The objective of this research is to develop an “energy” snack bar supplying energy and
electrolytes in one bar by utilizing local Malaysian ingredients. The local ingredients used to make
this snack bar were banana, glutinous rice flour, and coconut milk. It is a wholesome nutritious
food for different age groups from adolescents to elderly people. Proximate composition, total
carbohydrate, energy value, and sensory quality of prototype were determined. The developed
snack bar contains 13.23% of moisture, 1.13% of ash, 6.36% of crude protein, 22.39% of
crude fat, 1.16% of crude fibre, 56.89% of total carbohydrate, and 454.51 kcal of energy. The
“energy” snack bar was highly acceptable with desirable sensory quality by all consumers.
Farm sustainability issues are diverse but interconnected and complex. Many organizations
have begun to promote packaged sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs). Some of these
bundled SAPs (i.e. organic agriculture and integrated pest management) have long been
employed by farmers, and studied by scientists seeking to understand their response to these
alternative agricultural approaches. This paper reviews and synthesizes recent research in this
area. It identifies key explanatory factors, which frequently lead to the adoption of bundled
SAPs. Vote count analysis reveals that variables implying economic motivation and facilitation
regularly explain farmers’ behaviour. In addition, a new finding emerged, in which factors
inferring higher learning and superior management capacity provided further indicators to
adoption. In particular, the training that provided by non-governmental organizations and rural
institutions complements change agents (i.e. public extension services). While this finding is
novel, more research is required to generate better understanding of farmer reaction to bundled
SAPs, particularly dynamic ones (i.e. private standards) in which farm business sustainability
depends upon good agricultural practices being implemented.
Sesame Cracker or Kuih Bijan is a popular traditional Malays snack in Malaysia. The simplest
formulation of Sesame Cracker dough includes glutinous rice flour, sugar, and water. In order
to reduce the negative effect caused by dough stickiness, the effect of mixing period (3 to 7
minutes), water (41.6 to 45.6%) and sugar (1 to 9%) on dough stickiness of sesame cracker
dough were studied using Texture Analyzer and Chen-Hoseney methodologies (i.e. Chen-
Hoseney Dough Stickiness Cell). The result obtained showing that the increment of mixing
time, water and sugar addition, increased the dough stickiness, work of adhesion/adhesiveness
and dough strength/cohesiveness. However, overmixing of dough had led to the decrease of
these parameters.
Rice production depends on good quality of paddy. In this research, the capability of thermal
imaging to determine the quality of paddy based on the properties used in a Deduction Schedule
namely moisture content, immature condition and foreign material is presented. First, the
heating and cooling treatment was applied to the samples. FLIR E60 thermal camera was used
to acquire images of the sample. Therefore, each samples were represented by a thermal index
calculated based on the average value of pixels in the thermal image. Results of the experiment
have shown that highly significant relationship were exist between thermal index and maturity
stage and moisture content of paddy with r = -0.948 and 0.896, respectively. It also worked
well in detecting foreign material (chaff) at 25s after cooling. The method gave accurate results
with 92% for moisture content determination, 90% for maturity stage prediction and 100% for
chaff detection.
This study investigated the drying kinetic of pumpkin under different drying temperatures (50,
60, 70 and 80°C), samples thickness (3, 4, 5 and 7mm), air velocity (1.2m/s) and relative
humidity (40 - 50%). Kinetic models were developed using semi-theoretical thin layer models
and multi-layer feed-forward artificial neural network (ANN) method. The Hii et al. (2009)
semi-theoretical model was found to be the most suitable thin layer model while two hidden
layers with 20 neurons was the best for the ANN method. The selections were based on the
statistical indicators of coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE) and
sum of squares error (SSE). Results indicated that the ANN demonstrated better prediction
than those of the theoretical models with R2, RMSE and SSE values of 0.992, 0.036 and 0.207
as compared to the Hii et al. (2009) model values of 0.902, 0.088 and 1.734 respectively. The
validation result also showed good agreement between the predicted values obtained from
the ANN model and the experimental moisture ratio data. This indicates that an ANN can
effectively describe the drying process of pumpkin.
The influence of different data pre-processing methods (smoothing by moving average (MA),
multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), Savitzky-Golay (SG), standard normal variate (SNV)
and mean normalization (MN) on the prediction of sugar content from sugarcane samples was
investigated. The performance of these pre-processing methods was evaluated using spectral
data collected from 292 sugarcane internode samples using a visible-shortwave near infrared
spectroradiometer (VNIRS). Partial least square (PLS) method was applied to develop both
calibration and prediction models for the samples. If no pre-processing method was applied,
the coefficient of determination (R2) values for both reflectance and absorbance data were 0.81
and 0.86 respectively. The highest prediction accuracy values were obtained when the data was
treated with MSC method, where the R2 values for reflectance and absorbance being 0.85 and
0.87, respectively. From this study, it was concluded that pre-processing can improve the model
performances where MSC method was found to give the highest prediction accuracy value.
This study was aimed at investigating the effects of formulation on flowability of selected
herbal powders which include Labisia pumila, Ortosiphon stamineus, Eurycoma longifolia
and Andrographis paniculata using compendial methods and a recently available powder
flow analyser. The material properties such as moisture content, particles sizes, tap and bulk
densities of the pure herbal powders and the formulated powders were measured to determine
Carr index and Hausner ratio which were indices of the compendial methods. Cohesion
index and caking strength were used as basis of flowability indicator using the powder flow
analyser. The flowability of the herbal powders were improved when they were formulated into
beverages mix by mixing each herbal powders with other ingredients like sugar and nondairy
creamer before analyzed using both the compendial methods and powder flow analyser. Both
methods of flowability measurements adopted in this work complemented each other in the
understanding and characterization of powder flowability.
This work presents the characterization of selected bioactive compounds of local herbs
through their photonic spectrum. A Shimadzu spectrophotometer was used to map bioactive
compounds extracted from Andrographis paniculata, Ficus deltoidea, Orthosiphon stamineus
and Centella asiatica. Dominant peaks and repeatability were the determinant parameters
in this study. Absorbance peaks of bioactive compounds were calibrated against respective
standardized chemicals obtained from reputable suppliers. The results obtained indicated
that absorbance peaks from different bioactive compounds could be identified by photonic
spectrum. Most bioactive markers were detected within the wavelength range of 200 nm to 350
nm, using a Deuterium (190 nm to 450 nm) light source and corresponding refraction grating.
A mathematical relationship of concentration versus absorbance at different wavelengths for
selected bioactive compounds were identified. The significance of the photonic characterization
of these phytochemicals forms the basis for a mathematical model in a decision support system
of a proposed mobile sensor prototype development.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is well known to be abundantly distributed in marine, coastal and
estuarine environments. Since 1951, V. parahaemolyticus had been the source of numerous
outbreaks related to contaminated or mishandled seafood. However, V. parahaemolyticus
had been detected on other types of food. This issue has prompted this study to investigate
on the prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus in various food samples and determine the risk
associated with it. The results of the MPN-plating technique of the study indicated that V.
parahaemolyticus was detected in seafood (33.3%, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 31.9 – 34.8 ,
94 – 290 MPN/g) and vegetables (10.0%, 95% CI 9.7 – 10.3 , 9.2 – 23 MPN/g) while negative
V. parahaemolyticus was detected in fruits (0.0%, 95% CI 0 – 1,
An extensive amount of research has reported on the use of ultrafiltration (UF) membrane,
particularly in the improvement of membrane performance efficiency on cow’s milk. However,
a very limited number of researches reported on using UF for producing low-lactose goat’s
milk due to inherently low lactose. Nonetheless, goat’s milk is still not suitable to be consumed
in a large amount by people who are lactose intolerant, especially among Asians, where
over 90% of the populations are suffering from lactose intolerance. Until today, fouling and
concentration polarization (CP) on membrane surface in cross-flow hollow fiber UF unit are
the major problems in the dairy industry. Discovery on how to overcome the problem is still
in a hot debate due to the nature’s complex composition in milk. One way to overcome this
problem is by evaluating the effects of processing parameters such as trans-membrane pressure
(TMP) and feed-flow rate on flux (J), lactose rejection (Ri), concentration factor (CF), and
accumulation rate (AR) during the fractionation of lactose. In terms of lactose fractionation for
5 KDa and 10 KDa UF membranes, the TMPs examined were 0.41, 0.55, and 0.69 bars, while
feed flow-rates examined were 0.18, 0.34, 0.54, and 0.74 L/min. 5 KDa membrane shows that
feed flow-rate and flux behave in a direct relationship, while an inverse relationship in 10 KDa
membrane. Both membranes showed that TMP 0.55 bar exhibit the best flux value without
reaching the limiting flux region, but with feed flow rate of 0.74 L/min in 5 KDa, while 0.18
L/min in 10 KDa membrane. Lactose rejection percentage (%Ri) is the lowest with 77.71% in
5 KDa membrane while 66.28% in 10 KDa membrane. This can be summarized that the best
parameters for 5 KDa membrane is at TMP 0.55 bar with feed flow-rate of 0.74 L/min, while
for 10 KDa membrane is at TMP 0.55 bar with feed flow-rate of 0.18 L/min. Due to higher flux
value and lowest lactose rejection obtained from low feed flow-rate, 10 KDa UF membrane
size was chosen over 5 KDa. As a conclusion, a high degree of lactose removal from goat’s
milk could be achieved by 10 KDa UF membrane in a cross-flow hollow fiber system, which
proved that different outcomes between 5 KDa and 10 KDa membranes and feed flow-rate
required is closely associated to UF pore size and molecular weight of feed solute particles.
Dadih is a favourable dessert in South East Asia due to its appealing sweet taste and jellies
appearance. The sweet taste is from sugar (sucrose) content, and in order to reduce the sucrose,
it was substituted with xylitol. Xylitol can provides intense sweetness with less calories and
lower water activity, which potentially contribute to higher microbial stability thus giving
longer shelf life. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of xylitol substituted
on dadih safety and sensory qualities. Dadih was prepared by replacing sucrose with xylitol
composition in the range of 0 – 100% and at two levels of cooking times (15 and 20 minutes).
Safety analysis were performed using total plate count (TPC) and water activity (aw) analysis.
For sensory analysis, seven attributes were evaluated (appearance, colour, hardness, elasticity,
taste, sweetness, and overall acceptability) based on the 9-hedonic scale. From the findings,
dadih samples with total sucrose (0%) were observed to be contaminated faster compared to
total xylitol (100%). Dadih with xylitol is more stable with prolonged shelf life. From sensory
analysis, dadih sample prepared with shorter cooking time (15 minutes) was selected as more
favourable with overall acceptability score between 72 - 85%. More than 70% of the score for
dadih with xylitol substitute was above ‘slightly like’, which indicates a promising future to
produce xylitol substitute dadih. The outcome of this study has shown that xylitol is potentially
to be utilize as sugar substitute for dadih production.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a main foodborne disease in seafood and generally seafood is
easily deteriorates in quality of color and flavor. In this study, clove (Syzygium aromaticum)
extract shows potent antibacterial activity against growth of antibiotics resistant Vibrio
parahaemolyticus on seafood samples (cockles and shrimps). Vibrio parahaemolyticus was
artificial contaminates on the samples with 106 CFU/ml. The samples were treated with different
concentration of cloves extract with 10 mg/ml which are 0.5%, 5% and 10% concentration
from methanol food grade extraction in 0 hr, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min, 60 min and
120 min. Tab water and deionized water were selected as a negative control. As a result, the
amount of 10 % cloves managed to mitigates the number of V. parahaemolyticus on seafood
samples in 5 minutes and 15 min on both samples. Therefore, our results signify the fact that
cloves can be apply as natural sanitizer which could meet consumer demands for safe and
traditionally consumed either raw without any undesirable effect when applied in the seafood
system industries.
Gait analysis measurement is a method used to access and identify gait events and the
measurements of motion parameters involving the lower part of the body. This significant
method is widely used in rehabilitation, sports, and health diagnostics for improving the quality
of life. However, it is not a routine practice due to costs involved in creating and using gait labs.
Alternatively, inertial sensors such as microcantilever accelerometer can be used in the
development of cheap and wearable gait analysis systems. Human stride segmentation
measurement based on a micro-accelerometer cantilever is used in the study of the lower limb
movement patterns that include walking, jumping and running, as well as the measurements of
the motion parameters. A complete system consisting of a fabricated sensor, a Wheatstone
bridge circuit, and a signal amplifier tailored for real-time stride analysis measurement is
proposed. A novel fabrication method for an accelerometer sensor using laser micromachining
is introduced in order to develop a simple way for realizing sensor formation. This study allows
us to optimize the requirements of hard-mask and fabrication process steps by reductions of
30% and 25% respectively. In the general framework, this research activity is focused towards
the development of a piezoresistive cantilever formation using laser micromachining for fast
fabrication development of a real life gait and stride segmentation measurement application
There are few data on the association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and objectively-measured physical activity (PA) in non-Westernised populations, especially the older population. Furthermore, in light of recent accelerometer models introduced in the market which assess acceleration along three axes, we theorised that a population study using cut-points based on composite vector magnitude (VM) is needed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the associations between tri-axial accelerometer-determined PA and HRQoL in community-dwelling older Malay adults, using cut-points for VM. Method: The study design was cross-sectional, involving 146 community-dwelling older Malay adults aged 60 to 85 years old (59 men, 87 women) living in Seberang Perai Utara, Penang, Malaysia. PA data was collected using tri-axial accelerometers (Actigraph GT3X or GT3X+) worn around the hip during waking hours for 7 days. Intensities were categorised using cut-points for VM. HRQoL was measured using the Short Form 36-item Health Survey (SF-36®) and scored using the norm-based scoring system. Analyses included sex differences in PA variables and HRQoL and correlation (Spearman’s rho) between PA and HRQoL. Results: Significant positive association was found between moderate PA and bodily pain, but only for men (rho=0.263, p
The purpose of this study was to assess the foundation depth of track and field events and objectively identify if there had been a significant advancement of performance in athletics at a foundation level. Data was taken from all 45 athletics events (23 male, 22 female) over the last seven biannual National Games from 2002 to 2014. The performances for the top five finalists across each event were analyzed. A correlation co-efficient was calculated to assess the strength of linear performance relationship over time. T-tests were performed to assess mean differences across high prospect events versus major international benchmarks. Using r = 0.70 as a high correlation, only five events (men’s 400 m, 400 m hurdles, high jump, and both men’s and women’s hammer throw) out of 41 individual events demonstrated strong positive linear relationships over the assessment period. Only men’s high jump and women’s hammer throw had a non-significant difference (p = > 0.05) when compared with the means performance measure at the two Southeast Asian Games, indicating the events’ degree of capacity to compete at an international level. In comparison to higher level competitions, men’s high jump and women’s hammer throw also demonstrated fragility. The performance gap between the National Games and comparable international event was very large, ranging from 5.3 to 71.0%. Overall, there appears to be a trivial or stagnant trend for many athletics events, which has been unable to create a foundation needed for developing consistent elite performance. Taking into account this data, consideration of the development of new intervention action plans within the overall strategy should be determined and implemented.
Candida albicans (C. albicans) has several virulence factors, in particular heat
shock protein 90 (Hsp90), which is expressed by Hsp90 gene. The purposes of this study were to
assess the expression of Hsp90 gene in clinical and control isolates of C. albicans obtained from
different geographical regions (Malaysia and Iran), different temperatures (25ºC, 37ºC and 42ºC)
and mice with candidiasis.
Methods: C. albicans isolates were cultured onto sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA). The
assessment of the expression of Hsp90 gene was performed using real time-polymerase chain
reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: The results showed a significant increase in the expression of C. albicans Hsp90
gene under high thermal shock (42ºC) when compared to other temperatures tested (P-value =
0.001). The mean differences in the expression of Hsp90 gene at 37ºC were 0.20 (95% confidence
interval (CI) 0.13-0.29) between Malaysian and Iranian controls (P-value = 0.040) and 0.47 (95% CI
0.27-0.60) between Malaysian and Iranian patients (P-value = 0.040).
Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the expression of C. albicans Hsp90 gene varied
between Malaysian and Iranian subjects, representing the efficacy of geographical and thermal
conditions on virulence gene expression.
Urinary incontinence (UI) demonstrates major prevalence in women of
different population groups. Reduced quality of life (QOL) is observed due to incontinence problems.
Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6) and Incontinence Impact Quality of Life (IIQ-7) are useful
disease-specific questionnaires evaluating the impact of urinary incontinence on the QOL of women
which is accepted internationally.
Objective: This study aims to translate and validate UDI-6 and IIQ-7 in Malay language.
Methods: A cross sectional study, which recruited 100 participants from two urogynecology
clinics. Both questionnaires were initially translated from English to Bahasa Malaysia followed
by back translation and final correction done by the professional translators. The participants
were requested to maintain a urinary record of the upcoming week for three days that assisted in
quantifying the severity of symptoms. None of the subjects were assigned any treatment during the
study period. Validity and reliability of the translated questionnaires were determined by checking
the internal consistency and also by doing test-retest.
Results: The internal consistency levels of the UDI-6 and IIQ-7 Bahasa Malaysia questionnaires
were 0.73 and 0.90 respectively with good test-retest (0.86 and 0.95). Incontinence episodes were
strongly associated with obstructive, irritative, and stress symptoms. The factor of day time voiding
had strong correlation with obstructive and irritative symptoms.
Conclusion: UDI-6 and IIQ-7 did not measure similar outcomes; however, both questionnaires
have their strengths in clinical settings. Analysis has also revealed that the Malaysian versions of
both questionnaires had appropriate test-retest validity and reliability. Thus, it can be said that
both of the questionnaires had great importance for screening patients with urinary incontinence in
Malaysia.
MeSH terms: Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Language; Malaysia; Quality of Life; Surveys and Questionnaires; Translations; Urinary Incontinence; Reproducibility of Results; Prevalence; Population Groups
Multicentric disappearing bone disease, or Gorham disease, is a rare entity. A middle age woman, presented to us with left sided antalgic gait and severe bony deformity of her left knee. Radiograph revealed massive bone defect of the medial condyle of the left tibia with subluxation of the knee joint. She was scheduled for knee replacement in six months. However, she developed another lesion over the right hip that typically mimicked the disease progression of disappearing bone disease. The right femoral head vanished progressively within three months without significant history of infection or trauma. Subsequent bone biopsy of the right femoral head and left tibia condyle confirmed the diagnosis. Total knee replacement was carried out for her left knee. She remained pain free on her left knee. A year later, after confirming by sequential radiographs that the osteolysis had stopped, total right hip replacement was performed. Five years later, she remained pain free and both the arthroplasties were stable.
Introduction: Congenital Talipes Equinovarus (CTEV) is a common congenital foot deformity that is associated with long term disability. Treatment with Ponseti method has been successful especially for children who present early. We conducted this study to investigate the age of presentation of children and report the early outcome. Materials: This is a retrospective study from a single institution. We included 31 patients with 45 idiopathic clubfeet and investigated problems and success rate at the end of serial casting. Results: Mean age at presentation was 4.9 months. The mean number of casting was 6 and mean duration of casting was 2.7 months. The initial success rate of 91.1%, with four feet (8.8%) diagnosed as resistant clubfoot and eventually required soft tissue surgery. With mean follow up of 14.1 months, four other feet (8.8%) developed relapse but were treated with repeat Ponseti method. Conclusion: Many CTEV patients present late for treatment. However, the Ponseti method remained effective with high initial success rate of 91.1%. Relapsed CTEV can still be treated successfully with repeat casting using the Ponseti method.
Introduction: Hip spica casting is an important component of treatment for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) and popular treatment method for femur fractures in children. Breakage at the hip region is a relatively common problem of this cast. We have developed a three-slab technique of hip spica application using fibreglass as the cast material. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the physical durability of the spica cast and skin complications with its use. Methodology: A retrospective review of children with various conditions requiring hip spica immobilisation which was applied using our method. Study duration was from 1st of January 2014 until 31st December 2015. Our main outcomes were cast breakage and skin complications. For children with hip instability, the first cast would be changed after one month, and the second cast about two months later. Results: Twenty-one children were included, with an average age of 2.2 years. The most common indication for spica immobilisation was developmental dysplasia of the hip. One child had skin irritation after spica application. No spica breakage was noted. Conclusion: This study showed that the three-slab method of hip spica cast application using fibreglass material was durable and safe with low risk of skin complications.
MeSH terms: Child; Child, Preschool; Femur; Glass; Hip Dislocation, Congenital; Humans; Retrospective Studies; Skin Diseases; Fractures, Bone