Food additives may come from natural and chemical sources. In some countries, this ingredient is coded
into e-numbering system. E-Number identifies the additive substance, and it can be used to determine
its possible sources hence the halal status and its value for health. However the use of scientific name
or the coded number is confusing to consumers. This article presents an android-based mobile
application that provides a database access to the detailed information about the additives. Information
retrieval is done based on rule-based technique. The application also offers customer profiling services
whereby upon user registration and sharing current health conditions, the consumer will be provided
with extra information on the possible consequences of consuming the food. The system prototype
system was analysed for the usability in terms of user satisfactions using System Usability Scale (SUS).
The user satisfaction is rated from good to excellent according to SUS score in the range of 70%-80%.
The application is expected to increase consumers’ awareness of choosing the right food that is halal
and healthy.
Many researchers have focused chitosan as a source of potential bioactive material during the past few decades. However, chitosan has several drawbacks to be utilised in biological applications, including poor solubility under physiological conditions. Therefore, a new interest has recently emerged on partially hydrolysed chitosan, chitosan oligosaccharides (COS). In this study, degradation of chitosan was performed by Cellulase from Trichoderma reesei® 1.5L and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) were employed to optimize the hydrolysis temperature, pH, enzyme concentration and substrate concentration. Optimization of cellulase T. reesei® using central composite design (CCD) was to obtain optimum parameters and all the factors showed significant effects (p˂0.05). The maximum response, Celluclast® activity (1.268 U) was obtained by assaying the process at 49.79oC, pH 4.5, 3% (v/w) of enzyme concentration and 25% (w/v) concentration of chitosan for 24 hours.
Zamzam is holy water believed by Muslim to have remedial power for all kinds of diseases. It contains
many electrolytes and the concentration of the electrolytes may be affected by the types of container
used for its storage. This study was carried out to determine the difference in ions concentration of
Zamzam water stored in plastic and glass containers, and to determine cytotoxicity effects of Zamzam
water against U-87 cell line (human primary glioblastoma cell line). Ion Chromatography (IC) was used
to analyze the concentration. The analyzed anions in the Zamzam water include bromide, chloride,
phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, sulfate and fluoride whereas the cations were ammonium, lithium, potassium,
sodium, calcium and magnesium. Subsequently, MTT assay was used to determine the cytotoxicity of
Zamzam water on U-87 cell line. This study reveals that Zamzam water anions and cations
concentration was not statistically significant neither in plastic nor glass container. In addition, the
Zamzam water did not cause any toxicity on the U87 cell line. We postulate that types of container do
not have much influence on the ion concentration of Zamzam water and it is non-toxic on U87 cell line.
Nigeria is naturally blessed with wide diversity of native animal genetic resources. Indigenous ruminant livestock such as cattle, camel, donkey, sheep and goat contributes largely in both protein supply, revenue generation and national economy. In Nigeria, these animal resources are mismanaged and undermined through the indiscriminate slaughter of pregnant animals and foetal losses in abattoirs. This unethical practice resulted in the loss of genetic diversity, preferred traits and superior females ruminant animals. The current research focus on reported incidences across abattoirs, which is a centre where such practice is highly occurs within the country. Lack of modern facilities, law enforcement, poor management and animal welfare in abattoirs to protect pregnant animals are among few factors responsible for an increase in incidences. It is unprofitable to continue the tradition of pregnant animal slaughter that causes foetal losses. This is a condition that significantly threatens the animal genetic resources and general livestock industry in Nigeria. This practice must be discard with a proper conservation and documentation of these valuable animal genetic resources. Both long and short terms conservation programs must aim for substantial benefits of these resources. Laws must be enforced with strict penalties to those involved in pregnant animal slaughter. Genetic resources of these species and meat industry future could be safe with proper implementation of these laws and conservation measures.
The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical success between preventive resin restoration, and
pit and fissure sealant in terms of retention and caries prevention on first permanent molar. Data were
collected from the patients’ case records in Pediatric Dentistry clinic. Records of children who had done
their sealants and preventive resin in their first permanent molar were reviewed. 61 patients had
preventive resin restoration and 56 pit and fissure sealant done in permanent first molar 2 years ago
were included and called for clinical review. Participants were between 6-10 years. Visual and tactile
assessment was done to detect the integrity of preventive resin restoration and pit and fissure sealants
under 4 categories whether the sealant or PRR is total lost, partial lost, completely present, carious.
Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. At the end of 2 years, sealants showed 64.3 % total
retention, 21.4% partial retention and 10.7% complete loss when compared to PRR which showed
62.2% total retention, 14% partial retention and 4.9% complete loss. Preventive resin restoration have
more tendency to have caries, while teeth with pit and fissure sealants does not (18% vs. 3.6%). As a
conclusion, pit and fissure sealants have marginally higher retention compared to preventive resin
restoration on permanent molars. Pit and fissure sealant is better in terms of caries prevention compared
to preventive resin restoration.
In Malaysia, breakfast is the most frequently skipped meal. Skipping breakfast has been
associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity. However, this relationship has not been
investigated widely among preschoolers in Malaysia. Hence, this cross-sectional study aimed to
determine the association between breakfast intake and Body Mass Index (BMI) among
preschoolers in Taska Permata Keluarga (TPK), Kuala Nerus. A total of 131 Malays preschoolers
aged four to six years old were recruited from nine TPK using convenience sampling method.
Information on sociodemographic, breakfast intake pattern and anthropometric measurements
(weight and height) were obtained. Respondents consisted of 74 (56.5%) boys and 57 (43.5%)
girls. Anthropometric results showed that 8.4% preschoolers were overweight and obese. Among
the preschoolers, 22.1% of them were breakfast skippers. In terms of gender breakdown, 20.3%
boys and 24.6% girls skipped breakfast. There was a significant association between breakfast
intake and BMI status among preschoolers (p = 0.003). This indicated that preschoolers that
skipped breakfast were associated with overweight or obese compared to those who consumed
breakfast daily. Breakfast consumption is a marker of a healthy lifestyle which can reduce the risk
of childhood obesity. This habit should be inculcated during this critical period of life in which
parents play a vital role in promoting breakfast consumption among preschoolers.
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of chitosan and chitosan oligosaccharides (COS),
prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulase from Trichoderma reesei, Celluclast® on the growth of
Bifidobacterium sp. The growth of the two bacteria strains were determined every 12 h for 48 h under
anaerobic incubation at 37 °C in four MRS media containing lactose, COS, chitosan and inulin. The
bacteria cell growth in substrate-added medium increased significantly after 48 h of incubation, except
for the chitosan medium. COS was found to have a similar growth effect on B. bifidum ATCC 11863
and B. breve ATCC 15700 when compared with inulin and lactose. The pH of medium containing
COS, inulin and lactose fermented with B. bifidum ATCC 11863 and B. breve ATCC 15700 decreased
rapidly after 12 h. B. bifidum ATCC 11863 showed the highest specific growth rate at 12 h. The results
revealed that COS support the growth of probiotic bacteria, thus indicating that COS has the potential
as new prebiotic source in the functional food industry.
Leptospirosis is one of the most widespread re-emerging zoonoses in the world. Malaysia is known to
be an endemic country for human leptospirosis, with a case fatality rate of 2.11%, and an average annual
incidence rate of 7.80 cases per 100,000 individuals. This systematic review is conducted to determine
the effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis for leptospirosis among the adult populations who are highly
at risk of getting infected. A systematic search was performed for the relevant titles, abstracts and
keywords on PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane and Google Scholar from inception to November 2017 based
on the PICO strategy; which returned 126 studies. Screening of abstracts had shortlisted 19 studies and
data extraction was conducted for 8 studies which had been accepted after review of the full text. For
the evaluation of antibiotics prophylaxis effectiveness against leptospirosis, only trials and cohort studies
with risk ratio (RR) were selected. The articles were analyzed from the viewpoint of the dosage, adverse
effects, study settings and effectiveness of the antibiotic prophylaxis. Using fixed effects model, pooled
RR showed protective association between antibiotic prophylaxis use against the incidence of
leptospirosis (RR = 0.31; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.48). Antibiotic prophylaxis for leptospirosis had been shown
to be effective in preventing the incidence of the disease among high-risk populations and carries
minimal adverse effects. It is recommended that the practice of antibiotic prophylaxis for leptospirosis is
included in the standard protocol for leptospirosis prevention among people at high-risk, including
disaster response teams and patrons of eco-sports tourism activities; with the drug of choice being
doxycycline, either as a single 200 mg dose or weekly dose of 200 mg for the duration of exposure,
based on the setting, duration of event and resources available.
This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of different drying methods (sun drying, cabinet
drying and convection oven) and hydrocolloids (carrageenan and alginate) on physicochemical
properties of semi-dried catfish jerky. The concentration of hydrocolloids used was 1% and 2%.
Samples without the addition of hydrocolloid served as the control group. The water activity of semidried catfish jerky decreased with the addition of hydrocolloids. For colour properties, lightness (L*)
value of semi-dried catfish jerky increased with the increased concentration of hydrocolloids. The
addition of 2% alginate (2%A) and 2% carrageenan (2%C) showed higher lightness (L*) than the
controlled group for all drying methods, except for sun drying with carrageenan. Both carrageenan and
alginate added into semi-dried catfish jerky increased the processing yields. The addition of 2%
carrageenan (2%C) and 1% alginate (1%A) improved the product yields for all drying methods. This
paper argues that the application of cabinet dryer gives better shelf stability due to the lower range of
water activity than other drying methods while preserving colour quality and product yields.
The purpose of this case study is to look at how “Lean Techniques and Principles” can be successfully introduce and implement in the higher education institution or university context. In the last two decades, Lean techniques and principle has been applied to improve production system in manufacturing processes. Lean was introduced in the 1950s by Womack and Jones known as the Toyota Production System (TPS) by the legendary car manufacturer Toyota, the world’s most profitable automaker and have spent decades perfecting lean practices in the production. The method used was to produce more productivity while using fewer resources and identifying activities which creates value for customers, activities which do not create value but are required and actions which do not create value and can be eliminated. This case study demonstrates how “Lean Principles” can be adopted to the administration services particularly in the registration process for new student intake in USIM. The objective of this case study includes : to identify the needs of improving the registration process by eliminating the waste (Muda) such as time wastage, human resource wastage, to introduce the apparatus required to reduce and eliminate waste, to redesign the process using the lean techniques and principles to eliminate waste and to continually improve the process with the goal to achieve perfection for customer satisfaction and university’s reputation. How Lean Principles can transform the work process in the registration procedure, process efficiency, the reasons for implementing Lean in the process, minimize the lead time, minimize the financial cost and the role of management. This paper contains a comprehensive discussion and findings of the development of Lean principles and management through one of the models, namely; Value Stream Mapping (VSM) process which can enhance the operational process in the university environment to improve the process, particularly in the new student registration process.
Awareness of haze pollution and management increased in Southeast Asia since 1990. However, the
focus on environmental management is decreasing especially in Malaysia due to the abundant
resources and increased development pressure. The total health damage cost because of haze in the
country became significantly high due to the long duration of haze events year by year. This paper
discusses the health damage caused by bronchitis due to the haze events in Malaysia. The analysis
shows positive coefficient of independent variables which indicates the positive relationship between
dependent variable and independent variables. Multiple linear regression analysis shows that 45.3%
variation in damage cost of bronchitis could be explained by FAI, GDPPC, and CO2.
This study was conducted to optimize the production of spray-dried white dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) powder using resistant maltodextrin as wall material. The inlet air temperature (140 °C, 150 °C and 160 °C), outlet temperature (75 °C, 80 °C and 85 °C) and resistant maltodextrin concentrations (20%, 25% and 30%) were tested as independent variables. Process yield, moisture content, water activity, solubility, hygroscopicity and bulk density of the powders were analysed as responses. Process yield significantly (p
Over the past century there has been a dramatic increase in the number of road accidents in
Malaysia. Hence, it is necessary to create a decision making method which can consider various
preferences and criteria in order to identify the main causes of the accidents. This paper proposes an
Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (IT2FTOPSIS)
method which provides a comprehensive valuation from experts. This method is developed based on
the aggregation of experts’ opinions on preferred causes of road accidents. The extended
IT2FTOPSIS employs a linguistic scales of positive and negative Interval Type-2 Trapezoidal Fuzzy
Number (IT2TrFN) and hybrid averaging approach (from an ambiguity and type-reduction methods) to
formulate a collective decision environment. Three authorised personnel from three Malaysian
Government agencies were interviewed where they were asked to rank the causes. The analysis
shows that the linguistic scales of positive and negative Interval Type-2 Trapezoidal Fuzzy Number
(IT2TrFN) and hybrid averaging approach are effective in measuring the uncertainties in the
interviewees’ responses. Thus this paper concludes that the extended IT2FTOPSIS is more aligned
with the users’ decisions compared to the earlier IT2FTOPSIS.
The use of hybrid composite has increased due to their special mechanical and physical properties.
However, machining of composite materials is extremely difficult due to non-homogeneous,
anisotropic and highly abrasive characteristics. The performance of machined surface quality of
CFRP/Al2024 was described using two level full factorial methodology. Trimming test was performed
under dry conditions using 6mm diameter of burr tools end mills. The factors investigated were spindle
speed(N), feed rate(fr) and depth of cut(dc), furthermore Ra CFRP and Ra Al2024 were the response
variables. This work aims to minimize the machined surface quality of CFRP/Al2024 between 1µm to
2µm. The finding of this empirical study has shown that, the best estimated value of fr should be 500
mm/min to 530 mm/min, N is between and 2313.870 rpm to 2336.042 rpm. For both response spindle
speed is the most significant effect followed by Feed rate and Depth of Cut.
This paper is aimed to evaluate the concentration of some heavy metals in order to assess the temporal
variation, Contamination Factor (CF) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) in the soil along the airport road of
Kano State. Soil samples were collected during 2009 and 2015 using the composite sampling
techniques. 10 samples were collected in each period and then analysed using the standard laboratory
procedures. The findings revealed that the mean values of Mn (52±7.2), Fe (281±19.4) and Cd (3.0±0.3)
were found to be higher in 2009 soil samples. The mean value of Cu (100±16.3), Zn (161±47.7), Cr
(20.8±1.5), Ni (53.9±9.7) and pH (9.0±0.56) were found to be higher in 2015 soil samples. The CF value
shows that the collected soils of the sampling area have low contamination level and moderately
contaminated with Cd. The soils samples also have been classified as low pollution level according to
the PLI. The finding has concluded that there is gradual accumulation of Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni with reduction
in Mn, Fe and Cd. The collected soils have low contamination level with selected heavy metal except
Cd that moderately contaminates the soil of the area according to contamination factor. The PLI values
of the heavy metals during 2009 and 2015 are 0.0006 and 0.02 respectively, indicating the increases in
pollution load from 2009 to 2015 in the study area. Proper soil management such as the increase of pH
and organic matter as well as the avoidance of using contaminated water for irrigation were
recommended in the sampling area.
Development and urbanization processes around Terengganu River estuary are expected to release a significant amount of heavy metals into the existing surface sediment. However, information on how and why these metals are attached into specific fraction of sediments is still lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to explain the heavy metal concentration distribution in each available fraction in Terengganu River estuary. In this study, nine surface sediments originated from various human activities area in Terengganu River estuary were collected during four different sampling sessions in 2017. Heavy metal content from the collected sediments were extracted using 3-steps BCR sequential extraction method followed by detection using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass-Spectrometer (ICP-MS) and we discovered that the total concentration of arsenic (As), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) ranged from 2.18 to 17.48 mg/kg dry wt., 2.53 to 20.53 mg/kg dry wt., 1.01 to 13.13 mg/kg dry wt., and 6.10 to 65.71 mg/kg dry wt., respectively. Dominance of metals in each fraction can be arranged as follows: As: residual > reducible > exchangeable > oxidizable; Co: residual > exchangeable > reducible > oxidizable; Cu: residual > oxidizable > reducible > exchangeable; Zn: residual > exchangeable > reducible > oxidizable. Availability of metals in the sediment at Terengganu River estuary is limited since that majority of metals resides in non-mobilisable fraction of the sediment. In essence, the sequential extraction provides information regarding the metals’ fractionation, availability and mobility, which could be used in assessing the environmental contamination in the area.
Number of active smokers in Malaysia is increasing despite availability of stop smoking clinics and smoking cessation medications. Thus, the practice of the healthcare professionals involved in providing smoking cessation intervention using evidence-based guidelines needs to be assessed using validated assessment tool. Newly invented reliable and valid questionnaire locally is needed. This study aimed to develop and validate a newly modified questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of medical doctors based on national smoking cessation guidelines and factors contributing to the score. The 22 items consists of true/false questions and Likert scaling response based on domain of 5A’s (ask, assess, advice, assist, arrange) and 5R’s (relevant, risks, rewards, roadblocks, repetitions) of the national stop-smoking guideline. Sample size is calculated based on five respondents to one item ratio. The questionnaires were distributed to 131 primary care doctors. Reliability was determined using Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency while construct validity was assessed using factor analysis. A high degree of internal consistency was observed (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.87), with good knowledge subscale (0.72), attitude subscale (0.58) and practice subscale (0.92). Factor analysis showed three meaningful finalized components (knowledge, attitude and practice) which represent the smoking cessation framework. This study indicates that this revised questionnaire is more reliable and valid tool to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice on stop smoking guidelines compared to previous questionnaire.
Classification is one of the most hourly encountered problems in real world. Neural networks have
emerged as one of the tools that can handle the classification problem. Feed-Forward Neural Networks
(FFNN's) have been widely applied in many different fields as a classification tool. Designing an efficient
FFNN structure with the optimum number of hidden layers and minimum number of layer's neurons for
a given specific application or dataset, is an open research problem and more challenging depend on
the input data. The random selections of hidden layers and neurons may cause the problem of either
under fitting or over fitting. Over fitting arises because the network matches the data so closely as to
lose its generalization ability over the test data. In this research, the classification performance using
the Mean Square Error (MSE) of Feed-Forward Neural Network (FFNN) with back-propagation algorithm
with respect to the different number of hidden layers and hidden neurons is computed and analyzed to
find out the optimum number of hidden layers and minimum number of layer's neurons to help the
existing classification concepts by MATLAB version 13a. By this process, firstly the random data has
been generated using an suitable matlab function to prepare the training data as the input and target
vectors as the testing data for the classification purposes of FFNN. The generated input data is passed
on to the output layer through the hidden layers which process these data. From this analysis, it is find
out from the mean square error comparison graphs and regression plots that for getting the best
performance form this network, it is better to use the high number of hidden layers and more neurons in
the hidden layers in the network during designing its classifier but so more neurons in the hidden layers
and the high number of hidden layers in the network makes it complex and takes more time to execute.
So as the result it is suggested that three hidden layers and 26 hidden neurons in each hidden layers
are better for designing the classifier of this network for this type of input data features.
Surface water quality is an important environmental factor affecting both humans and other living things.
This present study is purposely to provide a baseline information on physicochemical parameters and
metals concentration from surface water of Kenyir Lake and their water quality status. Determination of
metals concentration was carried out using ICP-MS. The mean physicochemical parameters were 31.14°C
(Temp), 16.29mg/L (TDS), 27.79µS/cm (COND), 4.75mg/L (DO), 7.03 (pH), 1.33NTU (TUR), 0.96mg/L
(BOD), 6.48mg/L (COD), 0.11mg/L (AN), 2.17mg/L (TSS) and 227.10mV (ORP) while the mean
concentration of metals (µg/L) Al 23.0845, As 0.2983, B 4.1711, Ba 5.0655, Ca 2033.4024, Cu 1.7407, Fe
43.7747, K 916.9054, Mg 456.7255, Mn 4.7387, Ni 0.3346, Se 0.5032, V 0.1428 and Zn 1.6796 respectively.
The results revealed that physicochemical parameters and metals concentration at all sampling stations
near Kenyir Lake are within Class I and Class II of Malaysia National Water Quality Standard (NWQS)
except for dissolved oxygen (DO) that was classified into Class III and Class IV due to high activities of
microorganisms that uses up a great amount of oxygen to carry out their metabolizing activities as well as
degradation of organic matters. Furthermore, most metals are significantly correlated to each other (p˂0.05)
which may derive from a common source of metals except for Al and Cu, As and Fe, Ba and Ca, Ca and
Cu, Ca and Se, Ca and Zn, Cu and Fe, Cu and Mn, Cu and Ni, Cu and Se, Cu and Zn, Fe and Ni, Fe and
Se, Fe and Zn, Mn and Zn and V and Zn respectively. Therefore, data from the present study will be useful
as baseline data for future reference.
The purpose of this study is to determine spatial pattern recognition of school performance based on
children’s anthropometric and motor skills component. This study involved 94 primary schools with a
total 2237 male students aged 7.30±0.28 years in Pahang, Malaysia. The parameters of anthropometric
(weight and height) and motor component included lower muscular power (standing broad jump),
flexibility (sit and reach), coordination (hand wall toss) and speed (20 meter run) were selected. Cluster
Analysis (CA) and Discriminant Analysis (DA) under Multivariate Method and technique of Kriging
Interpolation in Geographic Interpolation Software (GIS) were used. CA revealed two clusters of school
performance. There are a total 34 high performance schools (HPS) and 60 low performance schools
(LPS). Then, the assigned groups were treated as independent variable (IV) while anthropometric and
motor parameters were treated as dependent variable (DV) in DA. Standard mode of DA obtained
95.74% correctness of classification matrix with three discriminated variables (height, standing broad
jump and 20 meter run) out of six variables. Meanwhile, forward and backward stepwise mode of DA
discriminated only one (standing broad jump) out of six variables with 96.81% of classification
correctness. The map output of Kriging interpolation has shown graphically the pattern of discriminated
variables that greatly influence school performance. It exposed the ability of children motor skills
development in particular region is higher than another region.