Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is more prone on female athletes compared to male athletes in non-contact mechanisms. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of four weeks neuromuscular training which closely associated with the dynamic balance and agility performance for preventing ACL injury among female athletes. There were sixteen female athletes from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) who are volleyball, basketball and futsal players participated in this study. The subjects were divided randomly into two groups; control group (CG) and experimental group (EG). The EG experienced four weeks of neuromuscular training while the CG performing their regular training. The pre-test and post-test were measured using Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) for dynamic balance and T-Test for agility. Statistical data were analyzed using independent sample t-test and the results demonstrated significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) for dynamic balance and agility between EG and CG. Therefore, this finding implied that neuromuscular training improved the female athletes in term of dynamic balance and agility which reduce the prevalence of ACL injury.
Resistance training (RT) refers to a method of physical conditioning of complex programming which consists of progressive and various training techniques to achieve the desired training goals. An appropriate programme design is the key to success; where exercise selection is one of the critical factors. The selection of exercise will expose different stimulation as in the application of the specific adaptation on imposed demand principle. The option of choosing either bilateral (BI) or unilateral (UNI) exercise is an important decision to perform in the construction of any strength or RT programme. This study aimed to investigate the physiological responses of unilateral versus bilateral acute RT on heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Sixteen (n = 16) trained women with mean age of 23.31 (SD = 1.35) years old went through a total body exercise session for each unilateral and bilateral protocols which both consisted of major muscles group for 80% 1RM, 10 repetitions to maximal effort for 3 sets. The results revealed that all variables examined including HR, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and RPE were statistically changed (p < .001) across the times. Apart from that, unilateral and bilateral RT imposed significantly different stimulus on SBP (p < .05).
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the Physical, Environment, Task, Timing, Learning, Emotion and Perspective (PETTLEP) and traditional imagery interventions on netball players shooting accuracy. In this study, 48 netball players from Larut Matang and Selama district in Perak were invited to participate. They were tested on imagery ability and divided into three interventions groups consisting, the PETTLEP audio imagery, the PETTLEP audio video imagery and the traditional written imagery script. The participants in the PETTLEP audio and audio video interventions imagery employed the interventions at the netball court. Conversely, the participants in the traditional written imagery scrip group employed the interventions at their own houses. All participants conducted their imagery training based on the imagery training schedule that was provided to them. The imagery training duration was around 30 minutes and scheduled for three times per week for four weeks. The pre-test intervention and post-test study design were employed in this study. The paired t-test results indicated that there were significant differences on the pre and post test data for netball shooting accuracy for both participants in PETTLEP groups, however there was no significant differences were found in the traditional written imagery script group. Furthermore, the One Way ANOVA results indicated that there were significant differences on the data of post-test among both PETTLEP groups compared to the traditional groups. However, there were no significant differences found between PETTLEP groups. The findings showed that the participants in the PETTLEP imagery interventions showed better accuracy netball shooting compared to the participants in the traditional intervention group, however both audio and combination audio and video PETLLEP interventions enhanced similar netball shooting performances. In conclusion, from this study the PETTLEP imagery model was found to improve players’ performance, especially when it was combined with audio imagery and video modelling.
This research was conducted to determine the mental skill among school athletes. This research was conducted using survey method among 24 ten-pin bowlers that represented Perak in the Majlis Sukan Sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) 2018 tournament. Sport pErsonality Questionnaire (SPQ20) questionnaire was used to measure the 20 mental skill dimensions that consisted of 4 main domains that are achievement and competitiveness, confidence and resilience, interaction and sportsmanship, and power and aggression. SPQ20 also determine the athletes’ trend on the mental skill matric and leadership potential. Descriptive analysis is based on the Red, Amber, Green (RAG) Traffic Light system approach. Results showed all the mental skill domains were at the yellow level (intermediate). Based on the mental skill metric, highest number of athletes were in the confident achiever group (54.2%). Based on the leadership potential matric, highest number of athletes were in the democratic captain group (33.3%). The research demonstrate the importance of evaluating the athletes’ mental skill level, methods on using suitable measuring tools to gain information on the mental skill level, and the way to report results of study in order to enhance coaching aspect.
The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between goal orientation and aggressiveness among under 18 handball players in Negeri Sembilan. This study used survey method using Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionaire (TEOSQ) and The Judgement About Moral Behavior in Youth Sport Questionaire (JAMBYSQ). The respondents are the Under 18 handball players that represent eight districts in Negeri Sembilan (n = 192, 96 male and 96 females). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percent, frequency, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t-test) and correlation. The findings showed that the orientation pattern of the female players were higher than the male players for both the task orientation and the ego. The results of the t-test showed that female handball players have higher levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety than male players. However, from the aspect of aggression, the findings showed that female players are more likely to show aggressive action compared to male. In conclusion, the findings showed that there was a significant relationship between goal orientation and aggression among under 18 handball players. Indirectly, this study stressed the importance of goal orientation. Coaches also need to put more focus on the task-orientation compared to ego-orientation.
Nowadays, overweight is one of the major factors of health problems in Malaysia. There are various ways weight loss has been suggested to get the optimal effect. Recent findings show that the sprint single bout of exercise can be suggested as an alternative exercise method that is more efficient in terms of time saving to reduce weight. Sprint interval training (SIT) in 2 weeks shows a potential to lose weight in short period of times. In this study, the effects of SIT was assessed on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, body fat percentage, pulse rate and blood pressure among overweight individuals. The subjects are from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) (n=10, age 23.8±0.42) with categorized as overweight with BMI 25.0 to 29.9 (men 29.9±3.75 and women 28.74±2.6). The protocol of SIT is consist of 1- minute warm up, cycling sprinting (Wingate anaerobic sprint) for 30 seconds, followed by 2- minutes of cooling down and rest for 5-minutes for each repeated session. This study shows that there were no significant difference on the effects of SIT on BMI, waist circumference, body fat percentage, pulse rate and blood pressure among overweight individuals (p
This study aims to determine the inculcation level of soft skills through petanque sport among its players at Public Institue of Higher Learning (IPTA) and the Private Institute of Higher Learning (IPTS). Specifically, this study has two objectives: (i) to identify the level of seven soft skills through petanque sport among its players at IPTA and IPTS; and (ii) to determine the relationship between the number of years playing petanque and the level of soft skills; A total of 224 respondents who enrolled in the Higher Education Institute Petanque Tournament 2017 participated in this study. The findings revealed that the level of soft skills included in this study are at high level, namely the communication skills (M=2.85, SP=.36); critical thinking and problem-solving skills (M=2.87, SP=.34); teamwork skills (M=2.89, SP=.31); lifelong learning, information management (M = 2.87, SP = .34); entrepreneurial skills (M=2.72, SP=.46); professional ethics and moral (M = 2.84, SP = .37); and leadership skills (M = 2.84, SP = .36). The chi-square (c2) test reveals no significant relationship between the number of years playing petanque and the level of soft skills among players of IPTA and IPTS (c2 = .790, p > .05). Therefore, based on the results, it can be concluded that all seven soft skills can be inculcated in the petanque’s players at IPTA and IPTS. Thus, petanque sport should be introduced and acculturated to the society at large and not restricted to students of higher education institutes only.
Heat and mass transfer of MHD boundary-layer flow of a viscous incompress-
ible fluid over an exponentially stretching sheet in the presence of radiation is investi-
gated. The two-dimensional boundary-layer governing partial differential equations are
transformed into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using similarity
variables. The transformed equations of momentum, energy and concentration are solved
by Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM). The validity of HAM solution is ensured by com-
paring the HAM solution with existing solutions. The influence of physical parameters
such as magnetic parameter, Prandtl number, radiation parameter, and Schmidt num-
ber on velocity, temperature and concentration profiles are discussed. It is found that
the increasing values of magnetic parameter reduces the dimensionless velocity field but
enhances the dimensionless temperature and concentration field. The temperature dis-
tribution decreases with increasing values of Prandtl number. However, the temperature
distribution increases when radiation parameter increases. The concentration boundary
layer thickness decreases as a result of increase in Schmidt number.
The flow of water over an obstacle is a fundamental problem in fluid mechanics.
Transcritical flow means the wave phenomenon near the exact criticality. The transcriti-
cal flow cannot be handled by linear solutions as the energy is unable to propagate away
from the obstacle. Thus, it is important to carry out a study to identify suitable model
to analyse the transcritical flow. The aim of this study is to analyse the transcritical
flow over a bump as localized obstacles where the bump consequently generates upstream
and downstream flows. Nonlinear shallow water forced Korteweg-de Vries (fKdV) model
is used to analyse the flow over the bump. This theoretical model, containing forcing
functions represents bottom topography is considered as the simplified model to describe
water flows over a bump. The effect of water dispersion over the forcing region is in-
vestigated using the fKdV model. Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM) is used to solve
this theoretical fKdV model. The HAM solution which is chosen with a special choice
of }-value describes the physical flow of waves and the significance of dispersion over a
bump is elaborated.
Rainfall is an interesting phenomenon to investigate since it is directly related
to all aspects of life on earth. One of the important studies is to investigate and under-
stand the rainfall patterns that occur throughout the year. To identify the pattern, it
requires a rainfall curve to represent daily observation of rainfall received during the year.
Functional data analysis methods are capable to convert discrete data intoa function that
can represent the rainfall curve and as a result, try to describe the hidden patterns of the
rainfall. This study focused on the distribution of daily rainfall amount using functional
data analysis. Fourier basis functions are used for periodic rainfall data. Generalized
cross-validation showed 123 basis functions were sufficient to describe the pattern of daily
rainfall amount. North and west areas of the peninsula show a significant bimodal pattern
with the curve decline between two peaks at the mid-year. Meanwhile,the east shows uni-
modal patterns that reached a peak in the last three months. Southern areas show more
uniform trends throughout the year. Finally, the functional spatial method is introduced
to overcome the problem of estimating the rainfall curve in the locations with no data
recorded. We use a leave one out cross-validation as a verification method to compare
between the real curve and the predicted curve. We used coefficient of basis functions
to get the predicted curve. It was foundthatthe methods ofspatial prediction can match
up with theexistingspatialpredictionmethodsin terms of accuracy,but it isbetterasthe new
approach provides a simpler calculation.
In irradiation process, instead of traverse on the targeted cells, there is side
effect happens to non-targeted cells. The targeted cells that had been irradiated with
ionizing radiation emits damaging signal molecules to the surrounding and then, dam-
age the bystander cells. The type of damage considered in this work is the number of
double-strand breaks (DSBs) of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in cell’s nucleus. By us-
ing mathematical approach, a mechanistic model that can describe this phenomenon is
developed based on a structured population approach. Then, the accuracy of the model
is validated by its ability to match the experimental data. The Particle Swarm (PS)
optimization is employed for the data fitting procedure. PS optimization searches the
parameter value that minimize the errors between the model simulation data and exper-
imental data. It is obtained that the mathematical modelling proposed in this paper is
strongly in line with the experimental data.
Coxmodel is popular in survival analysis. In the case of time-varying covariate;
several subject-specific attributes possibly to change more frequently than others. This
paper deals with that issue. This study aims to analyze survival data with time-varying
covariate using a time-dependent covariate Cox model. The two case studies employed in
this work are (1) delisting time of companies from IDX and (2) delisting time of company
from LQ45 (liquidity index). The survival time is the time until a company is delisted
from IDX or LQ45. The determinants are eighteen quarterly financial ratios and two
macroeconomics indicators, i.e., the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) and BI interest rate
that changes more frequent. The empirical results show that JCI is significant for both
delisting and liquidity whereas BI rate is significant only for liquidity. The significant
firm-specific financial ratios vary for delisting and liquidity.
Recently, oil refining industry is facing with lower profit margin due to un-
certainty. This causes oil refinery to include stochastic optimization in making a decision
to maximize the profit. In the past, deterministic linear programming approach is widely
used in oil refinery optimization problems. However, due to volatility and unpredictability
of oil prices in the past ten years, deterministic model might not be able to predict the
reality of the situation as it does not take into account the uncertainties thus, leads to
non-optimal solution. Therefore, this study will develop two-stage stochastic linear pro-
gramming for the midterm production planning of oil refinery to handle oil price volatility.
Geometric Brownian motion (GBM) is used to describe uncertainties in crude oil price,
petroleum product prices, and demand for petroleum products. This model generates the
future realization of the price and demands with scenario tree based on the statistical
specification of GBM using method of moment as input to the stochastic programming.
The model developed in this paper was tested for Malaysia oil refinery data. The result
of stochastic approach indicates that the model gives better prediction of profit margin.
Tumour cells behave differently than normal cells in the body. They grow and
divide in an uncontrolled manner (actively proliferating) and fail to respond to signal.
However, there are cells that become inactive and reside in quiescent phase (G0). These
cells are known as quiescence cells that are less sensitive to drug treatments (radiotherapy
and chemotherapy) than actively proliferation cells. This paper proposes a new mathe-
matical model that describes the interaction of tumour growth and immune response by
considering tumour population that is divided into three different phases namely inter-
phase, mitosis and G0. The model consists of a system of delay differential equations
where the delay, represents the time for tumour cell to reside interphase before entering
mitosis phase. Stability analysis of the equilibrium points of the system was performed
to determine the dynamics behaviour of system. Result showed that the tumour popu-
lation depends on number of tumour cells that enter active (interphase and mitosis) and
G0phases. This study is important for treatment planning since tumour cell can resist
treatment when they refuge in a quiescent state.
This paper revisits the comrade matrix approach in finding the greatest com-
mon divisor (GCD) of two orthogonal polynomials. The present work investigates on the
applications of the QR decomposition with iterative refinement (QRIR) to solve certain
systems of linear equations which is generated from the comrade matrix. Besides iterative
refinement, an alternative approach of improving the conditioning behavior of the coeffi-
cient matrix by normalizing its columns is also considered. As expected the results reveal
that QRIR is able to improve the solutions given by QR decomposition while the nor-
malization of the matrix entries do improves the conditioning behavior of the coefficient
matrix leading to a good approximate solutions of the GCD.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) includes coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), peripheral artery disease, and atherosclerosis of the aorta. All females face the threat of CVD. But becoming aware of symptoms and signs is a great challenge since most adults at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) have no symptoms or obvious signs especially in females. The symptoms may be identified by the assessment of their risk factors. The Bayesian approach is a specific way in dealing with this kind of problem by formalizing a priori beliefs and of combining them with the available observations. This study aimed to identify associated risk factors in CVD among female patients presenting with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) using Bayesian logistic regression and obtain a feasible model to describe the data. A total of 874 STEMI female patients in the National Cardiovascular Disease Database-Acute Coronary Syndrome (NCVD-ACS) registry year 2006-2013 were analysed. Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation approach was applied in the univariate and multivariate analysis. Model performance was assessed through the model calibration and discrimination. The final multivariate model of STEMI female patients consisted of six significant variables namely smoking, dyslipidaemia, myocardial infarction (MI), renal disease, Killip class and age group. Females aged 65 years and above have higher incidence of CVD and mortality is high among female patients with Killip class IV. Also, renal disease was a strong predictor of CVD mortality. Besides, performance measures for the model was considered good. Bayesian logistic regression model provided a better understanding on the associated risk factors of CVD for female patients which may help tailor prevention or treatment plans more effectively.
A mechanistic model has been used to explain the effect of radiation. The
model consists of parameters which represent the biological process following ionizing
radiation. The parameters in the model are estimated using local and global optimiza-
tion algorithms. The aim of this study is to compare the efficiency between local and
global optimization method, which is Pattern Search and Genetic Algorithm respectively.
Experimental data from the cell survival of irradiated HeLa cell line is used to find the
minimum value of the sum of squared error (SSE) between experimental data and sim-
ulation data from the model. The performance of both methods are compared based on
the computational time and the value of the objective function, SSE. The optimization
process is carried out by using the built-in function in MATLAB software. The parameter
estimation results show that genetic algorithm is more superior than pattern search for
this problem.
The industrial contamination of marine sediments with mercury, silver, and zinc in Penang, Malaysia was studied with bio-remediation coupled with power generation using membrane less open (aerated) and closed (non-aerated) sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs). The prototype for this SMFC is very similar to a natural aquatic environment because it is not stimulated externally and an oxygen sparger is inserted in the cathode chamber to create the aerobic environment in the open SMFC and no oxygen supplied in the closed SMFC. The open and closed SMFCs were showed the maximum voltage generation 300.5 mV (77.75 mW/m2) and 202.7 mV (45.04 (mW/m2), respectively. The cyclic voltammetry showed the oxidation peak in open SMFCs at +1.9 μA and reduction peak at -0.3 μA but in closed SMFCs oxidation and reduction peaks were noted at +1.5 μA and -1.0 μA, respectively. The overall impedance (anode, cathode and solution) of closed SMFCs was higher than open SMFCs. The charge transfer impedance showed that the rates of substrate oxidation and reduction were very low in the closed SMFCs than open SMFCs. The Nyquist arc indicated that O2 act as electron acceptor in the open SMFCs and CO2 in the closed SMFCs. The highest remediation efficiency of toxic metals [Hg (II) ions, Zn (II) ions, and Ag (I) ions] in the open SMFCs were 95.03%, 86.69%, and 83.65% in closed SMFCs were 69.53%, 66.57%, and 65.33%, respectively, observed during 60-80 days. The scanning electron microscope and 16S rRNA analysis showed diverse exoelectrogenic community in the open SMFCs and closed SMFCs. The results demonstrated that open SMFCs could be employed for the power generation and bioremediation of pollutants.
This study aims to examine whether mild dehydration affects the cognitive function, mood and subjective feelings among the male football players of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). Fourteen athletes with the mean age of 22±1 years, weight of 65.7 ±7.6 kg and height of 168±6 cm were randomly divided into dehydration and euhydration trials. The baseline data was collected a week before the main trials to record the time taken by the participants to lose 2% of the body weight. Fifteen minutes before conducting the trials, the weight, height, pulse rate and urine samples of the participants were collected and then a warm-up session was conducted for ten minutes. The participants were instructed to exercise until mild dehydration by conducting a slow running on a treadmill within forty-five minutes. The participants from the euhydration trial were given drinks every fifteen minutes throughout the experiment, while the dehydration trial were not provided with drinks. A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) questionnaire was used to determine the subjective feelings of dizziness and thirst, while the cognitive performance was measured by using the Flanker Test. The Profile of Mood State (POMS) questionaire was utilized to measure the mood changes of the participants. Urine Specific Gravity of the urine samples was measured using Digital Refractometer to determine the hydration status of the participants. The data were analysed using the Paired t-test. There was a significant difference in post-exercise body weight loss for the dehydration trial compared to the euhydration trial. In terms of cognitive performance, there was a significant difference for the component of non-congruent reaction time between the dehydration and euhydration trials. Besides, the findings had shown that there were no significant differences for all six dimensions of mood between the trials and there was a significant different for dizziness level between the trials. In conclusion, this study found that mild dehydration has affected the subjective feeling of dizziness and non-congruent reaction time. Thus, the athletes need to be exposed to the fluid intake strategy and the awareness about hydration status in order to avoid dehydration to optimize physical, mental and sports performance.
Analyzed the effects of thermal radiation, chemical reaction, heat gener-
ation/absorption, magnetic and electric fields on unsteady flow and heat transfer of
nanofluid. The transport equations used passively controlled. A similarity solution is
employed to transformed the governing equations from partial differential equations to
a set of ordinary differential equations, and then solve using Keller box method. It was
found that the temperature is a decreasing function with the thermal stratification due to
the fact the density of the fluid in the lower vicinity is much higher compared to the upper
region, whereas the thermal radiation, viscous dissipation and heat generation enhanced
the nanofluid temperature and thermal layer thickness.
MeSH terms: Body Temperature Regulation; Electricity; Hot Temperature; Temperature; Viscosity; Physical Phenomena