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Fulltext Knowledge management systems in support of disasters management: A two decade review

Dorasamy M, Raman M, Kaliannan M

Technol Forecast Soc Change, 2013 Nov;80(9):1834-1853.
PMID: 32287412 DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2012.12.008

Humans are increasingly being challenged with numerous forms of man-made and natural emergency situations. Emergencies cannot be prevented, but they can be better managed. The successful management of emergency situations requires proper planning, guided response, and well-coordinated efforts across the emergency management life cycle. Literature suggests that emergency management efforts benefit from well-integrated knowledge-based emergency management information systems (EMIS). This study presents a systematic review of papers pertaining to the application of knowledge-driven systems in support of emergency management that have been published in the last two decades. Our review presents two major findings. First, only limited work has been done in three EMIS-knowledge management system (KMS) subdomains: (i) definition, (ii) use, and (iii) methods. Second, only limited research has been done in embedding roles in KM systems. We highlight role alignment to the 12 fundamental roles, as called for by Turoff et al. (2004), in the context of creating dynamic systems in aid of emergency management efforts. We believe that these two findings warrant the attention of the research community.
Disaster preparedness: an investigation on motivation and barriers

Dorasamy M, Raman M, Marimuthu M, Kaliannan M

J Emerg Manag, 2013 Nov-Dec;11(6):433-46.
PMID: 24623112 DOI: 10.5055/jem.2013.0156

This article presents a preliminary investigation on the motivations for and the barriers that hinder preparedness toward disasters in a community. Survey questionnaires were distributed to local individuals in the nine districts of Selangor state in Malaysia. A total of 402 usable questionnaires were analyzed. The initial findings revealed that community members are motivated for disaster preparedness mainly for family safety reason. However, generally they do not know how to be prepared. This article concludes by highlighting the importance of knowledge and information in community preparedness. This research is limited to one state in Malaysia. However, the chosen state has a large effect on the Malaysian gross domestic product; hence, lack of preparedness poses a critical risk to its large population. This study on motivation and barriers for disaster preparedness is intended to increase the effectiveness of community readiness as a whole toward major disasters such as landslide and flood. The result of this study is valuable to the scientific community within the disaster management domain, the government agencies for policy and strategy formulations, and the local community to preempt, deal with, and ultimately survive disasters. This research aims to ensure that the community is continuously prepared and able to meet the evolving needs of the individual citizen as the nation strives toward promoting a knowledgeable society.
Fulltext Enhancing innovative delivery in schools using design thinking

Gopinathan S, Kaur AH, Ramasamy K, Raman M

F1000Res, 2021;10:927.
PMID: 35035891 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.72860.3

The pandemic has created challenges in all sectors of the economy and education. Traditional teaching approaches seem futile in the new context, thus the need to constantly reinvent the delivery to meet the fast-paced changes in the education domain. Hence, Design Thinking (DT) is an alternative approach that might be useful in the given context. DT is known to be a human-centric approach to innovative problem-solving processes. DT could be employed in the delivery process to develop twenty-first-century skills and enhance creativity and innovation, in an attempt to identify alternative solutions. The study explores the role of design thinking (DT) in the form of empathy, thinking process, gamified lessons and curriculum enhancement, which leads to innovative delivery among teachers. It enhances and facilitates innovative content delivery by leveraging creativity. The study targeted 131 teachers, whereby 61 are primary school teachers and 70 are secondary school teachers. A questionnaire constituting of 23 close-ended questions using the 5-point Likert scale was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SmartPLS to establish relationships between DT and Innovative Delivery in schools. The data was further analyzed to seek co-relations between the DT steps and the successful transformation of content delivery by teachers. The study established a framework for the application of design thinking for teachers as the primary support in developing activities for their students. It shows that thinking process, gamifying lessons and curriculum enhancement have positive significance in innovative delivery, whereas empathy did not show a significant positive relationship. The outcome of this study will help fill the gap towards creating an interesting method of delivery in schools and constantly innovating the method to suit the evolving generation. This insight is crucial for the Ministry of Education and policymakers to enhance teachers' ability to innovatively deliver content to students.
Gastro-oesophageal reflux is more prevalent in Western dyspeptics: a prospective comparison of British and South-East Asian patients with dyspepsia

Mahadeva S, Raman MC, Ford AC, Follows M, Axon AT, Goh KL, et al.

Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2005 Jun 15;21(12):1483-90.
PMID: 15948816

There is a paucity of data directly comparing dyspepsia in Western and Eastern populations.
Cytokine release by human bone marrow stromal cells isolated from osteoarthritic and diabetic osteoarthritic patients in vitro

Loh KW, Shaz N, Singh S, Malliga Raman M, Balaji Raghavendran HR, Kamarul T

J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol, 2023 Mar 01;34(2):177-185.
PMID: 34182614 DOI: 10.1515/jbcpp-2020-0320

OBJECTIVES: Primary Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease of progressive joints degeneration due to idiopathic causes. Recent evidence showed a positive relationship between OA and metabolic syndrome. This pilot study aimed to assess the baseline level of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines in OA patients with or without Diabetic Mellitus (DM) and assess the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in cytokine production.
METHODS: Patients with primary hip and knee OA were recruited, and 3 mL of bone marrow was harvested during joint replacement surgery. Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) was isolated and cultured in a culture flask for three passages. Later experiment was then sub-cultured in a well plate labeled as the control group and H2O2 (0.1 mM) treated group. ProcartaPlex® Multiplex Immunoassay was performed to measure cytokine levels produced by the BMSC at 0 h, as well as 72 h.
RESULTS: Cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-1β generally exhibited higher cytokine levels in subjects with DM than in nonDM subjects at 0 and 72 h. For IL-17, its expression was similar in nonDM and DM groups at 0 and 72 h. Cytokine IL-10 showed no significant difference in both the groups while DM and nonDM groups treated with H2O2 showed decreased IL-4 levels compared to control groups at 72 h. Bone marrow cells from DM-OA are more vulnerable to chemical insult and are associated with higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines production and lower IL-4 level production.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a clue that management of OA with co-morbidity like DM needs future studies.
Calcium-Silicate-Incorporated Gellan-Chitosan Induced Osteogenic Differentiation in Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Genasan K, Mehrali M, Veerappan T, Talebian S, Malliga Raman M, Singh S, et al.

Polymers (Basel), 2021 Sep 22;13(19).
PMID: 34641027 DOI: 10.3390/polym13193211

Gellan-chitosan (GC) incorporated with CS: 0% (GC-0 CS), 10% (GC-10 CS), 20% (GC-20 CS) or 40% (GC-40 CS) w/w was prepared using freeze-drying method to investigate its physicochemical, biocompatible, and osteoinductive properties in human bone-marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (hBMSCs). The composition of different groups was reflected in physicochemical analyses performed using BET, FTIR, and XRD. The SEM micrographs revealed excellent hBMSCs attachment in GC-40 CS. The Alamar Blue assay indicated an increased proliferation and viability of seeded hBMSCs in all groups on day 21 as compared with day 0. The hBMSCs seeded in GC-40 CS indicated osteogenic differentiation based on an amplified alkaline-phosphatase release on day 7 and 14 as compared with day 0. These cells supported bone mineralization on GC-40 CS based on Alizarin-Red assay on day 21 as compared with day 7 and increased their osteogenic gene expression (RUNX2, ALP, BGLAP, BMP, and Osteonectin) on day 21. The GC-40 CS-seeded hBMSCs initiated their osteogenic differentiation on day 7 as compared with counterparts based on an increased expression of type-1 collagen and BMP2 in immunocytochemistry analysis. In conclusion, the incorporation of 40% (w/w) calcium silicate in gellan-chitosan showed osteoinduction potential in hBMSCs, making it a potential biomaterial to treat critical bone defects.