Disasters are defined as extraordinary events which occur abruptly, bringing great damage or harm, loss, and destruction to people and the environment. Nurses may have a more conflict and difficulties in disaster decision making where the victim condition need to be treated in disaster place. Nurses play a key role in hospital as a leaders and managers in the disaster operation and command center but limited data shows that the nurses experience in disaster management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the perception of knowledge and skills on the preparedness in disaster management among nurses in community clinics. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 27 government clinics in one of the states in Malaysia with a convenient sampling, 260 participants are selected. The questionnaire consisted of three sections; socio-demographic characteristics, the perception of knowledge and skill towards preparedness for disaster management rated on a Likert scale. In the effort to collect the intended data, a self-report questionnaire adapted and modified from Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) was implemented (Alrazeeni, 2015). This study revealed that Nurses in these community clinics were moderate in terms of the perception of knowledge (Mean= 3.65, SD= 0.61) and the perceived skills (Mean= 3.68, SD= 0.56) on the preparedness in Disaster Management. Nevertheless, they were interested in disaster preparedness management training (n=227, 87.3%) and were confident as first responders of disaster (Mean= 3.88, SD= 0.61). However, they were not much involved in disaster preparedness plan (Mean= 3.23, SD= 0.90) and claimed that there was a lack of leadership figure in disaster situation (Mean= 3.06, SD= 0.92). In conclusion, nurses in community clinics need to gain knowledge and skills by involving themselves in disaster planning and drills as the preparation for disaster management for them to be the first responders in helping and managing people in this situation.
Content management is an organisational effort of managing content, particularly in digital format. Although it has been over 25 years since content management was introduced, this field of study is still considered an emerging topic with unresolved issues-in particular, the subject of benefit achievement. Therefore, grounded on an extensive review of 135 articles, the purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits that organisations can gain through the proper use of an Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS). Subsequently, this paper identifies a list of ECMS benefits and proposes an ECMS benefit framework for further exploration into this field. Our result shows that although ECMS does bring benefits to organisations, these benefits are diverse; indicating that there are certain determinants or factors influencing the achievement of such benefits. Moreover, it is also found that in the context of the benefit framework of Shang and Seddon [10], three categories were found relevant to the field of content management: operational benefit, managerial benefit, and strategic benefit.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of papaya leaves crude extract on the physicochemical properties of marinated chicken meat. Papaya leaves was extracted with sodium acetate (CH3COONa) buffer (pH 7.2) at room temperature. Protein concentration and activity of enzyme in the crude extract were determined by using UV-Spectrophotometer. The crude extract was mixed with marinated ingredients and then coated onto chicken meat which was subsequently kept for overnight in refrigerator at chill temperature. Protein concentration of the enzyme was identified as 166.36 μg/μl and enzyme activity was 1.28 CDU/ml. Results also showed that lightness (L*), cooking loss and shrinkage of the marinated chicken were higher than control. Redness (a*), yellowness (b*), protein content, water-holding capacity, shear force, and texture profile analysis were lower than control. Microstructure analysis showed that the chicken meat muscle was destructed in the presence of papaya crude extract. Sensory acceptability evaluation of marinated chicken which was carried out by using 9 point hedonic scale suggested that chicken meat treated with papaya crude extract gave significant effect on texture, juiciness, flavour and overall acceptability compared to commercial bromelain. Additionally, the use of papaya crude extract gave a significant effect on the physicochemical properties of marinated chicken.
To ascertain the level of knowledge among primary school teachers towards the management of traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) in school and to determine the preference among teachers regarding the education tools that can be used to increase awareness and knowledge among them. A total of 150 teachers from primary schools in three different districts were included in the study and they were given self-administered questionnaires to be filled. The validated questionnaire was distributed randomly in the selected schools. The questionnaire included two scenarios comprising of tooth fracture and avulsion. Questions regarding awareness and management of these scenarios were asked. All 150 participants answered the questionnaire; of these 74% were females 26% were males. 64% of the participants had received tertiary education. Although 70% of teachers had obtained first aid training, only 9.3% of them had received training regrading dental injuries. About 53% of participants knew the correct answer for the appropriate response to fractured tooth and only 35.3% managed to correctly answer the question related to appropriate response to an avulsed tooth. Only 38.7% knew about appropriate rinsing solution and a mere 4.7% were familiar with proper storage media. Even though the teachers have poor knowledge regarding management of dental injuries, it is reassuring to know that 93% of them are keen on further training and awareness. More educational programmes need to be introduced to empower the teachers with the relevant knowledge required to deal with dental emergencies.
Regression models are developed in various field of applications to help researchers to predict certain variables based on other predictor variables. The dependent variables in the regression model are estimated by a number of independent variables. Model utility test is a hypothesis testing procedure in regression to verify if there is a useful relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variable. The hypothesis testing procedure that involves p-value is commonly used in model utility test. A new technique that involves coefficient of determination R2 in model utility test is developed in this paper. The effectiveness of the model utility test in testing the significance of regression model is evaluated using simple linear regression model with the significance level α = 0.01, 0.025 and 0.05. The study in this paper shows that a regression model that is declared to be a significant model by using model utility test, however it fails to guarantee a strong linear relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable. Based on the evaluation presented in this paper, it is shown that the p-value approach in model utility test is not a good technique in evaluating the significance of a regression model. The results of this study could serve as a reference for other researchers applying regression analysis in their studies.
A study on abundance and diversity of Hymenoptera was conducted in Gunung Datuk, Rembau. Samplings were conducted from November 2014 to February 2015 using six Malaise traps. Three traps were placed at Site 1 at 700m height for high elevation and the remaining traps were placed at Site 2 at 200m height for low elevation. A total number of 221 Hymenopteran were collected which consist of nine families namely Ichneumonidae, Formicidae, Braconidae, Bethylidae, Evaniidae, Tiphiidae, Vespidae, Pompilidae and Apidae. In this study, 93 individuals were obtained from Site 1, comprising nine families and 43 morphospecies while 127 individuals were obtained from Site 2 with nine families and 45 morphospecies. Formicidae was the most dominant family collected from both sites with a total of 104 individuals while the least family recorded was Apidae with only one individual. Shannon’s Weiner Diversity Index (H’) showed Site 1 had the higher diversity value with H’ = 3.17 compared to Site 2 with value H’ = 3.12. For Evenness Index, Site 1 had higher value compared to Site 2 with E’ = 0.84 and E’ =0.82 respectively. Moreover, for Margalef Richness Index, Site 1 recorded R’ = 9.24 while site two recorded R’ = 9.08 which concluded that Site 1 had higher species richness compared to Site 2. Paired t-test showed that both sites had no significant difference with p>0.05. Overall study showed that the diversity and abundance of Hymenoptera in Gunung Datuk were low since the value of H’ is less than 3.50.
Materials that can enhance the sensitivity and selectivity of a biosensor are greatly in demand. The nanocomposition of thionine (Th) and graphene can increase the electroconductivity of the working electrode used. Graphene is a very good electrical conductor but is also hydrophobic in nature. Composition with thionine gives it the capability to disperse well in water. Plus, thionine provides the opportunity for DNA probes to be immobilized due to the presence of the amino group in its structure. In this research, the thionine-graphene (Th-G) nanocomposite was synthesized through filtration and characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to distinguish different elements coexist in the nanocomposite and to investigate the microstructure changes of the nanocomposite to confirm the composition. Different elements were analyzed to test the presence of both thionine and graphene in the composition. Physical characterisation through SEM proved the nanocomposition was a success.
Increasing demands in palm oil industry hence resulting the production of palm oil to increase. It is then creating a major problem in disposing the waste to be treat in appropriate ways. The governments are forced to look for alternative technology for the palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment because the demand of oil increases with the awareness on increasing environmental issue. Therefore, a new technology must be found in order to reduce energy consumption, to meet legal requirements on emission and for cost reduction and also increased quality of water treatment. Membrane Anaerobic System (MAS) is a promising alternative way to overcome these issues. In this study, the efficiency of the MAS performance increases to 99.03% in ten days operation. The application of Monod, Contois and Chen & Hashimoto models were used to analyze the performance of MAS for treating POME. The results from the experiment show the substrate removal model is well fits for estimation of kinetics membrane anaerobic system. Amongst them, the Contois and Monod models predicted the bio-kinetic reactions of the MAS very well with coefficient of determination (R2>97%) values. The MAS bioreactor was creating to be an improvement method as well as successful biological treatment since the graph shows linearized which is good agreement with reported in literature.
This paper presents the application of Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME) coupled with Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas Chromatography - Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) in characterizing the agarwood incense. The work involved three types of SPME fibres at 30 minute sampling time. The fibres are 50/30 μm divinylbenzene-carboxen-polydimethysiloxane (DVB-CAR-PDMS), 65 μm polydi methylsiloxane-divinylbenzene (PDMS-DVB) and 85 μm carboxen-polydimethyl siloxane (CAR-PDMS). The results showed that among the many compounds extracted by GC-MS coupled with SPME, six compounds were substantially found in high quality agarwood incense due to their high percentage area (%). They are β-maaliene, α-elemol, β-selinene, 10-epi-γ-eudesmol, agarospirol and caryophellene oxide. The finding offers a new approach for establishing the volatile profile of agarwood incense components as well as for agarwood grading and discrimination.
Magnesium-based polymer gel electrolytes consist of magnesium triflate (MgTf) salt, a mixture of ethylene carbonate (EC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC) solvents as well as cellulose acetate as a polymeric agent were prepared via direct dissolution method. The highest ionic conductivity obtained for MgTf-EC:DEC(1:1) liquid electrolytes was 2.66 x 10-3 S cm-1 and enhanced to 2.73 x 10-3 S cm-1 with the addition of cellulose acetate. These results were in agreement with the activation energy obtained with the lowest value of 0.11. The best explanation on the enhancement in ionic conductivity of PGE is due to the “breathing polymeric chain model”. The plots of conductivity-temperature shown to obey an Arrhenius rule. The electrical properties of the sample with the highest conductivity were analyzed using electrical permittivity-based frequency and temperature dependence in the range of 100 Hz - 1 MHz and 303-373K, respectively. The variation in dielectric permittivity (εr and εi) as a function of frequency at different temperatures exhibited decays at higher frequencies and a dispersive behavior at low frequencies. Based on the observed electrical properties, it can be inferred that this polymer gel electrolyte could be a promising candidate as an electrolyte in electrochemical devices.
In this study, Li1+xAlxTi2-x(PO4)3 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) was prepared by acetic acid-assisted sol-gel method. The structural properties of NASICON phosphates material with chemical formula LiTi2(PO4)3 were observed using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. NASICON is a family of crystalline phosphate with a general network system consisting of PO4 tetrahedra, thus bands were assigned by vibrations contributed by basic phosphates, in the wavenumber region between 1300 cm-1 and 600 cm-1. Experimental spectra indicated that all Li1+xAlxTi2-x(PO4)3 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5), heat treated at 600°C and 700°C for 3 hours in air, samples showed the presence of phosphate peaks with shift in frequency as Al3+ is substituted into the structure, and with increasing temperatures. Some bands broadened and overlapped causing it hard to analyze the arising bands. It however determined the existence of NASICON structure in all of the samples under study.
This paper presents on ionic conductivity of MG30-PEMA blend solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) prepared by solution cast technique. The analysis has shown that conductivity increases with the increasing salt composition. It is observed via x-ray diffraction analysis that the crystallinity of the sample decreased with the amount of salt composition as expected. It is also observed that the dielectric value increases with increasing amount of LiCF3SO3 in the sample. Surface morphology revealed that ion aggregation occurred after optimum conductivity which has lowered the conductivity.
α-Mangostin was extracted from the pericarp of the Malaysian local Garcinia mangostana linn., The structure was characterised by Infrared red, UV-Visible and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopic data. The fluorescence peak at 500nm in ethanol was not observed in PNIPAM microgel solution. The increase of colloidal size of the gel in the presence of α-mangostin was studied by Dynamic Light Scattering and Transmission Electron Microscope. The size of the particle also increases with increasing temperature up to 45⁰C after which it began to shrink. The TEM micrograph at 45°C showed a uniformly structured pattern of the gel occurs in the range of the lowest solution critical temperature.
Metakaolin is a manufactured pozzolan produced by thermal processing of purified kaolinitic clay using electrical furnace. This study has examined the effect of Metakaolin on the properties of cement and concrete at a replacement level of 0%, 5%, 10% and 15%. The parameters studied were divided into two groups which are chemical compositions, water requirement, setting time and soundness test were carried out for cementitous properties. Workability, compressive strength and bending strength were test for concrete properties. Hardened concrete was cured under different type of curing conditions and tested.. The result showed that the inclusions of Metakaolin as cement replacement minerals have change some of the cementitous and concrete properties. This research reveals, the optimum effect for cementitous and concrete properties for metakaolin was 10%.
In this study, the rice husk flour-plastic waste composites (RPC) was produced from polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) wastes with 30 and 50% rice husk flour (RHF) contents. RPC was made by melt compounding and compression moulding processes. The electrical resistivity, thermal stability and tensile strength of RPC were determined. The RPC was tested in electrical resistivity and tensile strength according to the ASTM D-257 and ASTM D-638 respectively, while thermal stability was tested using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) method. From the results, high content of RHF reduces all properties, except for tensile modulus of elasticity (TMOE) in tensile strength test. The ability of moisture absorption and the presence of hemicelluloses, cellulose and silica in RHF reduce the electrical resistivity and thermal stability behaviour of RPC from 50% RHF. The good binding elements and filler agglomeration in RPC from 50% RHF improve only TMOE. Insufficient stress transfer and rigid interphase occurred between RHF and plastics during tensile maximum load and elongation at break (Eb) in tensile strength test. In general, RPC from HDPE indicates better thermal stability, tensile modulus of rupture and Eb (in tensile strength test) compared to PP, based on the good behaviour of thermal conductivity, low water absorption, high molecular weight and good elongation properties of HDPE. However, RPC from PP shows good electrical resistance due to the low thermal expansion coefficient of PP.
Trees planted from agroforestry practices can become valuable resources in meeting the wood requirements of many nations. Gliricidia sepium is an exotic species introduced to the agricultural sector in Malaysia mainly for providing shade for cocoa and coffee plantations. This study investigates its wood physical properties (specific gravity and moisture content) and fibre morphology (length, lumen diameter and cell wall thickness) of G.sepium at three intervals according to age groups (three, five and seven years of ages). Specific gravity (0.72) was significantly higher at seven years of age as compared to five (0.41) and three (0.35) years age group with a mean of 0.43 (p0.05). Mean moisture content was 58.3 % with no significant difference existing between the tree age groups. fibre diameter (22.4 m) was significantly lower (p0.05) for the trees which were three years of age when compared to five and seven years age groups (26.6 m and 24.7 m), respectively. Means of fibre length, lumen diameter and cell wall thickness was 0.83 m, 18.3 m, and 6.2 m, respectively, with no significant differences detected between trees in all age groups in this study. Further calculation on the coefficient of suppleness and runkel ratio suggest that wood from G. sepium may have the potential for insulation board manufacture and paper making. However, future studies should experiment the utilization of this species for these products to determine its full potential.
Protease was extracted from two maturity stages of noni fruits (Morinda citrifolia L.), unripe (stage 1) and ripe (stage 5). The crude extract was partially purified by acetone precipitation method followed by dialysis, gel filtration chromatography and freeze drying. Protein concentrations, proteolytic activity, molecular weight distribution, pH stability, temperature stability and storage efficiency of the resulting protease were evaluated. The unripe and ripe noni fruit contains 0.65 and 0.35% protein, respectively. Molecular weight of the proteases from both stages ranged approximately between 3 to 28 kDa based on the SDS-PAGE results. The optimum activity were at pH 7s and 6, temperatures of 40 and 50°C, respectively for proteases obtained from the unripe and ripe fruit. Analysis from the freeze dried protease indicated that protease from ripe noni fruits had higher protein concentration and specific activity compared to those from unripe fruit. However, it is more sensitive to pH and temperature and less stable during storage as it shows lower proteolytic activity compared to protease from unripe fruit. Based on its high proteolytic activity reaching up to 70.31 U/mg and storage stability (30% lost of activity), noni fruit could be an alternative source of plant protease.
Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-based nanocomposites filled with graphene nanoplatelets (xGnP) that contains epoxidized palm oil (EPO) as plasticizer were prepared by melt blending method. PLA was first plasticized by EPO to improve its flexibility and thereby overcome its problem of brittleness. Then, xGnP was incoporated into plasticized PLA to enhance its mechanical properties. Plasticized and nanofilled PLA nanocomposites (PLA/EPO/xGnP) showed improvement in the elongation at break by 3322% and 61% compared to pristine PLA and PLA/EPO, respectively. The use of EPO and xGnP increases the mobility of the polymeric chains, thereby improving the flexibility and plastic deformation of PLA. The nanocomposites also resulted in an increase of up to 26.5% in the tensile strength compared with PLA/EPO blend. XRD pattern showed the presence of peak around 26.5° in PLA/EPO/xGnP nanocomposites which corresponds to characteristic peak of graphene nanoplatelets. Plasticized PLA reinforced with xGnP showed that increasing the xGnP content triggers a substantial increase in thermal stability. Crystallinity of the nanocomposites as well as cold crystallization and melting temperature did not show any significant changes upon addition of xGnP. However, there was a significant decrease of glass transition temperature up to 0.3wt% of xGnP incorporation. The TEM micrograph of PLA/EPO/xGnP shows that the xGnP was uniformly dispersed in the PLA matrix and no obvious aggregation was observed.
Natural fiber is incompatible with hydrophobic polymer due to its hydrophilic nature. Therefore, surface modification of fiber is needed to impart compatibility. In this work,superheated steam (SHS)-alkali was introduced as novel surface treatment method to modify oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) for fabrication of biocomposites. The OPMF was first pre-treated with SHS and subsequently treated with varying NaOH concentration (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5%) and soaking time (1, 2, 3 and 4h) at room temperature. The biocomposites were then fabricated by melt blending of 70 wt% SHS-alkali treated-OPMFs and 30 wt% poly(butylene succinate) in a Brabender internal mixer followed by hot-pressed moulding. The combination treatment resulted in fiber with rough surface as well as led to the exposure ofmicrofibers. The tensile test result showed that fiber treated at 2% NaOH solution and 3h soaking time produced biocomposite with highest improvement in tensile strength (69%) and elongation at break (36%) in comparison to that of untreated OPMF. The scanning electron micrographs of tensile fracture surfaces of biocomposite provide evident for improved adhesion between fiber and polymer after thetreatments.This work demonstrated that combination treatments of SHS and NaOH could be a promising way to modify OPMF for fabrication of biocomposite.
A polystyrene (PS)-anchored Pd(II) metal complex was synthesized on cross-linked polymer by heating a mixture of chlorometylated polystyrene with phenyldithiocarbazate and carbon disulfide in the presence of potassium hydroxide (KOH) in dimethylformamide (DMF). The reaction mixture was heated at 80 °C to form the corresponding phenyldithiocarbazate-functionalized polymer. Then, it was treated with bis(benzonitrile)palladium(II) chloride. The properties of dark colored polymer, impregnated with the metal complex was then characterized by various spectroscopic technique such as Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX), CHNS elemental analysis, BET surface area, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric (TGA) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission (ICP-OES) spectroscopy.