Overview of Environmental Management Practice for Construction in Malaysia

The surrounding environment plays an important role in communities as living in a good environment can improve the health cycle, increase the quality of life and provide sustainable development for the country. The rapid growth of the human population has led to the increasing demand for infrastructure development and the construction sector in Malaysia. This overview of environmental management practice for construction in Malaysia has reviewed the overall structure of environmental management for the construction site in Malaysia. Construction management is covered in this review report, including construction waste generation, construction waste management, government bodies, government policy, the current status of the environment in Malaysia, challenges, future prospects, and other environmental considerations of environmental management practice for construction in Malaysia. Besides, the detailed guideline and orders for construction waste, effluence discharge, noise pollution, vibration, and emission release from construction in Malaysia have been reviewed and stated in this report. Lastly, a recommendation for strengthening the enforcement of law and regulation for environmental management practice to comply has been included in the conclusion of this report to overcome the challenges faced for sustainable construction development in Malaysia.

TAAC - TMS Adaptable Auditory Control: a universal tool to mask TMS click

BackgroundCoupling transcranial magnetic stimulation with electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) allows recording the EEG response to a direct, non-invasive cortical perturbation. However, obtaining a genuine TMS-evoked EEG potential requires controlling for several confounds, among which a main source is represented by the auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) associated to the TMS discharge noise (TMS click). This contaminating factor can be in principle prevented by playing a masking noise through earphones.New methodHere we release TMS Adaptable Auditory Control (TAAC), a highly flexible, open-source, Matlab®-based interface that generates in real-time customized masking noises. TAAC creates noises starting from the stimulator-specific TMS click and tailors them to fit the individual, subject-specific click perception by mixing and manipulating the standard noises in both time and frequency domains.ResultsWe showed that TAAC allows us to provide standard as well as customized noises able to effectively and safely mask the TMS click.Comparison with existing methodsHere, we showcased two customized noises by comparing them to two standard noises previously used in the TMS literature (i.e., a white noise and a noise generated from the stimulator-specific TMS click only). For each, we quantified the Sound Pressure Level (SPL; measured by a Head and Torso Simulator - HATS) required to mask the TMS click in a population of 20 healthy subjects. Both customized noises were effective at safe (according to OSHA and NIOSH safety guidelines), lower SPLs with respect to standard noises.ConclusionsAt odds with previous methods, TAAC allows creating effective and safe masking noises specifically tailored on each TMS device and subject. The combination of TAAC with tools for the real-time visualization of TEPs can help control the influence of auditory confounds also in non-compliant patients. Finally, TAAC is a highly flexible and open-source tool, so it can be further extended to meet different experimental requirements.

Technique and Outcome of Nares Amputation (Trader’s Technique) in Immature Shih Tzus

Dogs with brachycephalic conformation frequently suffer from stenotic nares. This study investigated the clinical effects of stenotic nares resection in shih tzu puppies using an amputation technique first described in 1949. The authors hypothesized that surgical correction of the stenotic nares would result in improvement of nasal discharge/noise, breathing difficulty (dyspnea), and exercise limitations (exercise intolerance), and that the technique would provide a cosmetic result. Based on the results of this study, the authors recommend early surgical correction (amputation) of stenotic nares in shih tzu puppies as an effective and cosmetic technique.