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  1. Zakaria NA, Azamathulla HM, Chang CK, Ghani AA
    Sci Total Environ, 2010 Oct 1;408(21):5078-85.
    PMID: 20708217 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.07.048
    This paper presents Gene-Expression Programming (GEP), which is an extension to the genetic programming (GP) approach to predict the total bed material load for three Malaysian rivers. The GEP is employed without any restriction to an extensive database compiled from measurements in the Muda, Langat, and Kurau rivers. The GEP approach demonstrated a superior performance compared to other traditional sediment load methods. The coefficient of determination, R(2) (=0.97) and the mean square error, MSE (=0.057) of the GEP method are higher than those of the traditional method. The performance of the GEP method demonstrates its predictive capability and the possibility of the generalization of the model to nonlinear problems for river engineering applications.
  2. Fu J, Yap JX, Leo CP, Chang CK
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2023 Apr 15;234:123642.
    PMID: 36791941 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123642
    Although anionic polyelectrolyte hydrogel beads offer attractive adsorption of cationic dyes, phosphate adsorption is limited by electrostatic interactions. In this work, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)/sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel beads were modified with calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and/or bentonite (Be). The compatibility between CaCO3 and Be was proven by the homogeneous surface, as shown in the scanning electron microscopic images. Fourier-transform infrared and X-ray diffraction spectra further confirmed the existence of inorganic filler in the hydrogel beads. Although CMC/SA/Be/CaCO3 hydrogel beads attained the highest methylene blue and phosphate adsorption capacities (142.15 MB mg/g, 90.31 P mg/g), phosphate adsorption was significantly improved once CaCO3 nanoparticles were incorporated into CMC/SA/CaCO3 hydrogel beads. The kinetics of MB adsorption by CMC/SA hydrogel beads with or without inorganic fillers could be described by the pseudo-second-order model under chemical interactions. The phosphate adsorption by CMC/SA/Be/CaCO3 hydrogel beads could be explained by the Elovich model due to heterogeneous properties. The incorporation of Be and CaCO3 also improved the phosphate adsorption through chemical interaction since Langmuir isotherm fitted the phosphate adsorption by CMC/SA/Be/CaCO3 hydrogel beads. Unlike MB adsorption, the reusability of these hydrogel beads in phosphate adsorption reduced slightly after 5 cycles.
  3. Fu J, Yap JX, Leo CP, Chang CK
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2024 Aug;274(Pt 2):133510.
    PMID: 38960270 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133510
    The biodegradable, nontoxic, and renewable carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) hydrogel has been developed into a green adsorbent. However, the weak chemical interaction limits its adsorption capability and reusability. This work incorporated lignin with complex structure and ZnO nanoparticles with photocatalytic properties into CMC hydrogel beads to improve the removal of methylene blue (MB) through chemical interaction. Scanning electron microscopic images and Fourier-transform infrared spectra confirmed the compatibility between lignin and ZnO nanoparticles as well as the increment of active sites for dye removal. The MB adsorption on CMC hydrogel beads was more significantly affected by the temperate and initial concentration compared to contact time, pH, and adsorbent dosage. The MB adsorption capacity of CMC hydrogel was improved to 276.79 mg/g after incorporating lignin and ZnO nanoparticles. The adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model, indicating chemical adsorption. After 6 cycles, the adsorption capacity was reduced by about 15 %. The UV irradiation could recover and improve MB adsorption capacity of CMC hydrogel beads containing ZnO nanoparticles due to the introduction of reactive oxygen species.
  4. Mohammadpour R, Shaharuddin S, Chang CK, Zakaria NA, Ab Ghani A
    Water Sci Technol, 2014 10 18;70(7):1161-7.
    PMID: 25325539 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2014.343
    Free-surface constructed wetlands are known as a low-energy green technique to highly decrease a wide range of pollutants in wastewater and stormwater before discharge into natural water. In this study, two spatial analyses, principal factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis (HACA), were employed to interpret the effect of wetland on the water quality variables (WQVs) and to classify the wetland into groups with similar characteristics. Eleven WQVs were collected at the 17 sampling stations twice a month for 13 months. All sampling stations were classified by HACA into three clusters, with high, moderate, and low pollution areas. To improve the water quality, the performance of Cluster-III (micropool) is more significant than Cluster-I and Cluster-II. Implications of this study include potential savings of time and cost for long-term data monitoring purposes in the free-constructed wetland.
  5. Leong YK, Chang CK, Arumugasamy SK, Lan JC, Loh HS, Muhammad D, et al.
    Polymers (Basel), 2018 Jan 30;10(2).
    PMID: 30966168 DOI: 10.3390/polym10020132
    At present, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have been considered as a promising alternative to conventional plastics due to their diverse variability in structure and rapid biodegradation. To ensure cost competitiveness in the market, thermoseparating aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) with the advantages of being mild and environmental-friendly was suggested as the primary isolation and purification tool for PHAs. Utilizing two-level full factorial design, this work studied the influence and interaction between four independent variables on the partitioning behavior of PHAs. Based on the experimental results, feed forward neural network (FFNN) was used to develop an empirical model of PHAs based on the ATPE thermoseparating input-output parameter. In this case, bootstrap resampling technique was used to generate more data. At the conditions of 15 wt % phosphate salt, 18 wt % ethylene oxide⁻propylene oxide (EOPO), and pH 10 without the addition of NaCl, the purification and recovery of PHAs achieved a highest yield of 93.9%. Overall, the statistical analysis demonstrated that the phosphate concentration and thermoseparating polymer concentration were the most significant parameters due to their individual influence and synergistic interaction between them on all the response variables. The final results of the FFNN model showed the ability of the model to seamlessly generalize the relationship between the input⁻output of the process.
  6. Khoo KS, Chia WY, Wang K, Chang CK, Leong HY, Maaris MNB, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2021 Nov 01;793:148705.
    PMID: 34328982 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148705
    Fuel cells (FCs) are a chemical fuel device which can directly convert chemical energy into electrical energy, also known as electrochemical generator. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are one of the most appealing FC systems that have been broadly developed in recent years. Due to the poor conductivity of electrolyte membrane used in traditional PEMFC, its operation at higher temperature is greatly limited. The incorporation of ionic liquids (ILs) which is widely regarded as a greener alternative compared to traditional solvents in the proton exchange membrane electrolyte shows great potential in high temperature PEMFCs (HT-PEMFCs). This review provides insights in the latest progress of utilizing ILs as an electrochemical electrolyte in PEMFCs. Besides, electrolyte membranes that are constructed by ILs combined with polybenzimidazole (PBI) have many benefits such as better thermal stability, improved mechanical properties, and higher proton conductivity. The current review aims to investigate the newest development and existing issues of ILs research in electrolyte and material selection, system fabrication method, synthesis of ILs, and experimental techniques. The evaluation of life cycle analysis, commercialization, and greenness of ILs are also discussed. Hence, this review provides insights to material scientists and develops interest of wider community, promoting the use of ILs to meet energy challenges.
  7. Pakalapati H, Chang CK, Show PL, Arumugasamy SK, Lan JC
    J Biosci Bioeng, 2018 May 23.
    PMID: 29803402 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2018.03.016
    Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are naturally occurring biopolymers, obtained from microorganisms. Properties like biodegradability and biocompatibility make PHA a part of today's commercial polymer industry. However, the production cost of PHA has been a great barrier to extend its application to large scale production. Substrates and usage of pure cultures constitute the main reason for its high production cost. On the other hand, rapid industrialization i.e., industrial sectors such as sugar, pulp and paper, fruit and food processing, dairies, slaughterhouses, and poultries, has resulted in the generation of the huge quantity of wastes. Consequently, becoming large source of environmental pollution and health hazard. This review emphasizes on the usage of various waste feedstocks obtained from industrial and agricultural industries as an alternate substrate for PHA production. As these waste materials are rich in organic material and also microbes, they can be the good starting material for PHA production. Additionally, advantages and economic importance of mixed cultures and also PHA applications are discussed. Future prospects and challenges in PHA production from waste feedstocks are also highlighted.
  8. Chang CK, Mohd Noh M, Liew Sat Lin C, Payus AO
    Case Rep Neurol, 2021 09 13;13(3):591-594.
    PMID: 34703447 DOI: 10.1159/000518912
    Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with multisystem involvement that follows a relapsing and remitting course. It is characterized by an immune-mediated response to own body defense mechanism and mistakenly attacked healthy cells of the skin, joints, kidneys, blood cells, and nervous system. Cerebral lupus refers to a constellation of neurological and/or behavioral clinical syndromes in patients with SLE. The spectrum of presentation can vary widely ranging from mild symptoms such as headaches, slight cognitive dysfunction, and mood disorders to more serious conditions like seizures, stroke, or coma. This case report is about a case of cerebral lupus manifested with symptoms of Parkinsonism. The purpose of this case report is to share an uncommon occurrence of cerebral lupus which manifested as Parkinsonism and to highlight the importance of early diagnosis of the condition which is potentially reversibility with prompt treatment [4].
  9. Mohammadpour R, Shaharuddin S, Chang CK, Zakaria NA, Ab Ghani A, Chan NW
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2015 Apr;22(8):6208-19.
    PMID: 25408070 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-014-3806-7
    Poor water quality is a serious problem in the world which threatens human health, ecosystems, and plant/animal life. Prediction of surface water quality is a main concern in water resource and environmental systems. In this research, the support vector machine and two methods of artificial neural networks (ANNs), namely feed forward back propagation (FFBP) and radial basis function (RBF), were used to predict the water quality index (WQI) in a free constructed wetland. Seventeen points of the wetland were monitored twice a month over a period of 14 months, and an extensive dataset was collected for 11 water quality variables. A detailed comparison of the overall performance showed that prediction of the support vector machine (SVM) model with coefficient of correlation (R(2)) = 0.9984 and mean absolute error (MAE) = 0.0052 was either better or comparable with neural networks. This research highlights that the SVM and FFBP can be successfully employed for the prediction of water quality in a free surface constructed wetland environment. These methods simplify the calculation of the WQI and reduce substantial efforts and time by optimizing the computations.
  10. Goh HW, Lem KS, Azizan NA, Chang CK, Talei A, Leow CS, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019 May;26(15):14904-14919.
    PMID: 30977005 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-05041-0
    Bioretention systems have been implemented as stormwater best management practices (BMPs) worldwide to treat non-point sources pollution. Due to insufficient research, the design guidelines for bioretention systems in tropical countries are modeled after those of temperate countries. However, climatic factors and stormwater runoff characteristics are the two key factors affecting the capacity of bioretention system. This paper reviews and compares the stormwater runoff characteristics, bioretention components, pollutant removal requirements, and applications of bioretention systems in temperate and tropical countries. Suggestions are given for bioretention components in the tropics, including elimination of mulch layer and submerged zone. More research is required to identify suitable additives for filter media, study tropical shrubs application while avoiding using grass and sedges, explore function of soil faunas, and adopt final discharged pollutants concentration (mg/L) on top of percentage removal (%) in bioretention design guidelines.
  11. Tan ML, Tew YL, Liew J, Bala G, Tye MR, Chang CK, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2024 Jul 15.
    PMID: 39019269 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174817
    The concept of solar geoengineering remains a topic of debate, yet it may be an effective way for cooling the Earth's temperature. Nevertheless, the impact of solar geoengineering on regional or local climate patterns is an active area of research. This study aims to evaluate the impact of solar geoengineering on precipitation and temperature extremes of the Muda River Basin (MRB), a very important agricultural basin situated in the northern Peninsular Malaysia. The analysis utilized the multi-model ensemble mean generated by four models that contributed to the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP6). These models were configured to simulate the solar irradiance reduction (G6solar) and stratospheric sulfate aerosols (G6sulfur) strategies as well as the moderate (SSP245) and high emission (SSP585) experiments. Prior to the computation of extreme indices, a linear scaling approach was employed to bias correct the daily precipitation, maximum and minimum temperatures. The findings show that the G6solar and G6sulfur experiments, particularly the latter, could be effective in holding the increases in both annual and monthly mean precipitation totals and temperature extremes close to the increases projected under SSP245. For example, both G6solar and G6sulfur experiments project increases of temperature over the basin of 2 °C at the end of the 21st century as compared to 3.5 °C under SSP585. The G6solar and G6sulfur experiments also demonstrate some reliability in modulating the increases in precipitation extreme indices associated with flooding to match those under SSP245. However, the G6sulfur experiment may exacerbate dry conditions in the basin, as monthly precipitation is projected to decrease during the dry months from January to May and consecutives dry days are expected to increase, particularly during the 2045-2064 and 2065-2084 periods. Increases dry spells could indirectly affect agricultural and freshwater supplies, and pose considerable challenges to farmers.
  12. Shao HY, Huang JY, Lin YW, Yu SL, Chitra E, Chang CK, et al.
    Int J Infect Dis, 2015 Dec;41:56-64.
    PMID: 26555647 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2015.10.026
    The regulation of the immunopathology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by regulatory T-cells (CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+); Tregs) is not understood.
  13. Leong HY, Chang CK, Khoo KS, Chew KW, Chia SR, Lim JW, et al.
    Biotechnol Biofuels, 2021 Apr 07;14(1):87.
    PMID: 33827663 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-021-01939-5
    Global issues such as environmental problems and food security are currently of concern to all of us. Circular bioeconomy is a promising approach towards resolving these global issues. The production of bioenergy and biomaterials can sustain the energy-environment nexus as well as substitute the devoid of petroleum as the production feedstock, thereby contributing to a cleaner and low carbon environment. In addition, assimilation of waste into bioprocesses for the production of useful products and metabolites lead towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy. This review aims to highlight the waste biorefinery as a sustainable bio-based circular economy, and, therefore, promoting a greener environment. Several case studies on the bioprocesses utilising waste for biopolymers and bio-lipids production as well as bioprocesses incorporated with wastewater treatment are well discussed. The strategy of waste biorefinery integrated with circular bioeconomy in the perspectives of unravelling the global issues can help to tackle carbon management and greenhouse gas emissions. A waste biorefinery-circular bioeconomy strategy represents a low carbon economy by reducing greenhouse gases footprint, and holds great prospects for a sustainable and greener world.
  14. Lim HR, Khoo KS, Chew KW, Chang CK, Munawaroh HSH, Kumar PS, et al.
    Environ Pollut, 2021 Sep 01;284:117492.
    PMID: 34261213 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117492
    Spirulina biomass accounts for 30% of the total algae biomass production globally. In conventional process of Spirulina biomass production, cultivation using chemical-based culture medium contributes 35% of the total production cost. Moreover, the environmental impact of cultivation stage is the highest among all the production stages which resulted from the extensive usage of chemicals and nutrients. Thus, various types of culture medium such as chemical-based, modified, and alternative culture medium with highlights on wastewater medium is reviewed on the recent advances of culture media for Spirulina cultivation. Further study is needed in modifying or exploring alternative culture media utilising waste, wastewater, or by-products from industrial processes to ensure the sustainability of environment and nutrients source for cultivation in the long term. Moreover, the current development of utilising wastewater medium only support the growth of Spirulina however it cannot eliminate the negative impacts of wastewater. In fact, the recent developments in coupling with wastewater treatment technology can eradicate the negative impacts of wastewater while supporting the growth of Spirulina. The application of Spirulina cultivation in wastewater able to resolve the global environmental pollution issues, produce value added product and even generate green electricity. This would benefit the society, business, and environment in achieving a sustainable circular bioeconomy.
  15. Lee EY, Shih AC, Collins M, Kim YB, Nader PA, Bhawra J, et al.
    J Exerc Sci Fit, 2023 Jan;21(1):34-44.
    PMID: 36408204 DOI: 10.1016/j.jesf.2022.10.008
    Background: Physical inactivity is a persistent and worsening population health concern in Asia. Led by the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance, Global Matrix (GM) initiative provides an opportunity to explore how regional and cultural differences across 18 Asian countries relate to physical activity (PA) participation among children and adolescents.

    Objectives: To synthesize evidence from the GM2.0 to GM4.0 (2016-2022) in Asian countries.

    Methods: Report Card grades on behavioral/individual and sources of influence indicators were reported from 18 Asian countries. Letter grades were converted into numerical values for quantitative analyses. Based on this, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted to investigate patterns and trends. Qualitative evidence synthesis was performed based on Report Card grades and published papers to identify gaps and suggest future recommendations.

    Results: In total, 18 countries provided grades for at least one round of GM, 12 countries provided grades for at least two rounds, and seven countries provided grades for all three GMs. Of possible grades, 72.8%, 69.2%, and 76.9% of the grades were assigned from GM 2.0 to GM 4.0, respectively. In terms of the Report Card grades, there was a slight decrease in behavioral/individual indicators from "D+" in GM 2.0 to "D-" in GM 3.0 but this reverted to "D" in GM 4.0. For the sources of influence, a "C" grade was given in all three rounds of GM. Longitudinal observation of seven Asian countries that provided grades in all three rounds of GM revealed that grades are generally stable for all indicators with some country-specific fluctuations. In future GM initiatives and research, considerations should be made to provide more accurate and rich data and to better understand contextual challenges in evaluating certain indicators such as Active Transportation, Active Play, and Physical Fitness in particular. Further, macro level factors such as socioeconomic/cultural disparities and gender-specific barriers, ideology, or climate change should also be proactively considered in future research as these factors are becoming increasingly relevant to indicators of GM and United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.

    Conclusions: Participation from Asian countries in GM has increased over the years, which demonstrates the region's enthusiasm, capacity, and support for global PA promotion efforts. The efforts to promote a physically active lifestyle among children and adolescents should be a collective interest and priority of the Asia region based on the gaps identified in this paper.

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