors for modelling process, respectively. Subsequently, the resulting three models were validated and compared using some statistical metrics including area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curve, and Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests The results indicated that the RBF Classifier model had the highest goodness-of-fit and performance based on the training and validation datasets. The results concluded that the RBF Classifier model outperformed and outclassed (AUROC = 0.881), the NB (AUROC = 0.872) and the RBF Network (AUROC = 0.854) models. The obtained results pointed out that the RBF Classifier model is a promising method for spatial prediction of landslide over the world.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  4. Fulltext Air quality changes during the COVID-19 lockdown over the Yangtze River Delta Region: An insight into the impact of human activity pattern changes on air pollution variation
    Li L, Li Q, Huang L, Wang Q, Zhu A, Xu J, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2020 Aug 25;732:139282.
    PMID: 32413621 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139282
    The outbreak of COVID-19 has spreaded rapidly across the world. To control the rapid dispersion of the virus, China has imposed national lockdown policies to practise social distancing. This has led to reduced human activities and hence primary air pollutant emissions, which caused improvement of air quality as a side-product. To investigate the air quality changes during the COVID-19 lockdown over the YRD Region, we apply the WRF-CAMx modelling system together with monitoring data to investigate the impact of human activity pattern changes on air quality. Results show that human activities were lowered significantly during the period: industrial operations, VKT, constructions in operation, etc. were significantly reduced, leading to lowered SO2, NOx, PM2.5 and VOCs emissions by approximately 16-26%, 29-47%, 27-46% and 37-57% during the Level I and Level II response periods respectively. These emission reduction has played a significant role in the improvement of air quality. Concentrations of PM2.5, NO2 and SO2 decreased by 31.8%, 45.1% and 20.4% during the Level I period; and 33.2%, 27.2% and 7.6% during the Level II period compared with 2019. However, ozone did not show any reduction and increased greatly. Our results also show that even during the lockdown, with primary emissions reduction of 15%-61%, the daily average PM2.5 concentrations range between 15 and 79 μg m-3, which shows that background and residual pollutions are still high. Source apportionment results indicate that the residual pollution of PM2.5 comes from industry (32.2-61.1%), mobile (3.9-8.1%), dust (2.6-7.7%), residential sources (2.1-28.5%) in YRD and 14.0-28.6% contribution from long-range transport coming from northern China. This indicates that in spite of the extreme reductions in primary emissions, it cannot fully tackle the current air pollution. Re-organisation of the energy and industrial strategy together with trans-regional joint-control for a full long-term air pollution plan need to be further taken into account.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  5. Fulltext General Perceptions and Awareness Level among Local Residents in Penang Island toward Bats Conservation Efforts
    Shafie NJ, Sah SAM, Mutalib AHA, Fadzly N
    Trop Life Sci Res, 2017 Jul;28(2):31-44.
    PMID: 28890759 MyJurnal DOI: 10.21315/tlsr2017.28.2.3
    The population of bats has declined from year to year caused by human activities such as logging and hunting activities. Since the human factor is linked to the issues of population decline in many animal species, a community-based conservation strategy that involved local communities is needed. We conducted face-to-face surveys among residents in Penang Island to assess knowledge and awareness level toward bats conservation efforts. We collected demographic values such as age, gender, level of education, length of residency as well as their monthly income, since different group in these variable might have different perception. We found that age groups, level of education and monthly income have shown significant differences among the respondents. However, no other significant differences were indicated for by gender and length of residency. Respondent's knowledge of bats showed that the majority of the respondents were less likely to value the importance of bats in the ecosystem. We recommended stronger legal system, earlier exposure towards environmental education, well-planned urbanisation implementation and long-term monitoring programs to strengthen efforts in conserving bats in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  6. Ultrastructural changes of cell morphology and viral morphogenesis of two ecotypes of dengue virus infection in human monocytic U-937 cell
    Fish-Low CY, Abu Bakar S, Othman F, Chee HY
    Trop Biomed, 2018 Dec 01;35(4):1154-1159.
    PMID: 33601863
    Dengue virus (DENV) is maintained and circulated in both sylvatic/enzootic and endemic/human cycles and spill over infection of sylvatic DENV into human populations has been reported. Extensive deforestation and increase human activities in forest may increase the risk of human exposure to sylvatic dengue infection and this may become a threat to human. Present study investigated the changes in cell morphology and viral morphogenesis upon infection with sylvatic and endemic ecotypes in human monocytic U-937 cells using transmission electron microscopy. Autophagy, a process that is either pro-viral or anti-viral, was observed in U-937 cells of both infections, however only the replication of endemic DENV was evidenced. An insight into the infection responses of sylvatic progenitors of DENV in susceptible host cells may provide better understanding on dengue emergence in human populations.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  7. Fulltext Determination of surface radiation dose and concentrations of uranium and thorium in soil at UiTM-Perhilitan research station Kuala Keniam, Taman Negara, Pahang
    Ahmad Saat, Nurulhuda Kassim, Zaini Hamzah, Ahmad Farisz
    Journal of Nuclear and Related Technologies, 2010;2010(2):49-54.
    MyJurnal
    Taman Negara is a famous tourism destination for nature lover in Malaysia. The area is well kept from human activities and disturbances. Since there is no data for human exposure to natural radiation, there is a need to do this study. It will give a baseline data for surface dose and radionuclide concentrations and one can estimate the external hazards index for the visitor to this unexplored area, i.e. UiTM-Perhilitan research station, Kuala Keniam, Taman Negara, Malaysia. The surface dose rate measurements were done in-situ using portable radiation survey meter at the surface and 1 m above the surface. The top soil samples were taken using hand auger up to 15 cm depth at nine locations around research station. Samples were brought back to the UiTM laboratory in Shah Alam, dried, ground to powder form, and sieved using 250 μm sieve. Then the uranium and thorium concentrations were analyzed using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF).The mean value for surface dose rates on surface were 0.164 μSv/hr while the mean value for surface dose rates on 1m above the surface were 0.161 μSv/hr. The mean concentration of thorium was 2.62μg/g while the mean concentration of uranium was 0.61μg/g.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  8. Fulltext Factors influencing the prevalence and distribution of ticks and tick- borne pathogens among domestic animals in Malaysia
    Mohammed, Konto, Tukur, Salamatu M., Watanabe, Mahira, Abd-rani, Puteri A.m., Lau, Seng F., Shettima, Yasheruram M., et al.
    The Pertanika Journal of Scholarly Research Reviews, 2016;2(2):12-22.
    MyJurnal
    Changes in tick-vector densities and a resultant incidence of tick-borne diseases are
    caused mainly by human activities affecting the environmental ecosystem, especially in tropical
    countries. As one of the most important invertebrate arthropod vectors of disease transmission, ticks
    are susceptible to changes in their environment due to their sole dependence of all their life stages on
    prevailing environment. Upon completion of their lifecycle, ticks depend on the availability of hosts
    and other several factors related to their surroundings to survive. This review discusses the major
    factors that influence the prevalence and distribution of tick-borne diseases among domestic animals
    in Malaysia. It is highly imperative to understand the factors that lead to increase in tick-vector
    populations, infection intensity and hence the spatial distribution of ticks and tick-borne diseases in
    order to prevent their emergence and resurgence as well as to serve as a basis for effectivecontrol.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  9. Microplastics in the freshwater and terrestrial environments: Prevalence, fates, impacts and sustainable solutions
    Wong JKH, Lee KK, Tang KHD, Yap PS
    Sci Total Environ, 2020 Jun 01;719:137512.
    PMID: 32229011 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137512
    The ubiquitous occurrences of microplastics in the environment have raised much concern and resulted in voluminous studies related to microplastics. Studies on microplastics pollution of the marine environment have received significantly higher attention compared to those of the freshwater and terrestrial environments. With the impetus to better understand microplastics in the freshwater and terrestrial environments, this review elucidates the findings of >100 articles related to the prevalence, fates and impacts of microplastics therein and the sustainable solutions, mostly in the past 10 years. This review shows the interconnection between terrestrial and freshwater microplastics with wastewater and sewage treatment plants as the most significant contributors of environmental microplastics via sludge and effluent discharges. Microplastics in both ecosystems comprise the primary and secondary forms with the latter resulted from weathering of the former. Besides retaining in soil and infiltrating with rainwater underground, terrestrial microplastics also enter the freshwater environment. The environmental microplastics interact with the biotic and abiotic components resulting in entrainment, settlement, biofouling, degradation, fragmentation and entry into the food chain, with subsequent transfer across the food chain. The abundance of environmental microplastics is attributed to population density and urbanization though tidal cycle, storms, floods and human activities can affect their distribution. The leaching of additives from microplastics poses major health concern and sustainable solutions target at reduction of plastics use and disposal, substitution with bioplastics and wastewater treatment innovations. Further studies on classification, detection, characterization and toxicity of microplastics are necessary to permit more effective formulation of solutions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  10. Fulltext The impact of air pollution and haze on hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases
    Norfazillah Ab Manan, Rozita Hod, Hanizah Mohd Yusoff, Mazrura Sahani, Rosnah Ismail, Wan Rozita Wan Mahiyuddin
    Int J Public Health Res, 2016;6(1):707-712.
    MyJurnal
    Air pollution has been widely known to have an influence on health of the general population.
    Air pollution can result from natural causes, human activities and transboundary air pollution.
    Weather and climate play crucial role in determining the pattern of air quality. In recent years,
    air pollution and recurrent episodes of haze has become a major concern in Malaysia.
    Surveillance data on concentrations of main air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, (CO2),
    Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM10)
    were found to be higher during the haze days and this may have an impact on health of the
    community as reflected by an increase in hospital admissions particularly the respiratory and
    cardiovascular diseases.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  11. Individuals in urban dwelling primate species face unequal benefits associated with living in an anthropogenic environment
    Marty PR, Balasubramaniam KN, Kaburu SSK, Hubbard J, Beisner B, Bliss-Moreau E, et al.
    Primates, 2020 Mar;61(2):249-255.
    PMID: 31773350 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-019-00775-4
    In primates, living in an anthropogenic environment can significantly improve an individual's fitness, which is likely attributed to access to anthropogenic food resources. However, in non-professionally provisioned groups, few studies have examined whether individual attributes, such as dominance rank and sex, affect primates' ability to access anthropogenic food. Here, we investigated whether rank and sex explain individual differences in the proportion of anthropogenic food consumed by macaques. We observed 319 individuals living in nine urban groups across three macaque species. We used proportion of anthropogenic food in the diet as a proxy of access to those food resources. Males and high-ranking individuals in both sexes had significantly higher proportions of anthropogenic food in their diets than other individuals. We speculate that unequal access to anthropogenic food resources further increases within-group competition, and may limit fitness benefits in an anthropogenic environment to certain individuals.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  12. Fulltext THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADSORBENT DERIVED FROM MORINGA OLEIFERA AS A WATER TREATMENT AGENT
    Farasyahida A. Samad, Wan Salida Wan Mansor, idayatul Aini Zakaria
    UMT Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2019;1(4):51-60.
    MyJurnal
    Clean, safe and readily available water is very crucial in everyday life, especially for health, hygiene, and the productivity of the community. Unfortunately, increase in contaminants in water supplies from human activities and industrialization is very worrying. Conventional wastewater treatment includes the usage of alum that will affect health with prolonged consumption. This research was carried out to focus on the development of wastewater treatment system using adsorbent from Moringa oleifera seeds. Adsorbent was successfully synthesized from the seeds of Moringa oleifera. Characterization of the sample was made using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), while the effectiveness of water treatment was analyzed using Turbidity Meter. Then, all samples were tested against kaolin wastewater. XRD results showed that all the adsorbent samples were amorphous in nature. FTIR results indicated that there were hydroxyl group and carboxylic group in the sample representing numerous oxygen-riddled functional groups on the surface. From SEM results, it was clearly shown that the pore structure and size of Moringa oleifera affected the capability of adsorption where the smaller the size, the more effective the sample. Turbidity test showed that the sample that worked best for wastewater treatment was adsorbent from Moringa oleifera seeds in size of 125µm that was heated for 4 hours with 93.76% turbidity removal. Therefore, this study proved that the adsorbent from Moringa oleifera seeds is very suitable for high turbidity wastewater treatment. Further studies investigating the combination of conventional activated carbon with adsorbent from Moringa oleifera seeds should be conducted before these samples are made available for further use so that we can compare which sample works best for wastewater treatment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  13. The 'human revolution' in lowland tropical Southeast Asia: the antiquity and behavior of anatomically modern humans at Niah Cave (Sarawak, Borneo)
    Barker G, Barton H, Bird M, Daly P, Datan I, Dykes A, et al.
    J Hum Evol, 2007 Mar;52(3):243-61.
    PMID: 17161859
    Recent research in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia suggests that we can no longer assume a direct and exclusive link between anatomically modern humans and behavioral modernity (the 'human revolution'), and assume that the presence of either one implies the presence of the other: discussions of the emergence of cultural complexity have to proceed with greater scrutiny of the evidence on a site-by-site basis to establish secure associations between the archaeology present there and the hominins who created it. This paper presents one such case study: Niah Cave in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, famous for the discovery in 1958 in the West Mouth of the Great Cave of a modern human skull, the 'Deep Skull,' controversially associated with radiocarbon dates of ca. 40,000 years before the present. A new chronostratigraphy has been developed through a re-investigation of the lithostratigraphy left by the earlier excavations, AMS-dating using three different comparative pre-treatments including ABOX of charcoal, and U-series using the Diffusion-Absorption model applied to fragments of bones from the Deep Skull itself. Stratigraphic reasons for earlier uncertainties about the antiquity of the skull are examined, and it is shown not to be an 'intrusive' artifact. It was probably excavated from fluvial-pond-desiccation deposits that accumulated episodically in a shallow basin immediately behind the cave entrance lip, in a climate that ranged from times of comparative aridity with complete desiccation, to episodes of greater surface wetness, changes attributed to regional climatic fluctuations. Vegetation outside the cave varied significantly over time, including wet lowland forest, montane forest, savannah, and grassland. The new dates and the lithostratigraphy relate the Deep Skull to evidence of episodes of human activity that range in date from ca. 46,000 to ca. 34,000 years ago. Initial investigations of sediment scorching, pollen, palynomorphs, phytoliths, plant macrofossils, and starch grains recovered from existing exposures, and of vertebrates from the current and the earlier excavations, suggest that human foraging during these times was marked by habitat-tailored hunting technologies, the collection and processing of toxic plants for consumption, and, perhaps, the use of fire at some forest-edges. The Niah evidence demonstrates the sophisticated nature of the subsistence behavior developed by modern humans to exploit the tropical environments that they encountered in Southeast Asia, including rainforest.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
  14. Fulltext Forest contraction in north equatorial Southeast Asia during the Last Glacial Period
    Wurster CM, Bird MI, Bull ID, Creed F, Bryant C, Dungait JA, et al.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2010 Aug 31;107(35):15508-11.
    PMID: 20660748 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1005507107
    Today, insular Southeast Asia is important for both its remarkably rich biodiversity and globally significant roles in atmospheric and oceanic circulation. Despite the fundamental importance of environmental history for diversity and conservation, there is little primary evidence concerning the nature of vegetation in north equatorial Southeast Asia during the Last Glacial Period (LGP). As a result, even the general distribution of vegetation during the Last Glacial Maximum is debated. Here we show, using the stable carbon isotope composition of ancient cave guano profiles, that there was a substantial forest contraction during the LGP on both peninsular Malaysia and Palawan, while rainforest was maintained in northern Borneo. These results directly support rainforest "refugia" hypotheses and provide evidence that environmental barriers likely reduced genetic mixing between Borneo and Sumatra flora and fauna. Moreover, it sheds light on possible early human dispersal events.
    Matched MeSH terms: Human Activities
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