Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 122 in total

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  1. Low PH, Mangat MS, Liew DNS, Wong ASH
    World Neurosurg, 2020 12;144:e710-e713.
    PMID: 32949798 DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.09.045
    BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has set a huge challenge to the delivery of neurosurgical services, including the transfer of patients. We aimed to share our strategy in handling neurosurgical emergencies at a remote center in Borneo island. Our objectives included discussing the logistic and geographic challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    METHODS: Miri General Hospital is a remote center in Sarawak, Malaysia, serving a population with difficult access to neurosurgical services. Two neurosurgeons were stationed here on a rotational basis every fortnight during the pandemic to handle neurosurgical cases. Patients were triaged depending on their urgent needs for surgery or transfer to a neurosurgical center and managed accordingly. All patients were screened for potential risk of contracting COVID-19 prior to the surgery. Based on this, the level of personal protective equipment required for the health care workers involved was determined.

    RESULTS: During the initial 6 weeks of the Movement Control Order in Malaysia, there were 50 urgent neurosurgical consultations. Twenty patients (40%) required emergency surgery or intervention. There were 9 vascular (45%), 5 trauma (25%), 4 tumor (20%), and 2 hydrocephalus cases (10%). Eighteen patients were operated at Miri General Hospital, among whom 17 (94.4%) survived. Ninety percent of anticipated transfers were avoided. None of the medical staff acquired COVID-19.

    CONCLUSIONS: This framework allowed timely intervention for neurosurgical emergencies (within a safe limit), minimized transfer, and enabled uninterrupted neurosurgical services at a remote center with difficult access to neurosurgical care during a pandemic.

    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation of Patients
  2. Islam MS, Hannan MA, Basri H, Hussain A, Arebey M
    Waste Manag, 2014 Feb;34(2):281-90.
    PMID: 24238802 DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2013.10.030
    The increasing requirement for Solid Waste Management (SWM) has become a significant challenge for municipal authorities. A number of integrated systems and methods have introduced to overcome this challenge. Many researchers have aimed to develop an ideal SWM system, including approaches involving software-based routing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Radio-frequency Identification (RFID), or sensor intelligent bins. Image processing solutions for the Solid Waste (SW) collection have also been developed; however, during capturing the bin image, it is challenging to position the camera for getting a bin area centralized image. As yet, there is no ideal system which can correctly estimate the amount of SW. This paper briefly discusses an efficient image processing solution to overcome these problems. Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) was used for detecting and cropping the bin area and Gabor wavelet (GW) was introduced for feature extraction of the waste bin image. Image features were used to train the classifier. A Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) classifier was used to classify the waste bin level and estimate the amount of waste inside the bin. The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves was used to statistically evaluate classifier performance. The results of this developed system are comparable to previous image processing based system. The system demonstration using DTW with GW for feature extraction and an MLP classifier led to promising results with respect to the accuracy of waste level estimation (98.50%). The application can be used to optimize the routing of waste collection based on the estimated bin level.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/methods
  3. NUR ANIS’SA ISMAIL, NURUL HAQIMIN MOHD SALLEH, JAGAN JEEVAN
    MyJurnal
    The emergence of mega vessels is not a new event in container shipping industry. Containerization has caused a spectacular growth in maritime transportation and brought significant developments to the industry, ranging from operation systems to seaport infrastructure expansion. Container vessels have gotten larger, with some having the capacity of 18,000 TEUs (Triple E Class), to cope with the demand for economies of scale (EOS). Mega vessels can influence the strategic planning of seaport operators for massive infrastructure development and investment on existing terminals at the seaports. The objective ofthis research is to identify and measure the requirements for seaport expansion that need to be prioritized by seaport operators to accommodate mega vessels. Additionally, this research aims to determine the challenges faced by seaport operator to meet the seaport infrastructure expansion requirements. Two mathematical methods were employed, namely Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Evidential Reasoning (ER). The results showed that the most important requirement for seaport expansion is navigation aspect followed by berth expansion, terminal, yard and gate operations. This research is expected to assist seaport operator in making a decision on prioritizing t requirements for expansion. Furthermore, this research aims to measure the readiness of seaports to serve mega vessels in global shipping industry in order to achieve competitive advantages.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation
  4. ZUHA ROSUFILA ABU HASAN, NINA MARLINI AHMAD, MOHANA DIVASINI JAYARAJ
    MyJurnal
    Taxis, being a significant element of mobility, play a sufficiently great role in public transportation. However, the issues towards taxi services have gradually increaseddue tothe poor servicesgiven to passengers by taxi operators,leadingto the demand for otherride servicealternatives.With the developmentof technology, GrabCarwasdeveloped and launched asanonline taxi booking through smartphone application which can easily connectpassengers and drivers. The main purpose of this study is to find out the perception of taxi operators towards GrabCar service and vice versa sothatthere will be a clear point of view to identify opportunities andchallenges for taxi operators. Standardized open-endedinterviews were conducted with5taxi and 5 GrabCar operatorsin Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Nerus. Interview transcriptswere analyzed using content analysis. The findingsshowedthat there weremore challenges than opportunities for the taxi operators. This studycould help the government to improvetaxi services in general and GrabCar servicesin sharing economy.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation
  5. Ibrahim Sheikh AK, Radin Umar RS, Habshah M, Kassim H, Stevenson M, Ahmed H
    Traffic Inj Prev, 2006 Jun;7(2):150-4.
    PMID: 16854709
    In developing countries, motorcycle use has grown in popularity in the past decades. Commensurate with this growth is the increase in death and casualties among motorcyclists in these countries. One of the strategic programs to minimize this problem is to reduce motorcyclists exposure by shifting them into safer modes of transport. This study aims to explore the differences in the characteristics of bus and motorcycle users. It identifies the factors contributing to their choice of transport mode and estimates the probability that motorcyclists might change their travel mode to a safer alternative; namely, bus travel.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation*
  6. Asadi-Shekari Z, Moeinaddini M, Sultan Z, Shah MZ, Hamzah A
    Traffic Inj Prev, 2016 08 17;17(6):650-5.
    PMID: 26890058 DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2015.1136739
    OBJECTIVE: A number of efforts have been conducted on travel behavior and transport fatalities at the neighborhood or street level, and they have identified different factors such as roadway characteristics, personal indicators, and design indicators related to transport safety. However, only a limited number of studies have considered the relationship between travel behavior indicators and the number of transport fatalities at the city level. Therefore, this study explores this relationship and how to fill the mentioned gap in current knowledge.

    METHOD: A generalized linear model (GLM) estimates the relationships between different travel mode indicators (e.g., length of motorway per inhabitants, number of motorcycles per inhabitant, percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, percentage of daily trips by public transport) and the number of passenger transport fatalities. Because this city-level model is developed using data sets from different cities all over the world, the impacts of gross domestic product (GDP) are also included in the model.

    CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results imply that the percentage of daily trips by public transport, the percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, and the GDP per inhabitant have negative relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities, whereas motorway length and the number of motorcycles have positive relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities.

    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/methods*; Transportation/statistics & numerical data*
  7. Borhan MN, Syamsunur D, Akhir NM, Yazid MR, Ismail A, Rahmat RA
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:784145.
    PMID: 25110744 DOI: 10.1155/2014/784145
    Putrajaya is a new federal administrative capital of Malaysia which has been set to achieve a 70% share of all travels by public transport in the city area. However, the current modal split between the public transport and private transport is 15:85. In order to understand travelers' willingness to use the public transport, a conceptual model has been developed to determine the factors that affect them to use the public transport instead of travelling in their own cars. Various variables such as service quality, environmental impact, attitude, and behavior intention were analyzed and tested using structural equation model (SEM). Results indicate that the service quality and attitude are found to have positive effects on the behavioral intention of taking the public transport. Other than this, this study also shows that the service quality and environmental impact have some positive influences on the attitude to using the public transport. However, environmental impact has no significant, positive, and direct effect on behavioral intention. The results of this study demonstrate that the model that was developed is useful in predicting the public transport and it could provide a more complete understanding of behavioral intention towards public transport use.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation*
  8. Chiu Chuen O, Karim MR, Yusoff S
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:394587.
    PMID: 24701165 DOI: 10.1155/2014/394587
    In 2010, Klang Valley has only 17% trips each day were completed using public transport, with the rest of the 83% trips were made through private transport. The inclination towards private car usage will only get worse if the transport policy continues to be inefficient and ineffective. Under the National Key Economic Area, the priority aimed to stimulate the increase of modal share of public transport in the Klang Valley to 50% by 2020. In the 10th Malaysia Plan, the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit was proposed, equipped with 141 km of MRT system, and will integrate with the existing rail networks. Nevertheless, adding kilometers into the rail system will not help, if people do not make the shift from private into public transport. This research would like to assess the possible mode shift of travellers in the Klang Valley towards using public transport, based on the utility function of available transport modes. It intends to identify the criteria that will trigger their willingness to make changes in favour of public transport as targeted by the NKEA.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation*
  9. Ibrahim MR, Katman HY, Karim MR, Koting S, Mashaan NS
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:240786.
    PMID: 24574875 DOI: 10.1155/2014/240786
    The main objective of this paper is to investigate the relations of rubber size, rubber content, and binder content in determination of optimum binder content for open graded friction course (OGFC). Mix gradation type B as specified in Specification for Porous Asphalt produced by the Road Engineering Association of Malaysia (REAM) was used in this study. Marshall specimens were prepared with four different sizes of rubber, namely, 20 mesh size [0.841 mm], 40 mesh [0.42 mm], 80 mesh [0.177 mm], and 100 mesh [0.149 mm] with different concentrations of rubberised bitumen (4%, 8%, and 12%) and different percentages of binder content (4%-7%). The appropriate optimum binder content is then selected according to the results of the air voids, binder draindown, and abrasion loss test. Test results found that crumb rubber particle size can affect the optimum binder content for OGFC.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation
  10. Mirzapour Mounes S, Karim MR, Khodaii A, Almasi MH
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:764218.
    PMID: 24526919 DOI: 10.1155/2014/764218
    A pavement structure consists of several layers for the primary purpose of transmitting and distributing traffic loads to the subgrade. Rutting is one form of pavement distresses that may influence the performance of road pavements. Geosynthetics is one type of synthetic materials utilized for improving the performance of pavements against rutting. Various studies have been conducted on using different geosynthetic materials in pavement structures by different researchers. One of the practices is a reinforcing material in asphalt pavements. This paper intends to present and discuss the discoveries from some of the studies on utilizing geosynthetics in flexible pavements as reinforcement against permanent deformation (rutting).
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/methods*; Transportation/standards
  11. Almasi MH, Mirzapour Mounes S, Koting S, Karim MR
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:408473.
    PMID: 24526890 DOI: 10.1155/2014/408473
    A growing concern for public transit is its inability to shift passenger's mode from private to public transport. In order to overcome this problem, a more developed feeder bus network and matched schedules will play important roles. The present paper aims to review some of the studies performed on Feeder Bus Network Design and Scheduling Problem (FNDSP) based on three distinctive parts of the FNDSP setup, namely, problem description, problem characteristics, and solution approaches. The problems consist of different subproblems including data preparation, feeder bus network design, route generation, and feeder bus scheduling. Subsequently, descriptive analysis and classification of previous works are presented to highlight the main characteristics and solution methods. Finally, some of the issues and trends for future research are identified. This paper is targeted at dealing with the FNDSP to exhibit strategic and tactical goals and also contributes to the unification of the field which might be a useful complement to the few existing reviews.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation*
  12. Awang H, Mansor N, Rodrigo SK
    PMID: 26867371
    Illness and injury have a significant impact on employees, their families and employers. The consequences faced by an injured worker could lead to disability, which could then lead to inability to work. This study examined the patterns of the Return to Work (RTW) using data from The Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) of Malaysia RTW database from 2010 to 2013. Factors of successful return to work, employees' salary upon returning to formal employment were also investigated. Gender, age, year of injury, industry, and job hierarchy were found to be significant predictors of employees' salary upon returning to work. Although there are other costs involved on the part of employers and employees, themselves, in the long term the financial returns that can be brought back by injured workers who have successfully returned to work combined with the qualitative benefits substantially outweighs the costs of RTW program.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data
  13. Neo KS, Goh KT, Sam CT
    PMID: 11127329
    A survey was conducted between 1995 and 1997 to assess the impact of introduction of unleaded petrol and other public health measures on the blood lead level of the population. The geometric mean blood lead level of 269 government employees as determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy, was 66.0 microg/l, much lower than that recorded before introduction of lead-free petrol. Using multiple regression analysis, factors significantly associated with blood lead levels were: exposure to traffic, age (>50 years) and active smoking. Passive smoking, exposure to recent paint work, consumption of alcohol and traditional medicine were found not to be significantly associated with the blood lead level.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation
  14. Mia MS, Begum RA, Er AC, Pereira JJ
    PMID: 29634177
    Dengue is endemic in all parts of Malaysia. However, there is limited data regarding the cost burden of this disease at household level. We aimed to
    examine the cost of dengue infection at the household level in Seremban District,
    Malaysia. This cost assessment can provide an insight to policy-makers about
    economic impact of dengue infection in order to guide and prioritize control strategies.
    The data were collected via interview. We evaluated120 previous dengue
    infection patients registered at the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital, Seremban District,
    Malaysia. The average duration of dengue illness was 9.69 days. The average
    household days lost was 18.7; students lost an average of 6.3 days of school and
    patients and caregivers lost an average of 12.5 days of work. The mean total cost
    per case of dengue infection was estimated to be USD365.16 with the indirect
    cost being USD327.90 (89.8% of the total cost) and the direct cost being USD37.26
    (10.2% of the total cost). Our findings suggest each episode of dengue infection
    imposes a significant financial burden at the household level in Seremban District,
    Malaysia; most of the burden being indirect cost. This cost needs to be factored
    into the overall cost to society of dengue infection. This data can inform policy
    makers when allocating resources to manage public health problems in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/economics
  15. Thomas N, Mariah AN, Fuad A, Kuljit S, Philip R
    Med J Malaysia, 2007 Jun;62(2):152-5.
    PMID: 18705450 MyJurnal
    Thirty-two points in Kuala Lumpur were selected where traffic personnel were on duty. Sound level readings were taken three times a day. Generally, the traffic noise levels were between 75 dBA to 85 dBA. The maximum sound level recorded was 108.2 dBA. Noise emitted by traffic equipment and vehicles were up to 133 dBA. Results of audiometric tests revealed that out of 30 who were tested, 24 or 80% were positive for noise-induced hearing loss. A questionnaire survey revealed a lack of knowledge on occupational safety and personal protective equipment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Noise, Transportation/adverse effects*
  16. Chew KS, Wan Masliza WM, Nik Hisamuddin NA, Mohd Hashairi F, Shaik Farid AW, Tuan Hairulnizam TK, et al.
    Med J Malaysia, 2015 Feb;70(1):6-11.
    PMID: 26032522 MyJurnal
    BACKGROUND: Good coronary care begins from the patient's home, including early transportation. As such, it is recommended that the patients activate ambulances, rather than to use their own transportations to reach the hospitals. It is not known whether Malaysian patients prefer to use private transportations or ambulances when they develop chest pain.

    OBJECTIVES: This study is conducted to explore the question of the choice of transportation modes among patients with acute coronary syndrome and the reasons behind their choices.

    METHODS: This is a structured interview survey on patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in emergency department of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from April 2012 to September 2012.

    RESULTS: Out of the 110 patients surveyed, 105 (95.5%) patients chose to use own transportation when they developed symptoms suggestive of ACS. Only 3 patients (2.7%) came to the emergency department within 1 hour of onset, and all these 3 patients chose to use ambulances as their modes of transportation. None of the patients who chose own transportation came within the first hour of symptoms onset. This is shown to be statistically significant (p<0.001). The level of education as well as past history of ischemic heart disease did not significantly influence the patients' choice of transportation.

    CONCLUSION: The admonishment by various international resuscitation councils that patients with chest pain should be transported via ambulances may not be as straightforward as it seems. Numerous local and regional socio-cultural and logistic factors may need to be addressed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation*
  17. Ann WL
    Med J Malaysia, 1977 Jun;31(4):349-52.
    PMID: 927245
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation of Patients
  18. Menon R
    Med J Malaya, 1971 Sep;26(1):30-3.
    PMID: 4258572
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation of Patients*
  19. Saththasivam P, Voralu K, Ramli N, Mustapha MR, Omar J, Van Rostenberghe H
    Malays J Med Sci, 2010 Jul;17(3):27-31.
    PMID: 22135546 MyJurnal
    Delays in transporting blood samples may cause inaccurate results. Samples may be exposed to light or heat during delays, resulting in the degradation of analytes, for example, bilirubin. This study was done to determine the effect of delays in the transportation of blood samples on serum bilirubin test results.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation
  20. Jasni S, Zamri-Saad M, Mutalib AR, Sheikh-Omar AR
    Br. Vet. J., 1991 Jul-Aug;147(4):352-5.
    PMID: 1913132
    Twenty transport-stressed goats were divided into two groups. The first group was further stressed with steroid. Pasteurella haemolytica was found at various sites in the nasal cavity of goats in this group as early as 2 weeks post-transportation. The successful isolations continued consistently with more goats having pure growth of P. haemolytica at later stages. Mild catarrh rhinitis, loss of epithelial cilia and erosions were the main lesions observed in the nasal cavity. Goats in the second group that were not given steroid injections had inconsistent bacterial isolation and less severe pathological lesions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Transportation
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