Empowering lay screeners, such as pre-school teachers, on vision screening is a cost-effective way to
ensure larger populations of children can be screened. Although the validity of lay screeners in conducting
vision screening were reported in several studies, none showed data concerning improvement of the level
of knowledge among lay screeners after completing vision screening training, which could indicate the
effectiveness of the training program. This study aimed to determine the level of knowledge of pre-school
teachers before and after attending a training program. Sixty pre-school teachers from Tabika and Taska KEMAS
were randomly selected. The Study Group (n = 30) was given theory and practical training on vision screening,
whereas the Control Group (n = 30) was only given brief verbal instructions on how to conduct the screening. A
theory test containing 15 questions related to the training modules were administered to both groups, before
and after their training/briefing respectively. The findings showed that the level of knowledge among preschool
teachers in the Study Group (73.24 ± 11.73%) was significantly higher than the Control Group (56.22
± 13.11%) (p < 0.01). There was also a significant improvement in the level of knowledge among pre-school
teachers in the Study Group after the training (p
BACKGROUND: Majority burn mortality prognostic scores were developed and validated in western populations. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate and identify possible risk factors which may be used to predict burns mortality in a local Malaysian burns intensive care unit. The secondary objective was to validate the five well known burn prognostic scores (Baux score, Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI) score, Ryan score, Belgium Outcome Burn Injury (BOBI) score and revised Baux score) to predict burn mortality prediction.
METHODS: Patients that were treated at the Hospital Sultan Ismail's Burns Intensive Care (BICU) unit for acute burn injuries between 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2017 were included. Risk factors to predict in-patient burn mortality were gender, age, mechanism of injury, total body surface area burn (TBSA), inhalational injury, mechanical ventilation, presence of tracheotomy, time from of burn injury to BICU admission and initial centre of first emergency treatment was administered. These variables were analysed using univariate and multivariate analysis for the outcomes of death. All patients were scored retrospectively using the five-burn mortality prognostic scores. Predictive ability for burn mortality was analysed using the area under receiver operating curve (AUROC).
RESULTS: A total of 525 patients (372 males and 153 females) with mean age of 34.5 ± 14.6 years were included. There were 463 survivors and 62 deaths (11.8% mortality rate). The outcome of the primary objective showed that amongst the burn mortality risk factors that remained after multivariate analysis were older age (p = 0.004), wider TBSA burn (p
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a controversial plastics ingredient used mainly in the production of polycarbonate plastics (PC) and epoxy resins that widely used nowadays in food and drink packaging. Even though BPA is not involved in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) manufacturing, recent study had reported the present of BPA in PET water bottle. This study was conducted to investigate effects storage conditions on release of BPA from PC and PET bottled water as well as to assess health risks associated with consumption. Methods: Solid phase extraction (SPE) was used to extract the samples, followed by analysis using ultra high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector (UHPLC-FLD). The possibility of developing chronic non-carcinogenic health risk among consumers of bottled water was evaluated using hazard quotient (HQ). Results: Results showed that BPA migrated from PC and PET water bottles at concentrations ranging from 9.13 to 257.67 ng/L and 11.53 ng/L to 269.87 ng/L respectively. Concentrations of BPA were higher in PET bottled water compared to PC bottled water across all storage conditions. Higher storage temperature and longer storage duration increased BPA concentrations in PC and PET bottled water. Concentrations of BPA in bottled water which were kept in a car and were exposed to sunlight were higher than control samples which were stored indoor at room temperature. Conclusion: No significant chronic non-carcinogenic health risks were calculated for daily ingestion of BPA-contaminated bottled water; calculated HQ was less than one.
Eleven marine sediment samples from Sg. Tengi Estuary, Tanjung Karang were analysed for their major elements in the oxides form (SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, Na2O3, MgO, CaO, K2O, TiO2, P2O5 and MnO) and trace elements (Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sr, V, Zn, and Zr) contents. The muddy marine sediment was collected at the left and right side of the river mouth as far as one kilometre away and about 25-30 meters from the edge of existing growth. Some of the mud sample appears to have cockleshell flakes in them. The mean of major elemental content (oxides form) in the sediment in decreasing order were dominated by SiO2 (56.3%), followed by Al2O3, (15.5%), Fe2O3 (4.1%), Na2O (2.7%), CaO (2.6%), MgO (2.3%), K2O (1.8%), TiO2 (0.5%), P2O5 (0.14%) and MnO (0.06%). Volatile substances represented by loss on ignition (LOI) (13.9%) occupied substantial amounts of the sediment volume. The most abundant trace elements displayed as mean was Zr (222 mgkg-1), followed by Ba (200 mgkg-1), Sr (172 mgkg-1), Rb (131 mgkg-1), Zn (103 mgkg-1), V (l02mgkg-1), Cr (84 mgkg-1), Pb (40 mgkg-1), Ni (34 mgkg-1), Cu (31 mgkg-1) and Co (22 mgkg-1). Correlation analysis showed that Cr, Pb and Zn were positively related to the Fe203 and Al2O3 content whereas increase in pH immobilised Cr and Zn in the sediment. The mean of Cr (84 mgkg-1) and Zn (103 mgkg-1) content in sediment were higher than the lower limit of their respective threshold concentration.
Sebanyak 11 sampel sedimen marin daripada muara Sg. Tengi, Tanjung Karang telah dianalisis untuk menentukan kandungan unsur major dalam bentuk oksida (SiO2, Al2O3 Fe2O3, Na2O3, MgO, CaO, K2O, TiO2, P2O5 and MnO) dan unsur surih (Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sr, V, Zn, and Zr). Sedimen marin berlumpur dikutip daripada bahagian kiri dan kanan muara sungai dalam jarak sejauh kira-kira 1 km dan 25-30 meter ke arah laut daripada kawasan pertumbuhan yang sedia ada. Sebahagian daripada sampel lumpur tersebut mempunyai kandungan serpihan kulit kerang. Purata kandungan unsur major di dalam sedimen mengikut urutan menurun adalah didominasi oleh SiO2 (56.27%) diikuti oleh Al2O3 (15.5%), Fe2O3 (4.1 %), Na2O (2.7%), CaO. (2.6%), MgO (2.3%), K2O (1.8%), TiO2 (0.5%), P2O5 (0.14%)dan MnO. (0.06%). Sebatian mudah meruap diwakili oleh kehilangan menerusi pembakaran (LOI) (13.9%) mengisi isipadu yang agak besar di dalam komposisi sedimen. Purata kandungan unsur surih yang terbanyak ditunjukkan. oleh Zr (222 mgkg-1), diikuti oleh Ba (200 mgkg-1), Sr (172 mgkgÂ-1), Rb (131 mgkg-1), Zn (103 mgkg-1), V (l02 mgkg-1), Cr (84 mgkg-1), Pb (40 mgkg-1), Ni (34 mgkg-1), Cu (31 mgkg-1) dan Co (22 mgkg-1). Analisis korelasi menunjukkan Cr, Pb dan Zn mempunyai hubungan positij yang signijikan dengan Fe2O3 dan Al2O3, manakala peningkatan pH memegunkan Cr dan Zn dalam sedimen. Purata kandungan Cr (84 mgkg-1) dan Zn (103 mgkg-1) di dalam sedimen lebih tinggi daripada paras yang dikira berpotensi toksik di dalam sedimen.
A local Malnutrition Risk Screening Tool-Hospital (MRST-H) has been developed to identify the risk of malnutrition among hospitalized geriatric patients in Malaysia. The aims of this multicenter study were to evaluate the criterion validity of the MRST-H against the reference standard Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and revise its scoring criteria among Malaysian geriatric patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 542 geriatric patients at eight general hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia from January 2011 to February 2013. The Malay version MRST-H and SGA were administered to all participants through face-to-face interviews. Sensitivity and specificity of MRST-H were established using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and the optimal cut-off scores were determined. The MRST-H had area under the ROC curve (AUC) values of 0.84 and 0.88 when validated against the SGA-determined malnutrition (SGA B+C) and severe malnutrition (SGA C) status. These high AUC values indicated that the MRST-H has very good overall diagnostic accuracy. However, the original cut-off score of five points for MRST-H has undesirable sensitivity in identifying the malnutrition (sensitivity = 0.12) and severely malnutrition (sensitivity = 0.35) status. The optimal cut-off score of MRST-H in identifying malnourished and severely malnourished participants were both established at the cut-off score of two points. The sensitivity of MRST-H increased substantially at this point without compromising its specificity. Therefore, the established cut-off score of two points with optimal sensitivity and specificity was selected to replace to original cut-off score for screening of risk of malnutrition among hospitalized geriatric patients.
Aromatic grass species Cymbopogon citratus (‘serai biasa/serai makan’) and C. nardus (‘serai wangi’) can be commonly found throughout Peninsular Malaysia. C. citratus is used in traditional Malaysian cooking and brewed as tea, while C. nardus is used in traditional medicine for external application and in insect repellents. Due to similar morphologies, it can be difficult to tell apart the species at times. Based on DNA sequence alignments of three chloroplast DNA intergenic spacer regions, namely atpB-rbcL, trnH-psbA and trnL-trnF, we designed species-specific primers for multiplex PCR assays for rapid species discrimination between C. citratus and C. nardus. The method described here makes use of simple molecular techniques that are time- and cost-effective for large-scale application. Such an assay will be useful for the quality assurance of food and medicinal products.
Sixteen topsoil samples from Bukit Jernih, Gua Kelam and Bukit Merah were analysed for their major elements and heavy metal composition, together with several physico-chemical parameters. Major elements determined were SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MnO, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, P2O5, whereas heavy metals determined were As, Co, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn. Physico-chemical parameters determined were percentage of organic matter, clay, silt and sand composition, pH and electrical conductivity. The results showed that the average soil pH in limestone soil was between 6.38 to 6.93, whereas average soil pH in quartzite soil was 6.23. The average soil electrical conductivity for all sampling stations was below 1.7 mScm-1. High organic matter content average was shown in soil samples from Bukit Jernih (7.45%), followed by Gua Kelam (5.21%) and Bukit Merah (3.31%). Soil samples from Bukit Jernih and Gua Kelam showed a clayey texture with more than 35% clay content, whereas soil from Bukit Merah was sandy in texture with more than 67% sand content. In general, soil samples from limestone area of Bukit Jernih and Gua Kelam recorded higher content of heavy metals compared to quartzite soil from Bukit Merah. The average concentration of Cr and Co at Bukit Jernih at 413 µg/g and 88 µg/g, respectively, whereas the concentration at Gua Kelam was 152 µg/g dan 76 µg/g. These concentrations exceeded the potential toxic concentration in soil. The main major elements were SiO2 followed by Al2O3 and Fe2O3. SiO2 content in quartzite soil from Bukit Merah(89.45%) was higher compared to limestone soil from Bukit Jernih (59.74%) and Gua Kelam (53.16%). Nevertheless, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 content in limestone soil was higher compared to quartzite soil. The percentage of easily ignited content in limestone soil was two fold higher than quartzite soil. Other major elements were less than 2.5%. The study showed that enrichment of Cr, Zn, Pb, Ni and Cu in soil was influenced by the presence of SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3.
Keywords: Enrichment; heavy metals; limestones hill; major elements; toxicity
Coastal water samples were collected from 20 sampling sites in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia. Seven physico-chemical parameters were measured directly in-situ while water samples were collected and analysed for 6 dissolved trace metal concentrations. The surface water (0-20 cm) physico-chemical parameters including temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), specific conductance (SpC) and turbidity while the dissolved trace metals were Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn. The ranges for the physico-chemical parameters were 28.07-35.6ºC for temperature, 0.18-32.42 ppt for salinity, 2.20-12.03 mg/L for DO, 5.50-8.53 for pH, 0.24-31.65 mg/L for TDS, 368-49452 μS/cm for SpC and 0-262 NTU for turbidity while the dissolved metals (mg/L) were 0.013-0.147 for Cd, 0.024-0.143 for Cu, 0.266- 2.873 for Fe, 0.027-0.651 for Ni, 0.018-0.377 for Pb and 0.032-0.099 for Zn. Based on multivariate analysis (including correlation, cluster and principal component analyses), the polluted sites were found at Kg. Pasir Puteh and Tg. Kupang while Ni and Pb were identified as two major dissolved metals of high variation in the coastal waters. Therefore, water quality monitoring and control of release of untreated anthropogenic wastes into rivers and coastal waters are strongly needed.
Mutagenic and antimutagenic activities of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Lactobacillus plantarum isolated from the local fermented durian (tempoyak) was determined by Ames test (Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity assay). Our study also involved pre-incubation assay against Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100 bacterial strain in the presence and absence of metabolic activator S9 system. It was found that the L. plantarum showed no mutagenic activity on both S. typhimurium strain TA 98 and TA 100 in the presence and absence of metabolic activator. Significant antimutagenic activity (p < 0.05) was observed in both cell-free supernatant and bacterial cell suspension of L. plantarum as compared to the mutagenicity induced by 2-Aminoanthracene in the presence of metabolic activator. Meanwhile, in the absence of metabolic activator, only the bacterial cells of L. plantarum showed antimutagenicity acitivity against Sodium Azide and 2-Nitrofluorene. In conclusion, L. plantarum could play a vital role as chemopreventive agent by binding to mutagens and suppressing mutagenesis. Thus, L. plantarum could be consider as a good candidate for functional food development as a supplement product to prevent development of colon cancer.
Water quality analysis of the seven feeder rivers in Tasik Chini was carried out from October 2004 to December 2005. A total of nine sampling sites were selected in this study, namely: Sungai Datang (St.1), Sungai Cenahan (St. 2), downstream of Sungai Gumum (St. 3), mid of Sungai Gumum (St. 4), Sungai Kura-kura (St. 5), Sungai Melai (St. 6), Sungai Jemberau (St. 7), upstream of Sungai Paya Merupuk (St. 8), and downstream of Sungai Paya Merupuk (St. 9). Eleven water quality parameters were selected and analyzed in-situ and ex-situ during two sampling seasons. Laboratory analyses were carried out according to the HACH and APHA. Results of the study indicated that the pH content ranged from 3.2 to 6.32, dissolved oxygen 0.27 to 6.4 mg/L, conductivity from 14.33 to 85.7 µS/cm and temperature from 24.1 to 32.1˚C. Total dissolved solids ranged from 22.67 to 184 mg/L, total suspended solids from 1.17 to 79.11 mg/L and turbidity from 4.67 to 28.67 NTU. Nutrients such as ammonical nitrogen (0.01 to 0.57 mg/L), nitrate (0.7 to 2.9 mg/L), phosphate (from not detectable to 0.50 mg/L) and sulphate (from not detectable to 2.0 mg/L) were also studied. This showed that most of the feeder rivers have contributed to high nutrients values in Tasik Chini. Statistically, the relationship between water quality parameters were correlated as very weak and moderately correlated (R2= 0.40). Phosphate and sulphate were significantly correlated as positive slope; turbidity and nitrate showed negative slope with discharge during both the seasons (R2=0.651; R2=0.624). Recent activities such as deforestation, mining, agriculture and tourism have taken place in the surrounding areas of the lake. These activities were expected to influence the stability of the water quality of the feeder river of Tasik Chini.
The effect of solvent type in antioxidant compounds extraction from banana tissues was studied. The solvent system used was pure methanol, ethanol, acetone and their aqueous solution at 50% and 70% concentrations. Comparison among three common cultivars of banana in Malaysia (Berangan, Mas and Raja) had been done and their antioxidant activities were determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging system, ferric reducing ability in plasma (FRAP)
assays and total phenolic content (TPC) assays. Acetone 70% had the strongest antioxidant compounds extraction power as compared to other solvent. All banana samples were found to be low in primary antioxidant but powerful secondary antioxidant source of fruit. The ascending order of banana cultivars in term of their antioxidant activities in all antioxidant assays carried out were Berangan < Mas < Raja. FRAP-TPC assays were highly correlated (R2>0.70) than FRAP-DPPH
and TPC-DPPH assays due to the same mechanism that occurred in the reaction of FRAP and TPC assays.
The objective of this study was to develop a method for the determination of diuron (3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethyl urea) residue in crude palm oil (CPO) and crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) matrices. The method involves the extraction of the herbicide from the oil matrix using low temperature precipitation and solid phase extraction techniques, detected by high performance liquid chromatography-ultra violet (HPLC-UV). The HPLC separation was carried out on an Ascentis
TMRP-Amide column and elution with acetonitrile (solvent A) and water-methanol (2:1, v/v) (solvent B) as a suitable solvent system, at ratio of 4:6 (v/v). The optimum volume of acetonitrile for the extraction of diuron was 30 mL and 4 mL was obtained as the optimum volume of the solvent for elution analyte through the SPE cartridge. A linear correlation was obtained for the concentration of diuron from 0.05–1.0 µg mL-1 with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. The recovery of diuron from CPO was 83.2–101.4% with a relative standard deviation of 1.4–9.9% and 79.4–87.9% with relative standard deviation of 0.9–5.6% for CPKO. The method detection limit and limit of quantification obtained were 0.018 µg g-1 and 0.058 µg g-1, respectively. The method was used to determine diuron residues in palm oil from different refineries situated at different locations throughout Malaysia.
Combination of magnetic and biocompatible materials to form core-shell nanomaterials has been widely used in medical fields. These core-shell magnetic biomaterials have a great potential for magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) treatment to remedy cancer. The aims of this study were to investigate the production of core-shell cobalt ferrite/polycaprolactone (CoFe2O4/PCL) nanomaterials with different ratios of cobalt ferrite to caprolactone, to study the effects of using polymer in reducing the agglomerations between particles and to determine the structure, morphology, thermal and magnetic properties of these core-shell nanomaterials. The core-shell nanomaterials were produced by in situ polymerization method. The formation of the CoFe2O4/PCL was investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x-ray diffractometer (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Its thermal properties were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was used to reveal the magnetic properties. The results for the XRD and FTIR spectra demonstrated the formation of cobalt ferrite and polycaprolactone in core-shell nanomaterials. From the TEM results, it was seen that the core-shell CoFe2O4/PCL nanomaterials were best formed at a ratio of CoFe2O4 to monomer caprolactone mixtures of 1:4.
Single phase LiTa1-xNbxO3 solid solution with 0.00 ≤ x ≤ 1.00 was successfully synthesised via conventional solid-state method at 950°C for 24 h. These materials were refined and fully indexed with hexagonal crystal system, space group of R3c; lattice parameters, a ranging from 5.1410(6) Ǻ to 5.1471(3) Ǻ and c ranging from 13.7467(1) Ǻ to 13.8341(1) Ǻ; with α = β = 90° and γ = 120°. Variation of the lattice parameters in these materials was found to be negligibly small throughout the subsolidus solution. No thermal event was detected within the studied temperature range of 50 to 1000°C. The electrical properties of samples were characterised by AC impedance analyser, HP4192A at temperature ranging from room temperature to 850°C over a frequency range of 5 Hz to 13 MHz. LiTa1-xNbxO3 materials exhibited bulk response with associated capacitances in the order of 10-12 F cm-1 and the temperature-dependent conductivities were found to increase with increasing temperatures. The results showed that LiTa1-xNbxO3 samples were of typical ferroelectrics.
In this study, a symmetric supercapacitor has been fabricated by adopting the nanostructured iron oxide (Fe304)-activated carbon (Ac) composite as the core electrode materials. The composite electrodes were prepared via a facile mechanical mixing process and PTFE polymeric solution has been used as the electrode material binder. Structural analysis of the nanocomposite electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy ( sEm) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The electrochemical performances of the prepared supercapacitor were studied using cyclic voltammetry (cv) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (Eis) in 1.0 M Na2S03 and 1.0 M Na2SO4 aqueous solutions, respectively. The experimental results showed that the highest specific capacitance of 43 FIg is achieved with a fairly low Fe304 nanomaterials loading (4 wt. %) in 1 M Na2S03. It is clear that the low concentration of nanostructured Fe304 has improved the capacitive performance of the composite via pseudocapacitance charge storage mechanism as well as the enhancement on the specific surface areas of the electrode. However, further increasing of the Fe304 content in the electrode is found to distort the capacitive performance and deteriorate the specific surface area of the electrode, mainly due to the aggregation of the Fe304 particles within the composite. Additionally, the cv results showed that the Fe3041Ac nanocomposite electrode in Na2S03 electrolyte exhibits a better charge storage performance if compared with Na2SO4 solution. It is believed that Fe304 nanoparticles can provide favourable surface adsorption sites for sulphite (S032-) anions which act as catalysts for subsequent redox and intercalation reactions.
Deterioration of water quality mainly due to high total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and nitrite will affect the productivity of shrimp culture. In this study, three indigenous strains assigned as VCM5, VCM8 and VCM12 were evaluated for their ability to degrade TAN and nitrite. These strains were inoculated into shrimp aquaculture wastewater to enhance the degradation of TAN and nitrite. All the strains reduced TAN and nitrite level from the shrimp aquaculture wastewater significantly (p<0.05). Strain VCM5 (GenBank accession number KJ700465) and VCM8 (GenBank accession number KJ700464) showed 99.71% sequence similarity with the 16S rRNA gene type species Bacillus vietnamensis 15-1T (ABO99708) and strain VCM12 (GenBank accession number KJ700463) showed 99.05% sequence similarity with 16S rRNA gene sequence type species Gordonia bronchialis DSM43247T (CP001802).
Multicomposition of Er3+ -Y11-3+ codoped tellurite oxide, Te02-ZnO-PbO-Ti02-Na20 glass has been investigated. A detailed spectroscopic study of the Judd-Ofelt analysis has been performed from the measured absorption spectrum in order to obtain the intensity parameters S2, (t=2, 4, 6). The calculated S2, values were then utilized in the determination of transition probabilities, radiative lifetimes and branching ratios of the Er3+ transitions between the J(upper)-J'(lower) manifolds. Both visible upconversion and near-infrared spectra were characterized under the 980 nm laser diode excitation at room temperature.
Catanionic system using anionic sodium bis-(2ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (Am) and cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (cTAB) is studied. The system is prepared by addition of CTAB solution to a prepared AOT solution until slight anionic-rich catanionic phase is produced. Catanionic system consists of the mixture of different types of surfactants and counterion due to electrostatic interaction between the oppositely charged surfactant. Both of these products affect the in surface activity of the surfactant. Hydrodynamic diameters decrease and clearer solution were seen with the increase of CTAB concentration in solution mixture. As a result, mixed surfactant with larger hydrophobic region and the presence of counterion will induce smaller vesicle to form in catanionic system.
Bi3Zn2Ta3O14, ‘P’, was crystallised in a cubic unit cell with lattice parameter of a=10.5437 (9) Å. The material had permittivity, ε’, of around 58 and dielectric loss, tan δ, of 2.3 × 10-3 at 30oC, 1 MHz; temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) of -156 ppm/oC in the range of 30oC to 300oC at 1 MHz. Chemical doping was carried out at either A (Bi1.5Zn0.5-xMx)(Zn0.5Ta1.5)O7, or B site (Bi1.5Zn0.5)(Zn0.5-xMxTa1.5)O7 in search of better performance materials. Various divalent cations such as Cd2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, and Cu2+ were used as dopants. Solid solutions formed were: Bi3Zn2-xCdxTa3O14 (0≤x≤0.5), Bi3Zn2-xMgxTa3O14(0≤x≤0.2), Bi3Zn2-xNixTa3O14 (0≤x≤0.4), Bi3Zn2-xPbxTa3O14 (0≤x≤0.3), Bi3Zn2-xCaxTa3O14 (0≤x≤0.3) and Bi3Zn2-xCuxTa3O14 (0≤x≤0.1). Electrical properties of the materials were investigated using impedance spectroscopy. Conductivities of the solid solutions were higher than that of the parent material Bi3Zn2Ta3O14. These doped materials exhibited similar behaviour as Bi3Zn2Ta3O14, showing a high degree of dispersion of permittivity at low frequencies (<1 kHz) and at temperatures above 500oC. Between 100 kHz and 1000 kHz, non-frequency dependence was observed in the range of 100 – 300oC. An increase in dielectric loss below 10 kHz was observed. Dielectric loss decreased with frequencies when temperature was above 500oC. Dielectric loss of all divalent cation doped materials was higher than that of the parent material; maximum permittivity value of 68 was recorded at x = 0.3 in Bi3Zn2-xCaxTa3O14. TCC obtained in this study had negative values; no obvious correlation between TCC and composition of the doped materials can be deduced.