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"Drag A Star 3.0" is a site-specific interactive art which setup in a cafe umbrella context. Audiences were meant to sit down and relax under the umbrella while interacting with this piece. With their smart phone, audience able to generate their own unique design star and send it to the star field. Audience could even embed their star with a wish, just like the old myth of wishing upon a shooting star. Stars that being generated are stored in the web server database, it is then being retrieved and visually display as a star in the night sky. Thus, every star tells a story. Audience could catch the shooting star by just performing a simple dragging gesture and then able to read at others wishes, or even reply to the wishes. This art piece is a combination of different technologies which involve projection mapping technique display, mobile application, web-based messaging system and web server database. Every action by the users is stored in the web server database and all these actions would determine the visual component of the star field. These participatory social interactions between the audiences enable the connection of audiences from the past, present and future.

This paper presents the design and development of the project “Afterlife” (Death) as interpreted through the integration of the Butoh dance genre and interactive digital media art presentation. According to Chinese's Taoism teaching, the soul of a dead person would be sent to the Heaven if the person has collected enough good karma during their lifetime on earth whereas the soul would be punished to the Eighteen Levels of Hell for their bad deeds. This project was exhibited at the International Multidisciplinary Media Arts Festival (IMMA'16) at Quill City Mall, Kuala Lumpur. The project gave the audience a new perspective about the afterlife. This paper concludes with the audience's reactions to the project and also recommendation for the future research.

A beneficiation experimental research is conducted on sulfur-containing 10.57% lead-zinc tailings from Fujian. On the basis of the traditional mineral processing technology, the first is pre-classification by high-frequency vibrating, and then flotation-magnetic united technology. Eventually, the average grade of sulfur concentrate is 43.51% with comprehensive recovery 89.33%. The lead-zinc tailings get a comprehensive utilization, which has a better effect.

Three new acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) up-converted fluorescent molecules were designed and synthesized. Their structures were characterized using Fourier transform infrared and hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The linear absorption spectra, singlephoton excited fluorescence spectra, and fluorescence quantum yields were measured in different solvents. The two-photon absorption and up-converted fluorescent properties were studied using a femtosecond laser. The results showed that the fluorescence quantum yields were 0.200.68, the two-photon absorption cross-sections were 16×10-101×10 cm4∙s∙photon-1, and they exhibited strong blue up-converted fluorescence.

This paper presents a new design approach for lightweight robotic arms. In this method, the drive trains and structural dimensions are parameterized as design variables, and a major objective is to minimize the total mass of robotic arms satisfying the constraint conditions. To solve the optimization problem, the relationship among mass, the moment of inertia and torque of drive trains are introduced as their power-density curves, which is the basis of the double-parameter regression design. In this design approach, there are two modules: structure optimization and drive trains optimization. The orthogonal design method is adopted to implement the structure optimization. The double-parameter regression design is used for drive trains optimization. Finally, a design example for a four degree of freedom (DOF) robotic arm is demonstrated to verify the validity of the proposed scheme.

New media arts are an innovative genre of artworks in which artistic expression is explored and developed by the artist. This genre of new media arts is created in a vast number of ways. Currently, digitized collection systems are commonly used by galleries and museums for traditional art [1]. The need for documentation and archiving complex new media artworks is now increasingly crucial for future preservation and representation. This study aims to establish criteria of aesthetic media representation for media archived in an interactive digital space and explores a generic solution for an interactive digital space. Based on the Interactive Art Taxonomy [2], visitors to the digital space can create, interact, and experience the new media art. This taxonomy demonstrates that archiving of the content can take place for documentation and future preservation in the strategic context for the creation. This digital archiving process proposed will be a useful model to be adopted or adapted by universities, museums, and other institutions in terms of archiving media arts practices.

In Malaysia, the main focus of Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA) is helping aboriginal people on various aspects in their lives. For example, education, accommodation, basic survival skills and other facilities for this group of people to adapt and survive in modern times of Malaysia [1]. However, are these efforts enough? The Mah-Meri people are one of the nineteen tribes of aboriginal people in Malaysia. The homeland of this ethnic tribe is situated in Carey Island, located less than forty miles from Kuala Lumpur, hidden in plain sight. The Mah-Meri tribes survives by producing creative handy crafts such as wood carvings and weavings to keep themselves afloat in these challenging times. The ancestral skills and stories of their ethnic tribe are passed down by word and mouth from generation to generation. However as the society moves towards the future, many of the skills and stories are forgotten and lost [2]. Some of the Mah-Meri people have moved on working in the city and there are still a portion of them continuing the legacy. Due to that, it has arisen that the Tompoq Tompoh Mah-Meri Women's ‘First Weave’ project, states that it is obvious and that there is a need to document their oral tradition and culture [2]. In this paper, the documentation of the Mah-Meri wood carving shall be presented in a digital platform. The demand of interactive systems are flooding the technology industry where every individual are now armed or equipped with a digital device [3]. Interactive systems play an important role in the effort of preserving the Mah-Meri tribe's culture and heritage. In this paper, a documentation journey of the Mah-Meri wood carving process into digital platform will be discussed. The final output of the prototype targeted to users of the Malaysian public and international audience.

An orthogonal experiment was employed to research the optimized blending formula to obtain the optimized damping property of Ethylene-Propylene-Diene Monomer (EPDM)/ Polyvinylchloride (PVC) composite. The influences of EPDM/PVC blending ratio, glass fiber, HAF and CPE for the EPDM/PVC composites on the damping characteristic were discussed in detail. The results showed that the order of influence factor was CPE>HAF>EMPM/PVC>glass fiber. It is concluded that the optimum formula was EPDM/PVC=60/40, glass fiber=3, HAF=40, and CPE=0 (phr). A better damping capacity EPDM/PVC composite has been acquired by orthogonal experiment method.

The hybrid film of gold nanoparticles/ionic liquid-chitosan (GNP/IL-Ch) was first prepared by a simple one-step synthesis and used as an efficient immobilization matrix to fabricate an immunosensor. The GNP/IL-Ch film not only prevents the leakage of the IL units, but also produces a well-defined voltammetric signal due to the synergistic effects of the IL units and GNPs. By immobilizing an alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-labeled antibody in GNP/IL-Ch film, a sensitive amperometric immunosensor has been developed for prostate specific antigen (PSA). Under the optimized conditions, the immunosensor exhibits a linear range from 1.0 to 80 ng mL−1 of PSA.

A new, highly selective, and sensitive technique has been developed for the detection of Hg2+ using singled-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and two kinds of oligonucleotides. The fluorescence of the thymine-rich single stranded DNA labeled with dye (the probe ssDNA) was effectively quenched by the SWNTs. In the presence of a target DNA (rich T-T mismatched with probe), the tightness of the DNA wrapping around the SWNTs was loosened. Since binding of Hg2+ turned the T-T mismatches to stable T-Hg2+-T base pairs, and the binding rate of DNA and the nanotube was lower than that of DNA hybridization, it induced the release of DNA molecules from the SWNTs, and this resulted in a remarkable increase of fluorescence compared to that of the DNA-SWNTs. The assay exhibited a dynamic response range for Hg2+ from 4.52 × 10−8 M to 7.21 × 10−7 M with a detection limit of 10 nM.

Stream shredders have been reported as scarce in several tropical areas. This pattern is in contrast to observations in temperate streams, which support an abundant and diverse shredder fauna. Two possible explanations for this pattern are that most shredders are adapted to cool conditions and that temperate riparian vegetation often produces more palatable and more nutritious leaves than do the more diverse, tropical rainforests. In peninsular Malaysia, most streams flow through lowland dipterocarp forests that are characterized by strikingly high tree diversity and by many species with tough leathery leaves that are high in lignin and toxic secondary compounds and low in protein. In contrast, highland streams flow through montane rain forests and are more similar to temperate streams. We hypothesized that shredder fauna would be distributed along an altitudinal gradient, with more abundant and diverse assemblages in highland streams. We sampled leaf litter in 12 sites at altitudes from 55 to 156...

Tropical peat swamp forests are important and endangered ecosystems, although little is known of their microbial diversity and ecology. We used molecular and enzymatic techniques to examine patterns in prokaryotic community structure and overall microbial activity at 0-, 10-, 20-, and 50-cm depths in sediments in a peat swamp forest in Malaysia. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles of amplified 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene fragments showed that different depths harbored different bacterial assemblages and that Archaea appeared to be limited to the deeper samples. Cloning and sequencing of longer 16S rRNA gene fragments suggested reduced microbial diversity in the deeper samples compared to the surface. Bacterial clone libraries were largely dominated by ribotypes affiliated with the Acidobacteria, which accounted for at least 27-54% of the sequences obtained. All of the sequenced representatives from the archaeal clone libraries were Crenarchaeota. Activities of microbial extracellular enzymes involved in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling declined appreciably with depth, the only exception being peroxidase. These results show that tropical peat swamp forests are unusual systems with microbial assemblages dominated by members of the Acidobacteria and Crenarchaeota. Microbial communities show clear changes with depth, and most microbial activity is likely confined to populations in the upper few centimeters, the site of new leaf litter fall, rather than the deeper, older, peat layers.

Background The purpose of this study was to review the survival and toxicity in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and concurrent nedaplatin plus paclitaxel or fluorouracil (NP or NF). Methods A total of 155 patients with locoregionally advanced NPC seen at our institution between January 2008 and December 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Seventy-nine cases (51%) were treated with IMRT and concurrent NP chemotherapy, and 76 cases (49%) were treated with IMRT and concurrent NF regimen. Survival and toxicity were reported. Results The 3-year locoregional relapse-free survival, distant metastasis–free survival, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were 90.3% and 87.8%, 79.7% and 81.1%, 77.3% and 71.1%, and 81.6% and 83.7% for the NF and NP group, respectively. The results were comparable to that of the cisplatin-based regimens. Acute and late toxicities were acceptable. Conclusion IMRT with concurrent nedaplatin-based chemotherapy achieved comparable survival with acceptable toxicity to those of the cisplatin-based regimens in the treatment of locoregionally advanced NPC. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 36: 1474–1480, 2014

The purpose of this study was to review the survival and toxicity in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and concurrent nedaplatin plus paclitaxel or fluorouracil (NP or NF).A total of 155 patients with locoregionally advanced NPC seen at our institution between January 2008 and December 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Seventy-nine cases (51%) were treated with IMRT and concurrent NP chemotherapy, and 76 cases (49%) were treated with IMRT and concurrent NF regimen. Survival and toxicity were reported.The 3-year locoregional relapse-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were 90.3% and 87.8%, 79.7% and 81.1%, 77.3% and 71.1%, and 81.6% and 83.7% for the NF and NP group, respectively. The results were comparable to that of the cisplatin-based regimens. Acute and late toxicities were acceptable.IMRT with concurrent nedaplatin-based chemotherapy achieved comparable survival with acceptable toxicity to those of the cisplatin-based regimens in the treatment of locoregionally advanced NPC.

We present a new method for single/multiple robot indoor exploration and mapping. The algorithm combines local Frontier-based exploration technique and global graph-based representation of the environment to produce a robust autonomous exploration strategy. This graph is used and shared to allow cooperative exploration. Our implementation is fully decentralised and has no central control to organise the robots, it is also robust to failures both in communications and robot attrition. Our approach has been demonstrated to work on a team of two Pioneer 3AT robots in an area of 50m2. In the simulator it has been successfully scaled to a team of five robots in a map of over a hundred rooms and an area of 5000m2.

This paper presents a cooperative random search algorithm for distributed independent autonomous robots. Our focus is to develop a distributed algorithm for a team of simple robots searching for targets in an unknown environment The search algorithm consists of five simple behavioral rules for each robot. It is implemented in both simulation and physical robots. The results we obtained demonstrated that the rule set is effective and robust to dynamic changes in the environment layout.