The aim of this study was to develop a new validated questionnaire to assess the health impact of divorce on women. A
cross sectional study was undertaken in a district in Terengganu, using a newly developed self-administered Malay
language questionnaire comprising of six domains and 82 items. The questionnaire was constructed based on the
literature review and discussions with experts. Exploratory factor analysis was applied in construct validity and internal
consistency was used for reliability analysis. A total of 51 respondents were involved in this study. All the consented
divorcees were Malays. The mean (SD) age for the divorced women was 35.8 (10.00). Majority (82.4%) of them had
secondary education. All the final three domains demonstrated Keiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) of more than 0.6, significant
Bartlett’s test of Sphericity and Cronbach’s alpha of more than 0.80. The overall Cronbach’s alpha was excellent (0.920).
The final questionnaire consisted of two domains. Factor loading for all items in each subdomains were satisfactory. The
final functional somatic symptoms domain consisted of 6 subdomains and 19 items with factor loading from 0.402 to
0.914. For emotional instability domain, the final items were 13 items with factor loading from 0.548 to 0.878. The
questionnaire was valid and reliable to be used for functional somatic symptoms and emotional instability domains. It is
useful to assess the health impact and related intervention of divorced women. A confirmatory factor analysis may
further confirm the final model.
Vitamin A, C and E intake has been shown to play a role in the etiology of breast cancer, but the findings have been
inconsistent and limited to developed countries with higher cancer incidence. Therefore, the aim of this study is to
examine the association of premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer risk with vitamin A, C and E intake from
dietary sources. This is a population based case-control study conducted in Malaysian population among 382 breast cancer
patients and 382 control group. Dietary intake was assessed via an interviewer-administered food frequency
questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and a broad
range of potential confounders were included in analysis. The results of this study shows a significant decreased risk of
breast cancer among premenopausal (ORQ4 to Q1=0.38, 95% CI, 0.12 – 0.55, p-trend=0.001) and postmenopausal (ORQ4 to
Q1=0.26, 95% CI, 0.03 – 0.75, p-trend=0.017) women was observed in the highest quartile of beta-carotene intake.
Meanwhile, a higher intake of vitamin C showed significantly lowered risk only for premenopausal women (ORQ4 to
Q1=0.13, 95% CI, 0.03 – 0.32, p-trend=0.001). As a conclusion, beta-carotene intake was independently related to pre- and
postmenopausal breast cancer risk, while vitamin C intake was associated with decreased risk among premenopausal
women only. However, no association was observed for vitamin A especially retinol and vitamin E intake from dietary
sources.
The ground beetle genus Hexachaetus Chaudoir, 1871 is re-defined and reviewed. Bearing six setae on ligula is no more considered as a crucial characteristic for Hexachaetus. Members of Hexachaetus share the following combination of morphological features: body polish, smooth, and impunctate, ligula more or less dilated at apex, bearing 4, 6, or even 12 setae apically, prosternal process unbordered at apex, elytra distinctly and obliquely truncated at apex, with the apical inner angles very sharp in most species (except for H. mulan n. sp.), and interval 3 with anterior and posterior setiferous pores (median one lacking). The members of Hexachaetus are about 20 species which could be divided into six species groups. All except angulatus species group are dealt with in this paper, with descriptions of four new species: H. kirschenhoferi n. sp. (Indonesia: Kalimantan), H. brunki n. sp. (Malaysia: N. Borneo), H. vietnamensis n. sp. (Vietnam: Annam) and H. mulan n. sp. (Malaysia: Perak and Pahang). H. maindroni Tian & Deuve, 2006 is proposed as a subspecies of H. lateralis Guérin, 1843, n. stat. A key to species groups and species of the genus is also provided.
MeSH terms: Animals; Animal Structures/anatomy & histology; Animal Structures/growth & development; Asia; Beetles/anatomy & histology; Beetles/classification*; Beetles/growth & development; Female; Male; Organ Size; Body Size; Animal Distribution
Thermal imaging is widely utilized in agricultural applications such as examining plant
physiology, yield prediction, irrigation scheduling, bruises and pathogen determination in
fruits and vegetables. There is a need for a cost effective thermal device for this wide range
of applications. In this study, a low-cost prototype thermal device was used to measure the
temperature of FFBs at three maturity levels, that are under-ripe, ripe and over-ripe. The
experiment was repeated using a commercial thermal camera. Then, the mean temperature
obtained from both the prototype and commercial thermal sensors was compared. Our results
showed the prototype thermal device is capable of estimating the mean temperature of oil palm
FFBs with the values analogous to the mean temperature from commercial thermal camera
with R2 = 0.71.
Sheanut (Butyrospernum paradoxum) is an oil rich tropical tree crop, which is indigenous to
the West African savannah zone. In Nigeria, most of the sheanuts shelling are done manually
by rural women and children, which is labour demanding and tedious. This research work
was carried out to determine some physical and mechanical properties of sheanut in order
to minimize economic losses associated with its processing. The mean values recorded
for the physical properties at 25% moisture content (wb) are; major diameter (29.20 mm),
intermediate diameter (21.90 mm), minor diameter (15.00 mm), geometric mean diameter
(21.90 mm), arithmetic mean diameter (21.20 mm), angle of repose (30.280). The mean
values for the mechanical properties are; linear limit force (0.80 kN), linear limit deformation
(4.60 mm), bioyield point force (1.40 kN), bioyield point deformation (6.50 mm), rupture
point force (2.10 kN) and rupture point deformation (9.60 mm). Based on the physical and
mechanical properties, a sheanut shelling machine was developed that is capable of addressing
the aforementioned problems. Putting into consideration better shelling and efficient separation
of shea nuts so as to encourage more utilization and processing of shea nuts and its products.
The machine was designed to be powered by 5 hp electric motor. It was tested to shell, separate
and clean sheanuts. The result of the performance evaluation showed that the machine had
shelling efficiency of 96%; cleaning efficiency of the machine was 69.56% while the recovery
efficiency was 82.7%. The successful development of this machine will reduce drudgery and
time taken associated with the traditional method of sheanut shelling and therefore will increase
productivity and utilization.
The incidence of hip fractures is increasing within the aging population.We determined the risk factors of in-hospital mortality following hip fracture across major hospitals in Malaysia. This is a retrospective cohort review from 18 hospitals across Malaysia in National Orthopaedic Registry of Malaysia (NORM) . We collected demographic data, prefracture co-morbidities, previous hip fracture, pre-fracture walking ability, fracture type and stability, mechanism of injury, type of management (operative or non-operative), operation types and grade of surgeon. Between 2008 and 2009, 685 patients were admitted with a hip fracture to 18 government hospitals with orthopaedic service. The overall in-hospital mortality was 2.2%. We found more in-hospital mortality in elderly patients and patients with eye and hearing problems as pre-fracture morbidity. In conclusion, patients who were elderly with multiple comorbidities especially those with eye and hearing impairment were had higher risk for immediate mortality
Globally, the health of the indigenous people is lagging behind as compared to the mainstream population in countries in which they live. Despite improved overall prosperity and population longevity, social and health inequalities seem to persist in this underprivileged community. Failure in delivering effective health promotion toward the indigenous community is determined by a range of factors. This includes the absence of culturally sensitive awareness among the healthcare workers, ineffective communication of the healthcare providers, poor access to health service, lack of culturally specific health promotional materials, lack of involvement by indigenous healthcare workers, lack of community based programs and inefficiency of indigenous health data collection. Effective interventions for indigenous health require a trans-disciplinary and holistic approach that incorporates indigenous health beliefs and engages with the social and cultural drivers of health.Such culturally congruent health promotion strategies are hoped to narrow down the existing wide gap of health outcomes that contribute to inequalities between indigenous communities and the mainstream population.
MeSH terms: Awareness; Health Personnel; Health Promotion; Humans; Longevity; Socioeconomic Factors; Population Groups; Health Status Disparities
Nowadays, community pharmacist plays an important role in medication counseling, patients’ side effects monitoring and
drug information delivery. The need of patient counseling has become a vital part of the pharmacy practice and
pharmaceutical care. Through Continuing Pharmacy Education (CPE) program, pharmacists can develop into professions in
different areas including drug delivery, drug information, technology and patient education. This study was conducted to
evaluate the perception of community pharmacists towards patient counseling and continuing education program in
Sabah and Sarawak, East Malaysia. A cross-sectional study design utilizing questionnaires was prepared by an extensive
literature review. The research was carried out in four major areas in Sarawak; Sibu, Kuching, Bintulu and Miri and in
three major areas Sabah; Kota kinabalu, Sepilok, Tawau by convenience sampling method. Descriptive analysis was
conducted using SPSS version 18. Perception of community pharmacists towards patients counseling and continuing
education program was analysed using scaling method. A cut-off score of 25.8 was used to indicate the perception of
community pharmacists. The Pharmacists scored a cut-off point of 25.8 and above were considered to have good
perception. A sample of 174 community pharmacists from Sabah and Sarawak were participated in this study. All of the
respondents except one had positive perception towards patient counseling and continuing education program. Overall,
almost all the community pharmacists had positive perception towards patient counseling and continuing education
program in Sabah and Sarawak, East Malaysia. Further research is needed to evaluate perception of community
pharmacists in different states of Malaysia and explore more on continuing education program in Malaysia.
The leaves of Gynotroches axillaris were chemically and biologically studied. Sequential extraction of the leaves using petroleum ether, chloroform, and methanol afforded three extracts. Purification of pet. ether extract yielded, squalene and β-amyrin palmitate as the major compounds, together with palmitic acid and myristic acid as the minor components. The methanol extract yielded two flavonoids, quercitrin and epicatechin. The isolated compounds were characterized by MS, IR and NMR (1D and 2D). Anti-acetyl cholinesterase screening using TLC bio-autography assay showed that palmitic acid and myristic acid were the strongest inhibition with detection limit 1.14 and 1.28 μ/g/ 5 μL respectively. Antibacterial against Gram-positive and negative and antifungal activities exhibited that β-amyrin palmitate was the strongest (450-225 μ/mL) against all the tested microbes. The tyrosinase inhibition assay of extracts and the pure compounds were screened against tyrosinase enzyme. The inhibition percentage (I%) of methanol extract against tyrosinase enzyme was stronger than the other extracts with value 68.4%. Quercitrin (59%) was found to be the highest in the tyrosinase inhibition activity amongst the pure compounds. To the best of our knowledge, this is first report on the phytochemicals, tyrosinase inhibition, anti-acetycholinesterase and antimicrobial activities of the leaves of G. axillaris.
Peptides derived from HIV-1 transmembrane proteins have been extensively studied for antimicrobial activities, and they are known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). These AMPs have also been reported to potently combat the drug-resistant microbes. In this study, we demonstrated that peptide #6383 originated from HIV-1 MN strain membrane-spanning domain of gp41 was active (2-log reductions) at 100βg/mL (56.5βM) against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 10% and 50% human plasma-supplemented phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The activity was further enhanced (3-log reductions) in the presence of 5% human serum albumin (HSA) alone. All bactericidal activities were achieved within 6 hours. At 100μg/mL, the peptide showed only 13% toxicity against human erythrocytes. This peptide can serve as an attractive template for a design of a novel peptide antibiotic against drug-resistant bacteria. By sequence-specific engineering or modifications, we anticipated that the bactericidal activity and the reduced toxicity against human erythrocytes will be improved.
MeSH terms: Anti-Bacterial Agents/isolation & purification; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology*; Anti-Bacterial Agents/toxicity; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Erythrocytes/drug effects; Hemolysis/drug effects; Humans; Kinetics; Peptide Fragments/isolation & purification; Peptide Fragments/pharmacology*; Peptide Fragments/toxicity; HIV-1/chemistry*; HIV Envelope Protein gp41/isolation & purification; HIV Envelope Protein gp41/pharmacology*; Microbial Viability/drug effects; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/drug effects*; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/growth & development
The processing of cocoyam tubers for industrial or human use involves different operations
of which peeling is the major problem. This study was aimed at designing, fabricating and
carrying out performance evaluation of a cocoyam peeling machine, taking into consideration
some physical and mechanical properties of the cocoyam tubers. The machine was evaluated
based on the following parameters which includes; throughput capacity and peeling efficiency
at the speeds of 400 rpm, 700 rpm and 933 rpm. Results revealed that, for all the speeds tested
in the experiment, the corresponding peeling efficiencies of the machine were 50%, 64% and
68% respectively while that of the throughput capacities were 63.20 kg/hr, 84.90 kg/hr and
112.92 kg/hr respectively. It was observed that 933 rpm speed was the most suitable speed for
the operation of this machine, as it had higher peeling efficiency of 68% with a throughput
capacity of 112.92 kg/hr. These results showed appreciable improvement over manual method
which is 20 – 35 kg/hr.
The deterioration of wheat grains in terms of various quality parameters was observed during
storage in traditional and designed structures for 12 months. As a result of the laboratory analysis
and statistical data evaluation, protein (11.78%), lipid (2.4%), ash (1.76%) and starch (64.87%)
were found maximum in grain samples taken from straw-clay bin followed by concrete block
bin, ferrocement bin, earthen bin, bulk covered and room type store after 12 months of storage.
The highest moisture (15.12%), insect-damage (26%), fungi (25%) and aflatoxin (13.3 μg kg-1)
was observed in grains stored in room store followed by bulk covered, earthen bin, ferrocement
bin, concrete bin and straw-clay bin.
This paper embarks on the evolution of green economy approach to support the increasing
food commodity expenses by adapting Solar Photovoltaic (PV) as the suitable renewable
energy technology for Natural Resource Management (NRM). The crops for cash trend and
continuously decreasing market price in solar technologies are highlighted with strong effort
by Malaysian Government through Renewable Energy (RE) policy and National Key Economy
Area (NKEA). Reviews on the benefits of solar dryer technologies in crop production and agrobusiness
are presented with highlights on high value herbal crops (HVHc) and some potentials
of high-performance solar dryer technology.
Consumption of banana flower as a vegetable is popular among many countries in Southeast
Asia. In this study, banana flowers of six different Malaysian cultivars namely, pisang Abu
(Musa balbisiana cv P. Abu), pisang Berangan (Musa acuminata cv P. Berangan), pisang
Nipah (Musa balbisiana cv P. Nipah), pisang Susu (Musa acuminata cv P. Susu), pisang
Mas (Musa acuminate cv P. Mas) and pisang Rastali (Musa paradisiaca cv P. Rastali) were
investigated for their antioxidant and anti-hyperglyemic properties. The total poly phenolic
content and antioxidant activities, the α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory potentials of the
banana flower extracts were studied in vitro using relevant assays. Among the six cultivars,
cultivar Susu was found to have the highest phenolic content (80.13 ± 4.64 mg of GAE/g of
extract) and displayed the highest ABTS+ and DPPH radical scavenging activities (24.73 ±
0.04 and 25.10 ± 0.15 µmole of Trolox equivalent/g of extract). The anti-amylase and antiglucosidase
activity of the banana flowers extracts were in the range of 47.31-62.58% and
74.98-91.62%, respectively. All banana flower extracts inhibited the activity of α-glucosidase
better than α-amylase at the concentration of 200 µg/ml. This study concluded that the extracts
of Malaysian banana flowers were potent sources of natural antioxidants, which can be used as
postprandial hyperglycemia regulators.
The purpose of this research is to analyse the impact of identified variables to adapt change management
due to e-learning implementation in Malaysian private higher education institutions focusing on educators’
perspectives. The conceptual framework was modified in combination of various theories from Systemic
Change Models and E-learning Cycle Models. A self-administered questionnaire adapted from Siebel
4.0-2 Survey Questionnaires (SSQ) by Hambling, 2010 was the data collection instrument. The sample
consisted of educators from private higher education institutions with visions or missions based on
e-learning implementation in Malaysia. As per findings, through review of the visions and missions,
the selected private higher education institutions integrated teaching and learning, advancement of the
knowledge based on e-learning and leadership in service and outreach.
Malaysian Studies is a compulsory course for international undergraduate students in Malaysia. The
subject comprises Malaysian history, its governance and administration system. Due to different sociocultural
backgrounds and histories, most, if not all, international students, struggled with this subject.
This research project aims to create, implement and evaluate a mobile application (app) as a catalyst for
mobile learning (m-learning) for one particular topic of the Malaysian Studies course. The increased
use of technology in learning environments has changed instructional approaches by making it more
accessible and essentially, more student-centered. Using a design-based research approach, the mobile
app is aimed to guide students to write their own notes to assist in deeper understanding of the subject.
The mobile app was also reviewed by users to gauge its effectiveness and ease of use. Findings from the
tests showed the potential to structure the students’ learning from the topic. From the research, there are
a few improvements and suggestions that could be implemented for similar future studies and projects.
With the proliferation of Web 2.0 technologies, folksonomy which is also known as social tagging or
collaborative tagging is widely used by learners to annotate and categorize their learning resources. In
a folksonomy system, the tags are added by learners to the learning resources, hence the tags are often
ambiguous, overly personalised and imprecise. In addition, conjugated words, compound words and
nonsense words may be used in tagging and shared among a group of learners. This has resulted in an
uncontrolled and chaotic set of tagging terms that cause learning resources searching, reuse and sharing
to become ineffective. In this paper, we present a content-based approach which automatically generates
tags from a learning resource using Part-Of-Speech Tagging and K-Means Clustering techniques. The
generated tags are more precise and unambiguous which can improve learning resources searching,
reuse and sharing among learners.
There are many contributions from synthetic fibres in the world of industrial composites over the years.
However, they contain hazardous properties to humans causing irritation when exposed to the skin
and eye. Inhalation of fibrous synthetic can cause lung cancer with its deadly effects. There have been
studies and researches conducted on natural fibres to replace synthetic fibres as it is believed the latter
are more environmental-friendly and pose less health risks to humans. The aim of this study was to
investigate hoop tensile properties of the composite hollow shaft for different winding angles and PVC
reinforcement produced via the filament winding technique. For this purpose, split-disk tests (according
to ASTM D-2290 standard) were performed for the specimens produced with two different winding
angles such as 45o and 90o winding angle. By determining the hoop tensile strength and modulus of
these specimens, the effects of filament-winding processing parameter in winding angle were evaluated.
Experiments successfully showed that the mechanical properties such as tensile properties of kenaf yarn
fibre reinforced unsaturated polyester hollow tube at 90° and 45° winding angle with and without PVC.
The value was 15% for the different winding angles and 25% for the different winding angles with and
without PVC. The results indicate that 90° fibre winding angle kenaf yarn fibre unsaturated polyester with
PVC has the highest hoop tensile strength compared with other composite specimens. The experiments concluded that the orientation on fibre angle has
a significant impact on the hoop tensile strain,
hoop tensile modulus and hoop tensile strength
properties.
A new numerical scheme based on the particle method, namely the Moving Particle Pressure Mesh
(MPPM) method, has been previously developed by the authors to address the limitation of the
conventional Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method in simulating incompressible flow. In this
paper, we shall investigate on a more practical way to extend our MPPM method to handle complex
geometry, i.e. by employing an embedded unstructured mesh system to cope with an arbitrarily-complex
flow domain. No-slip boundary condition is modelled via placing a series of fixed particles at the wall
boundaries, negating the use of ghost particles which are difficult to generate. In order to verify our
numerical procedure, the vortex-shedding process behind a cylinder is computed and it is found the
numerical result is agreeable with the reference solution.
Flow separation over blade surfaces is an important parameter and its reduction or elimination can improve
better aerodynamic performance, efficiency and stall margin. In this work, numerical investigation has
been carried out to study the flow separation and performance analysis of a transonic axial compressor
rotor blade at off-design operating conditions. The off-design cases studied comprised of compressor
operation at 80%, 90%, 100% and 105% on the on-design rotational speed. The results are validated with
experimental work from literature. Additionally, 3D flow visualisations and performance parameters were
examined in detail to understand the blade to blade relative mach number distributions and shock front
created by the model. Finally, the benefits of unsteady simulation on axial compressor blade performance
predictions were examined.