Malaysia will be an ageing population by 2030 as the number of those aged 60 years and above has increased drastically from 6.2 percent in 2000 and is expected to reach 13.6 percent by 2030. There are many challenges that will be faced due to the ageing population, one of which is the increasing cost of pensions in the future. In view of that, it is necessary to investigate the effect of actuarial assumptions on pension liabilities under the perspective of ageing. To estimate the pension liabilities, the Projected Unit Credit method is used in the study and commutation functions are employed in the process. Demographic risk and salary risk have been identified as major risks in analyzing pension liabilities in this study. The sensitivity analyses will be conducted in the study to investigate how the pension liabilities will be affected when these major risks changes. This study analyzes nine scenarios under assumptions in the actuarial model, namely age of retirement, rate of mortality and rate of salary growth. The result of this study indicates that the implied mortality experience and salary growth rate assumptions have a significant impact on pension liabilities.
This paper studied the behaviour of reinforced reactive powder concrete (RPC) two-way slabs under static load. The experimental program included testing three simply supported slabs of 1000 mm length, 1000 mm width, and 70 mm thickness. Tested specimens were of identical properties except their steel fibers volume ratio (0.5 %, 1 %, and 1.5 %). Static test results revealed that, increasing steel fibers volume ratio from 0.5% to 1% and from 1% to 1.5%, led to an increase in: first crack load by (32.2 % and 52.3 %), ultimate load by (36.1 % and 17.0 %), ultimate deflection by (33.6 % and 3.4 %), absorbed energy by (128 % and 20.2 %), and the ultimate strain by (1.1 % and 6.73 %). The stiffness and ductility of the specimens also increased. A
... Show MoreDue to the urgent need to develop technologies for continuous glucose monitoring in diabetes individuals, poten tial research has been applied by invoking the microwave tech niques. Therefore, this work presents a novel technique based on a single port microwave circuit, antenna structure, based on Metamaterial (MTM) transmission line defected patch for sensing the blood glucose level in noninvasive process. For that, the proposed antenna is invoked to measure the blood glu cose through the field leakages penetrated to the human blood through the skin. The proposed sensor is constructed from a closed loop connected to an interdigital capacitor to magnify the electric field fringing at the patch center. The proposed an tenna sensor i
... Show MoreBackground: Pain due to muscular cramp during hemodialysis is one of the most common problems experienced by patient undergoing hemodialysis, and is associated with poor outcomes of patients. The main aim of this study was to comparing the effects of lavender oil and olive oil massage on Pain due to muscular cramp during hemodialysis.
Methods: In this random clinical trial, 60 hemodialysis patients were enrolled randomly and allocated to two groups with 30 members in Lordegan and Brojen hospitals, Shahrekord, Iran. The intervention included flora massage on the lower leg muscles so that the first group received olive oil massage (10 drops) and the second group received lavender oil massage (10 dr
... Show MoreThe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption in medical education and healthcare systems worldwide. The disease can cause life-threatening conditions and it presents challenges for medical education, as instructors must deliver lectures safely, while ensuring the integrity and continuity of the medical education process. It is therefore important to assess the usability of online learning methods, and to determine their feasibility and adequacy for medical students. We aimed to provide an overview of the situation experienced by medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical students regarding electronic medical education.
... Show MoreThe present study aim at preparing frusemide in liquid form suitable for oral use. This is achieved through preparing different liquid forms of frusemide. The frusemide liquid is prepared in the following forms: oral solution, syrup and elixir with intensity of 1, 0.4 and 0.8% weight /volume respectively and in combination with potassium carbonate, polysorbate 80, alcohol and phosphate buffer solution of pH8 to dissolve the frusemide in the above mentioned forms. The different forms of the prepared medicine have been stored in glass bottles that can provide protection against light and at 40, 50, 600C for four months. Besides the pH has been checked to decide the period of validity. The results show that the expiration date of
... Show MoreUsing an electrochemical polymerization technique at room temperature, poly nicotine amide (PNA) was produced from the monomer nicotine amide (NA) in aqueous solution. The structure of polymer layer generated on the stainless steel surface (316 L) (working electrode) is investigated by Fourier Transmission Infrared Region (FT-IR). The anti-corrosion activity of polymer coating on the stainless steel (SS 316 L) is investigated by electrochemical polarization in 0.20M solution of HCl at 293-323K. The graphene -modified polymer film-coated SS had greater protection efficiency (PE percent) when compared to Nano ZnO -modified polymer film-coated SS. For the corrosion process of SS 316 L, kinetic and thermo-dynamic parameters of activatio
... Show MoreBackground: Maxillary first premolar with wide MOD cavity more susceptible to fracture. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of cavity design for cusp coverage on the fracture resistance of weakened maxillary first premolar restored with CAD/CAM hybrid ceramic versus nanohybide composite. Materials and Methods: Fifty six intact maxillary first premolars of approximately comparable sizes were divided into seven groups eight for each: Group A: Intact teeth (control group); Group B: teeth prepared for MOD inlay; Group C: teeth prepared for MOD onlay covering the lingual cusp; Group D: teeth prepared for MOD covering buccal and lingual cusps ,the previous three groups indirectly restored with nanohybrid composite (3M ESPE Z 250 X
... Show MoreThe process of stocks evaluating considered as a one of challenges for the financial analysis, since the evaluating focuses on define the current value for the cash flows which the shareholders expected to have. Due to the importance of this subject, the current research aims to choose Fama & French five factors Model to evaluate the common stocks to define the Model accuracy in Fama& French for 2014. It has been used factors of volume, book value to market value, Profitability and investment, in addition to Beta coefficient which used in capital assets pricing Model as a scale for Fama & French five factors Model. The research sample included 11 banks listed in Iraq stock market which have me
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