Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 274 in total

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  1. Musa AS
    J Transcult Nurs, 2016 Mar;27(2):117-25.
    PMID: 24867886 DOI: 10.1177/1043659614537305
    This study reported the differences in factor structure of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) among Jordanian Arab and Malaysian Muslim participants and further examined its validity and reliability. A convenience sample of 553 Jordanian Arab and 183 Malaysian Malay Muslim university students was recruited from governmental universities in northern Jordan. The findings of this study revealed that this scale consists of two factors for the Jordanian Arab group, representing the "Religious Well-Being" and the "Existential Well-Being" subscales, and consists of three factors for the Malaysian group, representing the "Affiliation/Meaning and Purpose," "Positive Existential Well-Being/God Caring and Love," and "Alienation/Despair" subscales. In conclusion, the factor structure of the SWBS for both groups in this study was psychometrically sound with evidence of acceptable to good validity and reliability. Furthermore, this study supported the multidimensional nature of the SWBS and the earlier notion that ethnicity shapes responses to this scale.
  2. Abu Bakar, M.A., Ahmad, S., Kuntjoro, W.
    MyJurnal
    Kenaf fibre that is known as Hibiscus cannabinus, L. family Malvaceae is an herbaceous plant that can be grown under a wide range of weather conditions. The uses of kenaf fibres as a reinforcement material in the polymeric matrix have been widely investigated. It is known that epoxy has a disadvantage of brittleness and exhibits low toughness. In this research, liquid epoxidized natural rubber (LENR) was introduced to the epoxy to increase its toughness. Kenaf fibres, with five different fibre loadings of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by weight, were used to reinforce the epoxy resins (with and without addition of epoxidized natural rubber) as the matrices. The flexural strength, flexural modulus and fracture toughness of the rubber toughened epoxy reinforced kenaf fibre composites were investigated. The results showed that the addition of liquid epoxidized natural rubber (LENR) had improved the flexural modulus, flexural strength and fracture toughness by 48%, 30%, and 1.15% respectively at 20% fibre loading. The fractured surfaces of these composites were investigated by using scanning electron microscopic (SEM) technique to determine the interfacial bonding between the matrix and the fibre reinforcement.
  3. Leelavathi, M., Lim, J.L., Ahmad, S.
    Medicine & Health, 2014;9(1):74-79.
    MyJurnal
    Cerebral palsy is a common cause of childhood disability. It has a great impact on parents and caregivers, especially when it reoccurs in the same family. Although familial cerebral palsy is relatively uncommon, cases have been reported among children from consanguineous, non-consanguineous marriages and multiple pregnancies suggesting a possible complex genetic mode of inheritance. Physicians need to be aware of the possibility of familial cerebral palsy for early detection and counseling. We describe a rare case of two male siblings from a non-consanguineous marriage affected by cerebral palsy.
  4. Ahmad, S., Azura, L., Duski, S., Aziz, M.Y.
    Malays Orthop J, 2009;3(1):88-90.
    MyJurnal
    A 53-year-old Malay man was admitted with intestinal obstruction, fever and lower limb weakness. Initial clinical impression was myelitis causing paralytic ilues and paraperesis. Blood culture showed Burkholderia pseudomallei infection and subsequent MRI showed paravertebral abscess. This case highlights a rare manifestation of melioidosis involving the spine and difficulties in establishing the diagnosis.

  5. Ahmad, S., Anuar, M.S., Taip, F.S., Shamsudin, R.
    MyJurnal
    This study was conducted to determine the influence of raw material variation, equipment
    process variables and device stability on the drying process of rambutan seed using oven and
    microwave drying equipments. The raw material variations studied were skin colour (yellow
    and fully red), storage period (fresh and stored) and seed mass (5 and 10 g). The important
    equipment process variables studied were oven temperature (40 and 60°C) and microwave
    power (250 and 1000 W).The output power and drying distribution in the drying chamber were
    studied to examine the device stability. Results indicated that the seed mass, oven temperature
    and microwave power influenced the drying time. The skin colour and storage period were
    negatively correlated with drying time due to drying time speculate to relay on time required for
    moisture removal that associated to initial moisture content and seed mass. It is also observed
    that the drying time will be shorten if the sample was located at the central of the microwave
    drying chamber. In contrast, the oven exhibited higher stability compared to microwave due
    to its ability to provide similar level of heating at each location in the drying chamber. This
    information will aid researchers and industrial operators to design an effective drying process
    using microwave and oven thus reducing cost and time.
  6. Ahmad, S., Azura, L., Duski, S., MAziz, M.Y.
    Malays Orthop J, 2009;3(1):53-55.
    MyJurnal
    Melioidosis is an infectious disease which is associated with high rate of mortality. We reviewed 33 patients treated in our hospital over a period of 14 months. About half (55%) of these patient presented with one focus of infection while the rest had multifocal infections. 81% require drainage of abscess or arthrotomy. Four patients (12%) died as a result of septicaemia and the rate is lower than those reported in literature. We conclude that mortality of melioidosis can reduce with early diagnosis followed by appropriate and prolonged antibiotic therapy.
  7. Arifin, N.M., Pop, I., Nazar, R., Ahmad, S.
    ASM Science Journal, 2010;4(2):149-157.
    MyJurnal
    In this paper, the problem of steady laminar boundary layer flow of an incompressible viscous fluid over a moving thin needle is considered. The governing boundary layer equations were first transformed into non-dimensional forms. These non-dimensional equations were then transformed into similarity equations using the similarity variables, which were solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme known as the Keller-box method. The solutions were obtained for a blunt-nosed needle. Numerical computations were carried out for various values of the dimensionless parameters of the problem which included the Prandtl number Pr and the parameter a representing the needle size. It was found that the heat transfer characteristics were significantly
    influenced by these parameters. However, the Prandtl number had no effect on the flow characteristics due to the decoupled boundary layer equations.
  8. Dasrilsyah RA, Ahmad S, Tan GC, Lim PS
    MyJurnal
    Congenital leukemia is an extremely rare disease but frequently fatal. We report a case of intrauterine death (IUD) secondary to congenital erythroid leukaemia associated with maternal Parvovirus B19 infection. Further research is needed to ascertain the association between maternal Parvovirus B19 infection and congenital leukemia.
  9. Bakar, M. S. A., Ahmad, S., Muchtar, A., Rahman, H. A .
    MyJurnal
    Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are efficient and clean power generation devices. Lowtemperature
    SOFC (LTSOFC) has been developed since high-temperature SOFC (HTSOFC) is not
    feasible to be commercialized due to cost. Lowering the operation temperature reduces its substantial
    performance resulting from cathode polarization resistance and overpotential of cathode. The
    development of composite cathodes regarding mixed ionic-electronic conductor (MIEC) and ceriabased
    materials for LTSOFC minimizes the problems significantly and leads to an increase in
    electrocatalytic activity for the occurrence of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Lanthanum-based
    materials such as lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ) have been discovered
    recently, which offer great compatibility with ceria-based electrolyte to be applied as composite
    cathode materials for LTSOFC. Cell performance at lower operating temperature can be maintained
    and further improved by enhancing the ORR. This paper reviews recent development of various ceriabased
    composite cathodes especially related to the ceria-carbonate composite electrolytes for
    LTSOFC. The influence of the addition of metallic elements such as silver (Ag), platinum (Pt) and
    palladium (Pd) towards the electrochemical properties and performance of LSCF composite cathodes
    are also discussed.
  10. Khai, N. X., Kusairi, M. N., Ahmad, S., Syahaneem, M. Z., Fatimah, M. A.
    MyJurnal
    There are some signals that Malaysian marine landings are decreasing and that wild stocks have been over-fished. However, it has extensive inland water bodies which have the potentials to be developed into freshwater aquaculture sites. Tengas (Neolissochilus sp.), a freshwater type of fish, are found in abundance in Malaysia; but has not reached the commercial level in the market. This paper examines the potential of developing tengas as a commercial freshwater species. The data used in this study were obtained through primary data search from key informants and a survey. A semi-structured open-ended questionnaire with Malay and Chinese languages was designed for the interviews. The study areas covered Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. From the survey, we found that tengas has potential to be taken as a food item and an ornamental fish. The wild stock of tengas in fact is also worthwhile to be conserved for agro-tourism development. Many restaurant operators are willing to invent cooking method on tengas.
  11. Harun Z, Ahmad S
    Int J Public Health Res, 2018;8(1):878-874.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Premature ejaculation (PE) is an important sexual problem among men attending health clinic. Impacts of this condition towards quality of life still require further exploration. Aims of the study is to determine the proportion and determinants for PE and its impact on Quality of Life (QOL) among men attending a public health clinic in Kuantan
    Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 290 respondents was conducted at a public health clinic over the period of five months (Nov 2015-March 2016). A validated self-administrated questionnaire that consisted of sociodemographic questionnaire, clinical characteristics, premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT) and WHO quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) were used.
    Results: The proportion of PE was 33.9% with PE 18.1% (49/271) and probable PE 15.8% (43/271). Multivariate analysis showed that level of education (p=0.002, OR 3.281/95% CI 1.183, 9.101) and hypertension (p=0.047, OR 1.788/95% CI 1.008, 3.170) were the only significant predictors for PE after controlling self-reported erectile dysfunction, pulmonary and neurological disorder. PE patients had lower median scores QOL in all four domain namely physical health, psychological, social relationship, environment (all domains with p<0.001).
    Conclusions: The proportion of men diagnosed with premature ejaculation in this study is high and possibly associated with level of education and hypertension. Men with PE had lower quality of life in domains of physical health, psychological, social relationship and environment. Hence, it is
    recommended for PE screening among male attendees to primary health clinic especially those with hypertension and moderate level of education.
    Keywords Premature ejaculation - Quality of life - Sexual dysfunction.
    Study site: Klinik Kesihatan Jaya Gading, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
  12. Ahmad S, Gromiha MM
    Bioinformatics, 2002 Jun;18(6):819-24.
    PMID: 12075017
    MOTIVATION: Prediction of the tertiary structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence is one of the most important problems in molecular biology. The successful prediction of solvent accessibility will be very helpful to achieve this goal. In the present work, we have implemented a server, NETASA for predicting solvent accessibility of amino acids using our newly optimized neural network algorithm. Several new features in the neural network architecture and training method have been introduced, and the network learns faster to provide accuracy values, which are comparable or better than other methods of ASA prediction.

    RESULTS: Prediction in two and three state classification systems with several thresholds are provided. Our prediction method achieved the accuracy level upto 90% for training and 88% for test data sets. Three state prediction results provide a maximum 65% accuracy for training and 63% for the test data. Applicability of neural networks for ASA prediction has been confirmed with a larger data set and wider range of state thresholds. Salient differences between a linear and exponential network for ASA prediction have been analysed.

    AVAILABILITY: Online predictions are freely available at: http://www.netasa.org. Linux ix86 binaries of the program written for this work may be obtained by email from the corresponding author.

  13. Shair, E. F., Ahmad, S. A., Marhaban, M. H., Abdullah, A. R., Mohd Tamrin, S. B.
    MyJurnal
    Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) caused by muscle fatigue have been a major problem for industry
    which needs to be resolved to save costs related to human resource development (extra training and
    compensation). Detailed fatigue monitoring researches aimed at finding the best fatigue indices is not
    new although studies on the causes of fatigue can be explored further. Identification analysis is required
    to monitor the factors that influence muscle performance characteristic of surface electromyography
    (sEMG) signal. Periodogram monitoring technique applies a frequency domain signal and represents the
    distribution of the signal power over the frequency. It is a technique that allows the tracing of small
    changes in the behaviour of sEMG signal when external parameters are varied. This technique is used
    in this paper to monitor the sEMG signal changes in muscle performance when the lifting height and
    load mass are varied. The periodogram amplitude, which represents the power, increases with the rise in
    lifting height and load mass. From the frequency representation of the periodogram, the root mean square
    voltage (Vrms) is calculated where the muscle performance characteristic could be further identified. The
    Vrms also shows a similar trend when the lifting height and load mass are varied proving the periodogram
    technique is useful to monitor changes in the muscle performance during manual lifting.
  14. Suki SZ, Zuhdi ASM, Yahya 'AA, Zaharan NL
    BMC Geriatr, 2022 01 04;22(1):23.
    PMID: 34983393 DOI: 10.1186/s12877-021-02724-7
    BACKGROUND: Octogenarians and beyond have often been neglected in the populational study of disease despite being at the highest point of non-modifiable disease risk burden and the fastest-growing age group for the past decade. This study examined the characteristics and in-hospital management of octogenarian patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in a multi-ethnic, middle-income country in South East Asia.

    METHOD: This retrospective study utilised the Malaysian National Cardiovascular Disease- ACS (NCVD-ACS) registry. Consecutive patient data of those ≥80 years old admitted with ACS at 24 participating hospitals from 2008 to 2017 (n = 3162) were identified. Demographics, in-hospital intervention, and evidence-based pharmacotherapies over the 10-years were examined and compared across groups of interests using the Chi-square test. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio of receiving individual therapies according to patients' characteristics.

    RESULTS: Octogenarians made up 3.8% of patients with ACS in the NCVD-ACS registry (mean age = 84, SD ± 3.6) from 2008 until 2017. The largest ethnic group was Chinese (44%). Most octogenarians (95%) have multiple cardiovascular risk factors, with hypertension (82%) being the main. Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) predominated (38%, p 

  15. Belqes Abdullah, A. T., Yvonne, T. G. B., Ahmad, S. H., Abdul Aziz, A. S. I., Aida, H. G. R.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Iontophoresis of vasoactive substances such as acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) combined with Laser Doppler fluximetry (LDF) is a non-invasive tool used to determine microvascular endothelial function. This study aims to test the effect of sodium chloride on
    non-specific vasodilatation when used as a vehicle in the process of iontophoresis. This study also aims to define the number of current pulses needed to get the maximum effect during iontophoresis with ACh and SNP using low current strength. Methods: The experiment was conducted in five healthy females. Baseline skin perfusion was taken before administration of seven current pulses. Current strength of 0.007 mA and current density of 0.01 mA/cm2 were used. Acetylcholine was used to assess endothelial dependent vasodilatation, while SNP was used to assess endothelial independent vasodilatation. The mean skin perfusion (AU) responses to the iontophoresis of ACh at the anodal and SNP at the cathode leads were recorded. Sodium chloride (0.9%) was used as a vehicle to obtain concentration of 1% for both ACh and SNP. Iontophoresis of pure vehicle (NaCl) was conducted on a separate day to observe the effect of vehicle only on the iontophoresis process at both anode and cathode. Results: Iontophoresis of NaCl showed no significant increase in perfusion compared to baseline at both anode and cathode. Significant increases in skin perfusion were observed with SNP and ACh; a plateau of ACh was reached from the 3rd pulse onwards; while the plateau of SNP was reached from the 4th pulse onwards. Conclusion: NaCl could be used as a vehicle for Ach and SNP during iontophoresis as it did not cause non-specific vasodilatation. Using five current pulses are adequate for iontophoresis of ACh and SNP to assess microvascular endothelial function.
  16. Azid N.A.,, Md Sani M, Zamry A.A, Ahmad, S, Mohd Ashari N.S., Tan H.T.T., et al.
    MyJurnal
    Total immunoglobulin E (IgE) has been an indicator for early diagnosis of allergic diseases due the important role of IgE in the sensitization towards allergens. Although total IgE is a common diagnostic test that screens for possible allergic diseases, reports are still lacking on the profile of total IgE levels of allergic patients from the north-east region of Peninsular Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the association of total IgE levels with clinico-demographic parameters and whether increasing total IgE levels were associated with certain allergic manifestations in this study cohort. A local cohort of allergic patients (n=71) diagnosed in between 2009 and 2016 in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) were evaluated for the relevance of total IgE levels in allergy diagnosis. Our study did not demonstrate significant association between total IgE with age (p=0.75) or gender (p=0.65). However, we showed that elevated total IgE levels were associated with disease severity. Our data suggests that increasing total IgE levels beyond the conventional cutoff used to define abnormal IgE levels were more commonly associated with patients presenting allergic asthma and skin allergy manifestations. Total IgE level is a useful indicator for diagnosis of allergic diseases. Although total IgE level might not be sufficient to confirm the sensitization status of an individual, it may reflect the severity of the allergic disease suffered and it has a high correlation with positive sIgE values.
  17. Ahmad S, Devkota P, Mamman KG
    Malays Orthop J, 2015 Mar;9(1):30-31.
    PMID: 28435593 DOI: 10.5704/MOJ.1503.003
    Traumatic hip dislocation in children is relatively rare accounting for about 5% of all hip dislocations. Most of the hip dislocations seen in children are of the posterior type but the much rarer anterior and anterior-inferior (obturator) types have also been described. We present the case of an eight years old girl with an obturator type of hip dislocation following trivial trauma. She was treated with closed reduction and immobilisation in skin traction for three weeks. She was followed up closely for one year and did not develop any complications during that period.
  18. Sabullah, M. K., Gansau, A. J., Ahmad, S. A., Shamaan, N. A., Khalid, A., Sulaiman, M. R.
    MyJurnal
    The environmental toxicants such as copper are known to affect vital organ especially liver.
    This study examined the effects of copper sulfate (CuSO4) on the liver morphological structure
    of P. javanicus. The untreated control, 0.1 and 0.3 mg/L CuSO4 treated groups displayed normal
    polygonal structure of the hepatocyte. However, at the concentrations of 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 mg/L
    CuSO4, the hepatostructure was significantly affected, as shown by the increasing number of
    dilation and congestion of sinusoids, vacuolation, macrophage activities and peliosis. The
    damage level and HSI value were increased while the number of hepatic nuclei per mm2 was
    decreased with the increasing of copper concentration. In conclusion, this study shows that the
    degree of liver damage in P.javanicus is dependent to the dose exposure.
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