Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a structured methodology that uses customer and technical
requirements for designers and manufacturers to provide better products. Many researchers combine or
integrate the technique of QFD with other methodologies such as Theory Inventive of Problem Solving
(TRIZ) or Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) to optimise product design innovation and
improvement. The combined methodologies are even used to solve process problems. Initial literature
review of the application of stand-alone QFD poised several problems. Combining QFD with other
techniques, such as TRIZ and DFMA, has helped to address these issues and forms the basis of future
research. The integrated methods can solve main contradictory problems more precisely from product
demand analysis to product design, production and application. Review work of the literature, specifically
that on research and development of QFD, TRIZ and DFMA, showed that the said methodologies have
been widely and successfully implemented in several practical applications such as resolving conflicts
between customer and technical/engineering requirements and reducing production cost. This review work
provides an in-depth analysis of identifying and finding issues of strengths, weaknesses and outcomes
of the QFD when combined with TRIZ and also of QFD integrated with DFMA.
Citation:
Research Ethics Committee. Guidelines for Ethical Review of Clinical Research or Research Involving Human Subjects. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; 2014
Bapa tunggal merupakan satu golongan yang kurang dititikberatkan oleh masyarakat termasuk agensi-agensi dan NGO yang memfokuskan kepada kebajikan masyarakat berbanding dengan ibu tunggal. Hal ini kerana kebanyakan masyarakat merasakan bahawa golongan ini memiliki kekuatan fizikal dan mental yang tinggi memandangkan bapa tunggal adalah kaum lelaki. Namun, tidak dinafikan bahawa golongan bapa tunggal ini juga mengalami tekanan serius kerana kehilangan satu semangat atau sokongan tanpa pasangan hidupnya. Mereka terpaksa menyandang pelbagai tugas dalam rumah tangga dan membesarkan anak-anak. Kajian terdahulu lebih memfokuskan kepada ibu tunggal yang mendapat sokongan sosial daripada pelbagai agensi. Maka tekanan dan sokongan sosial penting dalam permasalahan bapa tunggal terutama dalam pengurusan rumah tangga dan pekerjaan harian. Objektif utama kajian ini ialah meneroka tekanan dan sokongan sosial dalam kalangan bapa tunggal. Kajian ini dijalankan dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif berpandukan kajian kes. Teknik pengumpulan data kajian adalah melalui temu bual berstruktur. Tujuh orang informan telah dipilih bagi kajian ini dengan menggunakan teknik persampelan bertujuan (purposive sampling). Lokasi kajian yang dipilih ialah daerah Kuala Selangor, Selangor. Data temu bual berstruktur dianalisis secara tematik dan hasil kajian mendapati terdapat tiga faktor utama yang mempengaruhi tekanan terhadap bapa tunggal iaitu emosi, pengurusan rumah tangga dan pekerjaan yang ditemukan menerusi transkrip informan kajian. Manakala sokongan sosial yang diperlukan oleh golongan bapa tunggal ialah kewangan, sokongan moral dan tempat bersembang. Implikasi kajian ini diharapkan dapat mencadangkan program advokasi yang sesuai kepada pekerja sosial dalam mengendalikan kes bapa tunggal dalam komuniti dan institusi.
This review is conducted to understand the self-management experience among the patients throughout their cancer trajectory. Five databases were inputted systematic searches from February to April 2018. Several important themes emerged from the review, including their needs, facilitators, barriers, strategies, and provision of support towards self-management. The needs for sufficient and appropriate information was the most severe concern among nasopharyngeal cancer patients. Understanding self-management from the patients' perspectives may draw attention to specific concerns for self-management. However, the study of nasopharyngeal cancer patients is still under-researched. Therefore, exploratory research to understand their unique self-management experiences may help to design the care and support tailored to them to provide more holistic yet individualized care.
Objective: To develop an innovative prioritisation process to identify topics for new or updated systematic reviews of tinnitus research.Design: A two-stage prioritisation process was devised. First, a scoping review assessed the amount of randomized controlled trial-level evidence available. This enabled development of selection criteria for future reviews, aided the design of template protocol and suggested the scale of work that would be required to conduct these reviews. Second, using the pre-defined primary and secondary criteria, interventions were prioritised for systematic review.Study sample: Searches identified 1080 records. After removal of duplicates and out of scope works, 437 records remained for full data charting.Results: The process was tested, using subjective tinnitus as the clinical condition and using Cochrane as the systematic review platform. The criteria produced by this process identified three high priority reviews: (1) Sound therapy using amplification devices and/or sound generators; (2) Betahistine and (3) Cognitive behaviour therapy. Further secondary priorities were: (4) Gingko biloba, (5) Anxiolytics, (6) Hypnotics, (7) Antiepileptics and (8) Neuromodulation.Conclusions: A process was developed which successfully identified priority areas for Cochrane systematic reviews of interventions for subjective tinnitus. This technique could easily be transferred to other conditions and other types of systematic reviews.
Case reports can provide early information about new, unusual or rare disease(s), newer treatment strategies, improved therapeutic benefits and adverse effects of interventions or medications. This paper describes the process that led to the development of the Preferred Reporting Items for Case reports in Endodontics (PRICE) 2020 guidelines through a consensus-based methodology. A steering committee was formed with eight members (PD, VN, BC, PM, PS, EP, JJ and SP), including the project leaders (PD, VN). The steering committee developed an initial checklist by combining and modifying the items from the Case Report (CARE) guidelines and Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publications (CLIP) principles. A PRICE Delphi Group (PDG) and PRICE Face-to-Face Meeting Group (PFMG) were then formed. The members of the PDG were invited to participate in an online Delphi process to achieve consensus on the wording and utility of the checklist items and the accompanying flow chart that was created to complement the PRICE 2020 guidelines. The revised PRICE checklist and flow chart developed by the online Delphi process was discussed by the PFMG at a meeting held during the 19th European Society of Endodontology (ESE) Biennial Congress in Vienna, Austria, in September 2019. Following the meeting, the steering committee created a final version of the guidelines, which were piloted by several authors during the writing of a case report. In order to help improve the clarity, completeness and quality of case reports in Endodontics, we encourage authors to use the PRICE 2020 guidelines.
Matched MeSH terms: Research Design*; Research Report
Over the last decade, researchers in health services research started using qualitative research methods. This has led to a corresponding rise in the reporting of the qualitative research studies in medical and related journals, including dental journals. Qualitative research is often contrasted with quantitative research as a set of 'non quantitative methods', since it does not deal with numbers and enumerate phenomena. It interprets the information people bring to research, which helps us to understand social phenomena in natural settings like their own territory, in their own language and on their own terms, giving emphasis to the meaning, experience and view of all the participants.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This article will help the clinician to understand the importance of in-depth knowledge of behaviour and social phenomena around the patient.
Matched MeSH terms: Health Services Research/classification*; Health Services Research/standards; Research Design*; Dental Research/classification*; Dental Research/standards; Ethics, Research; Qualitative Research
The welfare and protection of human subjects is critical to the integrity of clinical investigation and research. Institutional review boards (IRBs) were thus set up to be impartial reviewers of research protocols in clinical research. Their main role is to stand between the investigator and her human subjects in order to ensure that the welfare of human subjects are protected. While there is much literature on the conflicts of interest (CIs) faced by investigators and researchers in clinical investigations, an area that is less explored is CIs that may affect members of IRBs during the institutional ethics review of clinical investigations. This article examines the notion of CIs in clinical research and attempts to develop a framework for a clearer and more balanced approach to identifying CIs that may influence members of IRBs and impede their independence. It will also apply the proposed framework to demonstrate how IRBs possess, or at least may appear to possess, forms of financial CIs and non-financial CIs. The proper identification and management of these CIs is critical to preserving the integrity of clinical investigations and achieving the primary aim of human subjects protection.
The regulated use of animals in endodontic research is often necessary to investigate the biological mechanisms of endodontic diseases and to measure the preclinical efficacy, biocompatibility, toxicology and safety of new treatments, biomaterials, sealers, drugs, disinfectants, irrigants, devices and instruments. Animal testing is most crucial in situations when research on humans is not ethical, practical or has unknown health risks. Currently, there is a wide variability in the quality of manuscripts that report the results of animal studies. Towards the goal of improving the quality of publications, guidelines for preventing disability, pain, and suffering to animals, and enhanced reporting requirements for animal research have been developed. These guidelines are referred to as Animals in Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE). Henceforth, causing any form of animal suffering for research purposes is not acceptable and cannot be justified under any circumstances. The present report describes a protocol for the development of welfare and reporting guidelines for animal studies conducted in the specialty of Endodontology: the Preferred Reporting Items for Animal Studies in Endodontology (PRIASE) guidelines. The PRIASE guidelines will be developed by adapting and modifying the ARRIVE guidelines and the Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publication (CLIP) principles. The development of the new PRIASE guidelines will include a five-step consensus process. An initial draft of the PRIASE guidelines will be developed by a steering committee. Each item in the draft guidelines will then be evaluated by members of a PRIASE Delphi Group (PDG) for its clarity using a dichotomous scale (yes or no) and suitability for its inclusion using a 9-point Likert scale. The online surveys will continue until each item achieves this standard, and a set of items are agreed for further analysis by a PRIASE Face-to-face Consensus Meeting Group (PFCMG). Following the consensus meeting, the steering committee will finalize and confirm the PRIASE guidelines taking into account the responses and comments of the PFCMG. The PRIASE guidelines will be published and disseminated internationally and updated periodically based on feedback from stakeholders.
Matched MeSH terms: Research Design*; Research Report
The purpose of the present study is to provide a critical review on the revolution of the "compliance" concepts from compliance to adherence, and adherence to concordance for both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies. A comprehensive literature search was performed using online databases from Library of University Putra Malaysia, and Pub Med based on the keywords. The present study showed that both quantitative and qualitative studies cannot be neglected in assessing adherence and its related problems. One of major findings from the present review is that "compliance" was no longer suitable for current treatments and it is important to define concepts of the terms used (adherence or concordance) correctly and clearly. The findings reflected that researchers placed greater value on medication adherence than non-pharmacological adherence. There were three general factors related to treatments adherence, namely socio-economic factor, treatments-related factor and disease-related factor. The findings showed that both qualitative and quantitative studies found consistent results for most of the factors, except for the experience of diseases symptoms. Both study design contribute important values to the adherence studies and future studies should incorporate both quantitative and qualitative studies to understand adherence in both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments.
Matched MeSH terms: Research Design; Research Personnel; Qualitative Research
Relapse is a common phenomenon among former addicts who has undergone a preventive and rehabilitation treatment program. Relaps is a condition of using drugs more than one times after stopping them for a certain period of time depending on one's resistance to a drug withdrawal syndrome. There are various factors that affect the former drug addicts became relaps. Hence, the focus of this study is to explain the external factors of relaps among adult male drug addicts in Cure and Care Service Centre, Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan. This study is a qualitative research that has been using a phenomenology approach using face-to-face interviews and further observation among eight drug addicts who are undergoing rehabilitation programs at CCSC Kuala Pilah. Sample selection was done through purposive sampling techniques and data were analyzed using thematic analysis through an inductive approach that focused on coding to obtain some key themes. The result of the study indicates the external factors such as family, peer and environmental factors play a great role in influencing of relapse. In conclusion, these identified factors illustrate the external influences that cause drug addicts to relapse. Therefore, the researcher proposes a post-rehabilitation module or program done by the responsible agencies after the addicts completed the rehabilitation program as guidance for them to the right direction for efficient recovery.
Matched MeSH terms: Research Design; Research Personnel; Qualitative Research
Laboratory-based research studies are the most common form of research endeavour and make up the majority of manuscripts that are submitted for publication in the field of Endodontology. The scientific information derived from laboratory studies can be used to design a wide range of subsequent studies and clinical trials and may have translational potential to benefit clinical practice. Unfortunately, the majority of laboratory-based articles submitted for publication fail the peer-review step, because unacceptable flaws or substantial limitations are identified. Even when apparently well-conducted laboratory-based articles are peer-reviewed, they can often require substantial corrections prior to the publication. It is apparent that some authors and reviewers may lack the training and experience to have developed a systematic approach to evaluate the quality of laboratory studies. Occasionally, even accepted manuscripts contain limitations that may compromise interpretation of data. To help authors avoid manuscript rejection and correction pitfalls, and to aid editors/reviewers to evaluate manuscripts systematically, the purpose of this project is to establish and publish quality guidelines for authors to report laboratory studies in the field of Endodontology so that the highest standards are achieved. The new guidelines will be named-'Preferred Reporting Items for Laboratory studies in Endodontology' (PRILE). A steering committee was assembled by the project leads to develop the guidelines through a five-phase consensus process. The committee will identify new items as well as review and adapt items from existing guidelines. The items forming the draft guidelines will be reviewed and refined by a PRILE Delphi Group (PDG). The items will be evaluated by the PDG on a nine-point Likert scale for relevance and inclusion. The agreed items will then be discussed by a PRILE face-to-face consensus meeting group (PFCMG) formed by 20 individuals to further refine the guidelines. This will be subject to final approval by the steering committee. The approved PRILE guidelines will be disseminated through publication in relevant journals, presented at congresses/meetings, and be freely available on a dedicated website. Feedback and comments will be solicited from researchers, editors and peer reviewers, who are invited to contact the steering committee with comments to help them update the guidelines periodically.
Matched MeSH terms: Research Design*; Research Report
Case reports play a key role in showcasing new, unusual or rare disease(s), and the impact of newer therapeutic approaches or interventions. The Preferred Reporting Items for Case reports in Endodontics (PRICE) 2020 guidelines are being introduced exclusively for Endodontics by adapting and integrating the CAse REport (CARE) guidelines and Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publications principles. The PRICE 2020 guidelines have been developed to help authors improve the completeness, accuracy and transparency of case reports in Endodontics and thus enhance the standard of manuscripts submitted for publication. The aim of this document is to provide a comprehensive explanation for each item in the PRICE 2020 checklist along with examples from the literature that demonstrate compliance with these guidelines. This information will highlight the importance of each item and provide practical examples to help authors understand the necessity of providing comprehensive information when preparing case reports. A link to this PRICE 2020 explanation and elaboration document is available on the Preferred Reporting Items for study Designs in Endodontology website at http://www.pride-endodonticguidelines.org.
Matched MeSH terms: Research Design; Research Report*
A 3-D model for 1 MW TRIGA Mark II research reactor was simulated. Neutron flux parameters were calculated using MCNP-4C code and were compared with experimental results obtained by k(0)-INAA and absolute method. The average values of φ(th),φ(epi), and φ(fast) by MCNP code were (2.19±0.03)×10(12) cm(-2)s(-1), (1.26±0.02)×10(11) cm(-2)s(-1) and (3.33±0.02)×10(10) cm(-2)s(-1), respectively. These average values were consistent with the experimental results obtained by k(0)-INAA. The findings show a good agreement between MCNP code results and experimental results.
For medical application, the efficiency and transmission distance of the wireless power transfer (WPT) are always the main concern. Research has been showing that the impedance matching is one of the critical factors for dealing with the problem. However, there is not much work performed taking both the source and load sides into consideration. Both sides matching is crucial in achieving an optimum overall performance, and the present work proposes a circuit model analysis for design and implementation. The proposed technique was validated against experiment and software simulation. Result was showing an improvement in transmission distance up to 6 times, and efficiency at this transmission distance had been improved up to 7 times as compared to the impedance mismatch system. The system had demonstrated a near-constant transfer efficiency for an operating range of 2cm-12cm.