The newly defined Agrilus quadripunctatus species-group comprising nine species from Indo-Malay and Australasian regions is revised. A key to species is provided and complemented with illustrations of habitus. The following four new species are described: Agrilus calabai sp. nov.; A. jaechi sp. nov.; A. luzonicola sp. nov.; A. salakot sp. nov.
A new silvanid genus Dentirotacorimus gen. nov. is described based on specimens collected from Ulu Gombak (Malay Peninsula), Malaysia. Two new species, D. reticulatus sp. nov. and D. zigzag sp. nov., are described herein. A key to species of this genus and a table listing states of diagnostic characters of Corimus-like genera, including this new genus, are provided.
Pemprosesan padi adalah salah satu daripada sektor pertanian yang terbesar di Malaysia. Kekerapan kemalangan
di tempat kerja yang berlaku dalam sektor ini berpunca daripada pelbagai faktor. Antara faktor utama ialah tahap
pengetahuan dan kemahiran tentang keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan (KKP) yang rendah. Objektif kajian
ini adalah untuk menilai tahap pengetahuan KKP dan hubung kait antara tahap pengetahuan dan amalan pekerja
berkaitan KKP dalam sektor ini. Seramai 300 orang responden yang terdiri daripada petani dan pemilik sawah padi
di Sungai Besar, Selangor dipilih untuk menyertai kajian ini. Penyelidik menggunakan pendekatan soal selidik dalam
mengumpulkan data kajian. Nilai Cronbach Alpha didapati daripada ujian kebolehpercayaan menggunakan perisian
SPSS 20.0. Hasil kajian nenunjukkan bahawa jumlah responden tertinggi adalah seramai 138 orang yang bertugas
membaja dan meracun. Selain itu, seramai 254 responden mengetahui cara bekerja dengan betul dan selamat. Manakala,
seramai 242 responden mengetahui bahawa bahan kimia boleh meresap ke dalam kulit, mulut, sistem pernafasan dan
seterusnya mata. Hasil kajian mendapati responden yang terlibat mempunyai tahap pengetahuan memuaskan tentang
pendedahan risiko fizikal dan pendedahan risiko kimia terhadap tubuh badan mereka serta peralatan perlindungan
diri yang diperlukan. Walau bagaimanapun, terdapat segelintir responden yang tidak peka untuk meletakkan amaran
semasa proses menyembur racun dan membaja.
Bisecting-angle-technique is a method used to improve patient comfort during periapical radiography. This technique is usually performed without X-ray beam aiming device and has been commonly associated with dental radiographic error. The use of external marker as a beam aiming device in bisecting-angle-technique is potentially effective to reduce the number of errors occurring during periapical radiography. In this study, 240 periapical radiographs were taken by undergraduate dental students. Periapical radiographs were taken using traditional method of bisecting-angle-technique (BAT), bisecting-angle-technique with the use of external marker (BAT-M) and the standard method in periapical radiography; paralleling technique (PT). All radiographic images were evaluated and errors were classified and tabled according to the type and number of errors. Chi-square test was used to compare the total number of radiographic errors made using these three techniques. One of the most common errors with BAT was cone cut error (13.8%). This error had been markedly reduced to 1.3% and 2.5% by implementation of BAT-M and PT, respectively. The total number of errors was also found to be significantly lesser for BAT-M compared to BAT, p< 0.05.
Keywords: errors, dental, radiography
This article is a brief personal reflection on the ongoing development of professional education and practice in nursing. The reflection and its narratives are anecdotal and are based on the author's recent experience of teaching and working with fellow nursing lecturers in Malaysia in a nursing faculty within a local University. The author has almost 40 years career in nursing, nurse education and curriculum planning in the United Kingdom before her retirement. The study reflects on the key aspects of nursing and nurse education from her wealth of experiences while in the UK, and also highlights some positive and valuable insights gained from her brief experience in Malaysia. She also provides some reflections of the challenges that lie ahead, specifically, the emphasis on feelings and emotions in nursing, that provide the inspiration to continue with passion, dedication, and determination in our ongoing quest in the pursuit of nursing excellence for all the nurses, in practice and in education. This will hopefully and ultimately lead to a higher standard of nursing care for all patients, and continue the long journey towards the unique professional identity that we have been seeking, and that we can all proudly claim to be our own.
Two new genera of Idiocerini, Lambirocerus gen. nov. with type species Lambirocerus cycloformulus sp. nov. and Undophomorpha gen. nov. with type species Undophomorpha glauctata sp. nov., are described and illustrated from Malaysia. The type species of Paraidioscopus Maldonado-Capriles, P. tagalicus (Baker) is also redescribed and illustrated.
Background & Objectives: The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) provides a valid and quick assessment of stroke severity in hyperacute stroke management. Stroke patients who are eligible for reperfusion therapy require prompt assessment. There is no validated Bahasa Malaysia (BM) version of the NIHSS that allows easier assessment by BM-speaking health professionals. This study aimed to translate and validate a BM version of the NIHSS.
Methods: The English NIHSS was translated to BM, then back translated to ensure linguistic accuracy. We also adapted the language assessment of the NIHSS to be more culturally appropriate. Training and certification videos were downloaded from the NIH website and dubbed into BM. We determined intra-class correlation and unweighted kappa as the best measure of reliability. Median scores were used in the analysis for language items.
Results: One hundred and one raters participated in the test-retest reliability study. Agreement between the original NIHSS and our translated version of the BM-NIHSS was good (ICC = 0.738, 95% CI: 0.611 to 0.823). Fair to moderate agreement was found on item-by-item analysis (unweighted κ=0.20-0.50) despite high observed agreement. Fifty patients participated in the language assessment arm. Scores were better in BM for reading, naming objects and repetition (Mdn = 100, p < 0.001). There was no difference in the median scores for the description component.
Conclusions: The BM-NIHSS is a valid translation of the NIHSS, and may be used in clinical practice by BM-speaking healthcare professionals.
CenPRIS Working Paper No. 129/10 (July 2010)
Republished in: An Uncommon Hero. p308-320
Dr M K Rajakumar fought the good fight on many fronts. In the 1970s, with domestic left-wing politics on the ebb, Dr Rajakumar shifted his energies to another arena of human endeavor he was passionate about, health and medical care for the needful. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Dr Rajakumar worked tirelessly to advance primary care medicine and to raise the standard of its practice in Malaysia and in the region. This article explores his writings on primary care within the context of an emerging population health perspective. KEYWORDS: MK Rajakumar, primary care, population health, biomedical sciences, politics
Advanced nursing practice involves higher level of knowledge and skills of nurses to perform autonomous practice in clinical settings in order to meet the needs of individuals, families and communities. Advanced practice in nursing is also known as adjusting boundaries for future practice, pioneering and developing new roles of nurses in clinical practice, research and education. Advanced practice of nursing in the developed countries are recognized with different nomenclatures such as advanced nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, specialized nurse practitioner, nurse practitioner, certified nurse practitioner and advanced practice registered nurse. Malaysia is one of the pioneering Asian countries to introduce clinical nurse specialist in hospital settings, which is a stepping stone for the development of advanced nursing practice.
Keywords: Nurses in Malaysia, Clinical Nurse Practitioner, Advanced Nurse Practice
Two new genera, Malaysiapona gen. nov. and Chandrapona gen. nov. of Paraboloponina leafhoppers (Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae: Drabescini) with their unusally developed aedeagal base are described from the Pacific (Malaysia). The following new species are also described with the new genera: Malaysiapona brevipenis sp. nov. from Sabah, M. filamenta sp. nov., from Sarawak and Chandrapona vespertilis sp. nov. from Sabah.
Citation: Tak Nak! Every puff you take damages your body. An anti-smoking campaign by the Ministry of Health Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Health, Malaysia; 2004
Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti adakah latihan kecerdasan emosi sosial yang dibentuk ini dapat meningkatkan tahap interpersonal. kajian reka bentuk kuasi eksperimental ini menggunakan laporan penilaian kendiri yang diberikan ketika ujian pra dan pasca setelah 14 minggu latihan. Setiap latihan adalah selama 2 jam seminggu. Pelajar tahun 2 daripada Psikologi, Universiti Malaysia Sabah menjadi peserta dalam kajian ini dan 19 orang pelajar dipilih masuk dalam kumpulan eksperimen dan menerima intervensi sementara 22 orang lagi pelajar dipilih untuk kumpulan kawalan. Pemilihan peserta adalah berdasarkan pelajar yang mendapat nilai rendah tahap kecerdasan emosi sosial menggunakan Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) yang mengandungi 133 item, dibahagikan kepada 5 komponen dan 15 sub skala. Ujian pra diberikan pada awal semester yang bertujuan untuk mendapatkan skor asas dan perbandingan untuk hasil selepas peserta menerima latihan menggunakan Modul Latihan Kecerdasan Emosi Sosial yang dibina sendiri oleh pengkaji. Analisis Wilcoxon dan juga mann-whitney digunakan untuk melihat perbezaan sebelum dan selepas Latihan Kecerdasan Emosi Sosial dalam kumpulan dan juga di antara kumpulan. Hasil kajian melaporkan kemahiran kecerdasan emosi sosial interpersonal telah meningkat selepas latihan diberikan kepada kumpulan rawatan. Manakala tiada terdapat peningkatan skor dalam kumpulan kawalan. Perbandingan di antara kumpulan kawalan dan kumpulan rawatan pula melaporkan terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan di antara kumpulan rawatan dan kumpulan kawalan. Secara kesimpulannya, latihan kecerdasan emosi sosial (interpersonal) telah memberikan kesan yang positif kepada peserta dalam kumpulan rawatan.