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Rational finite difference approximation of high order Accuracy for nonlinear two point boundary value problems

Pandey P

Sains Malaysiana, 2014;43:1105-1108.

In this paper, we present a new method for solving nonlinear general two point boundary value problems. A method based on finite differences and rational function approximation and we call this method as rational approximation method. A rational approximation method is applied to construct the numerical solution for two point boundary value problems. The novel method is tested on three model problems. Thus the numerical results obtained for these model problems show the performance and efficiency of the developed method.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Problem-solving skills appraisal mediates hardiness and suicidal ideation among malaysian undergraduate students

Abdollahi A, Talib MA, Yaacob SN, Ismail Z

PLoS One, 2015;10(4):e0122222.
PMID: 25830229 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0122222

Recent evidence suggests that suicidal ideation is increased among university students, it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicidal ideation among university students. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills appraisal, hardiness, and suicidal ideation among university students. In addition, this study was conducted to examine problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) as a potential mediator between hardiness and suicidal ideation.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving*
Fulltext Bee Inspired Novel Optimization Algorithm and Mathematical Model for Effective and Efficient Route Planning in Railway System

Leong KH, Abdul-Rahman H, Wang C, Onn CC, Loo SC

PLoS One, 2016;11(12):e0166064.
PMID: 27930659 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166064

Railway and metro transport systems (RS) are becoming one of the popular choices of transportation among people, especially those who live in urban cities. Urbanization and increasing population due to rapid development of economy in many cities are leading to a bigger demand for urban rail transit. Despite being a popular variant of Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), it appears that the universal formula or techniques to solve the problem are yet to be found. This paper aims to develop an optimization algorithm for optimum route selection to multiple destinations in RS before returning to the starting point. Bee foraging behaviour is examined to generate a reliable algorithm in railway TSP. The algorithm is then verified by comparing the results with the exact solutions in 10 test cases, and a numerical case study is designed to demonstrate the application with large size sample. It is tested to be efficient and effective in railway route planning as the tour can be completed within a certain period of time by using minimal resources. The findings further support the reliability of the algorithm and capability to solve the problems with different complexity. This algorithm can be used as a method to assist business practitioners making better decision in route planning.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext The effectiveness of Realistic Mathematics Education approach: The role of mathematical representation as mediator between mathematical belief and problem solving

Yuanita P, Zulnaidi H, Zakaria E

PLoS One, 2018;13(9):e0204847.
PMID: 30261056 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204847

This study aims to identify the role of mathematical representation as a mediator between mathematical belief and problem solving. A quasi-experimental design was developed that included 426 Form 1 secondary school students. Respondents comprised 209 and 217 students in the treatment and control groups, respectively. SPSS 23.0, ANATES 4 and Amos 18 were used for data analysis. Findings indicated that mathematical representation plays a significant role as mediator between mathematical belief and arithmetic problem solving. The Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach successfully increased the arithmetic problem-solving ability of students.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext TRIZ or DFMA Combined With QFD as Product Design Methodology: A Review

Rosnani Ginting, Amir Yazid Ali

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2016;24(1):1-25.
MyJurnal

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.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext The role of similarity measurement in an agent-based supplier selection framework

Alireza Jahani, Masrah Azrifah Azmi Murad, Md. Nasir Sulaiman, Hasan Selamat

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2013;21(1):261-272.
MyJurnal

Similarity measurement is a critical component in any case-based reasoning (CBR) system. CBR is
a superior technique for solving new problems based on previous experiences. Main assumption in
CBR relies on the hypothesis that states similar problems should have similar solutions. This paper
describes a comparative analysis on several commonly used similarity measures (Canberra, Clark, and Normalized Euclidean distance) in retrieving phase of the case-based reasoning approach to facilitate supplier selection. In addition, the proposed agent-based supplier selection framework was designed to use customer’s defined weights to evaluate the price, volume, quality grade, and delivery date of supply materials, and also provide them with alternative products which are closest to their first order if it was out of stock. Finally, based on the proposed framework, a numerical example of the used approach is illustrated.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext A new heuristic method to solve straight assembly line balancing problem

Mohd Khairol Anuar Mohd Ariffin, Masood fathi, Napsiah Ismail

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2012;20(2):355-369.
MyJurnal

Assembly line balancing is well-known in mass production system but this problem is non-deterministicpolynomial-time(NP)-hard, even for a simple straight line. Although several heuristic methods havebeen introduced and used by researchers, knowing and using an effective method in solving these typesof problems in less computational time have a considerable place in the area of line balancing problem.In this research, a new heuristic approach, known as critical node method (CNM), was introduced andtested by solving several test problems available in the literature so as to solve straight assembly lines.Finally, the obtained results are compared with 9 other heuristic rules in some performance measures.Thus, it is concluded that the proposed CNM is better than the rest in all the measures.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Optimization and analysis of bioethanol production from cassava starch hydrolysis

Liew, E. W. T.

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2014;22(2):637-644.
MyJurnal

Current ethanol production processes utilizing crops such as sugar cane and corn starch have been well established over the decade. Other crop such as cassava is a potential candidate in producing ethanol. However, thermal processes are required to hydrolyze starch for the production of fermentable sugars. The processes are energy intensive and could lead to undesirable by-products generation. In this work, the hydrolysis of cassava starch is studied following an experimental design as a statistical problem solving approach. Central composite design (CCD) is used in order to select the most important variables from the simultaneous study on the effect and influence of operating conditions of bioreactor utilized, namely, pH, temperature and substrate concentration, as well as to optimize the process of cassava starch hydrolysis. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that the cassava starch hydrolysis is enhanced by pH and temperature. Model validations show good agreement between experimental results and the predicted responses.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Diagonal preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm for unconstrained optimization

Choong Boon Ng, Wah June Leong, Mansor Monsi

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2014;22(1):213-224.
MyJurnal

The nonlinear conjugate gradient (CG) methods have widely been used in solving unconstrained optimization problems. They are well-suited for large-scale optimization problems due to their low memory requirements and least computational costs. In this paper, a new diagonal preconditioned conjugate gradient (PRECG) algorithm is designed, and this is motivated by the fact that a pre-conditioner can greatly enhance the performance of the CG method. Under mild conditions, it is shown that the algorithm is globally convergent for strongly convex functions. Numerical results are presented to show that the new diagonal PRECG method works better than the standard CG method.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Adaptive particle swarm optimisation for solving non-convex economic dispatch problems

Nurhafizah Jamain, Ismail Musirin, Mohd Helmi Mansor, Muhammad Murtadha Othman, Siti Aliyah Mohd Salleh

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2017;25(103):275-286.
MyJurnal

This paper presents adaptive particle swarm optimization for solving non-convex economic dispatch problems. In this study, a new technique was developed known as adaptive particle swarm optimization (APSO), to alleviate the problems experienced in the traditional particle swarm optimisation (PSO). The traditional PSO was reported that this technique always stuck at local minima. In APSO, economic dispatch problem are considered with valve point effects. The search efficiency was improved when a new parameter was inserted into the velocity term. This has achieved local minima. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed technique, this study examined two case studies, with and without contingency.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext A human-inspired collective intelligence model for multi-agent based system

Gunasekaran, S.S., Ahmad, M.S., Mostafa, S.A.

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2017;25(110):39-54.
MyJurnal

The collaborative and competitive nature of multi-agent systems (MAS) is visible through the simple social mode of communication that emerges between human-agent interactions or agent-to-agent interactions. A simple mode of communication involves the fundamental actions carried out by individual agents in achieving their desired goal. The sum of these achievements contribute to the overall group goal. Comparatively, the collective intelligence (CI) of a MAS simply means that these agents should work together to produce better solutions than those made possible when using the traditional approach. In designing MAS with CI properties, formalisation of a higher level deliberation process is essential. A high level deliberation process refers to the judgement comprehension of tasks, reasoning and problem solving and planning. In this paper, we propose our Collective Intelligence Model, CIM, which has the potential to control and coordinate a high-level deliberation process of a MAS. CIM is inspired by the emerging processes of controlled discussion, argumentation and negotiation between two or more intelligent human agents. These processes screen and validate the deliberation process through a crossfertilisation approach. The emergent property of the cross-fertilised ideas results in an intelligent solution that solves optimisation-related tasks.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Latent profiles of elite Malaysian athletes' use of psychological skills and techniques and relations with mental toughness

Ponnusamy V, Lines RLJ, Zhang CQ, Gucciardi DF

PeerJ, 2018;6:e4778.
PMID: 29780672 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4778

Background: The majority of past work on athletes' use of psychological skills and techniques (PSTs) has adopted a variable-centered approach in which the statistical relations among study variables are averaged across a sample. However, variable-centered-analyses exclude the possibility that PSTs may be used in tandem or combined in different ways across practice and competition settings. With this empirical gap in mind, the purposes of this study were to identify the number and type of profiles of elite athletes' use of PSTs, and examine differences between these clusters in terms of their self-reported mental toughness.
Methods: In this cross-sectional survey study, 285 Malaysian elite athletes (170 males, 115 females) aged 15-44 years (M = 18.89, SD = 4.49) completed measures of various PSTs and mental toughness. Latent profile analysis was employed to determine the type and number of profiles that best represent athletes' reports of their use of PSTs in practice and competition settings, and examine differences between these classes in terms of self-reported mental toughness.
Results: Our results revealed three profiles (low, moderate, high use) in both practice and competition settings that were distinguished primarily according to quantitative differences in the absolute levels of reported use across most of the PSTs assessed in practice and competition settings, which in turn, were differentially related with mental toughness. Specifically, higher use of PSTs was associated with higher levels of mental toughness.
Conclusion: This study provides one of the first analyses of the different configurations of athletes' use of PSTs that typify unique subgroups of performers. An important next step is to examine the longitudinal (in) stability of such classes and therefore provide insight into the temporal dynamics of different configurations of athletes' use of PSTs.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Perception of content and non-content expert facilitators of PBL according to students' performance levels

Ismail NA, Alias E, Arifin KT, Damanhuri MH, Karim NA, Aan GJ

Pak J Med Sci, 2015 Nov-Dec;31(6):1537-41.
PMID: 26870131 DOI: 10.12669/pjms.316.8691

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centred learning system that involves multidisciplinary fields focused on problem solving. Facilitators of PBL are not necessarily content experts but little is known on how this concept has affected the outcomes of PBL sessions in learning Medical Biochemistry. We aimed to evaluate the impact of having the content expert as a facilitator in conducting PBL.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
The undergraduate curriculum of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak in terms of Harden's 10 questions

Malik AS, Malik RH

Med Teach, 2002 Nov;24(6):616-21.
PMID: 12623455

The curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) is designed particularly to cater for the health needs of the State of Sarawak, Malaysia. The framework of the curriculum is built on four strands: biological knowledge, clinical skills, behavioural and population aspects. The training is community based and a graduate of FMHS is expected to possess the ability to deal with many ethnic groups with different cultures and beliefs; expertise in tropical infectious diseases; skills to deal with emergencies such as snakebite and near drowning; qualities of an administrator, problem-solver and community leader; and proficiency in information and communication technology. The content of the curriculum strives for commitment to lifelong learning and professional values. The FMHS has adopted a 'mixed economy' of education strategies and a 'mixed menu approach' to test a wide range of curriculum outcomes. The FMHS fosters intellectual and academic pursuits, encourages friendliness and a sense of social responsibility and businesslike efficiency.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
The way we teach otolaryngology in an integrated problem-based curriculum

Elango S, Arumainayagam GC, Palaniappan SP

Med Teach, 1991;13(1):63-6.
PMID: 1865800

The University Science Malaysia, Penang, the third medical school in Malaysia, is following an integrated curriculum. In this curriculum, the students are taught the subject of otolaryngology from the second year of their course unlike the traditional schools where they are taught in the fourth or fifth year. This paper describes how otolaryngology is introduced in this integrated, problem-based curriculum.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Content coverage in problem-based learning

Shahabudin SH

Med Educ, 1987 Jul;21(4):310-3.
PMID: 3626898

Required learning of the basic medical sciences based on five clinical problems was compiled by teachers and subsequently derived as 'learning needs' by students during the problem-solving process. These lists of topics were compared in terms of number of lecture-hours and when these were taught in the traditional curriculum. The findings indicate that learning from problems is not entirely free-rein and can be largely determined by teachers; topics taught earlier in the course appeared more frequently than latter topics and there was a tremendous overlap of topics in both the traditional and problem-based list. Regardless of whether lectures have been given or not, students recalled facts better if they had encountered the related clinical problem. This study also reveals that problem-based learning can be as efficient as lectures in content coverage and concludes that the lecture method be retained provided the topics are selective and are derived and sequenced appropriately with clinical problems. Problem-solving should be adopted as a teaching strategy.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving*
Fulltext Rigour in qualitative research: is there a panacea to it?

AHMED, ABUBAKAR, MURTALA MUHAMMAD

Malaysian Journal of Qualitative Research, 2017;4(1):60-68.
MyJurnal

Despite the reported limitations of the qualitative research in comparison to other methodologies, we contend that the common criticisms against it are too often using criteria explicitly analogous to quantitative reasoning. We critically analysed the reported limitations of qualitative research in the literature to deconstruct the conflicting discourses that enable an understanding of their subjectivity. Also, we provide a philosophical justification that both qualitative and quantitative methodologies are appropriate for studying a different form of reality. Lincoln and Guba’s four principles for determining the quality of qualitative research rigour along with confirmability, transferability, credibility and dependability are deemed appropriate rather than the commonly employed internal and external validity, reliability and objectivity. Finally, we argued that a widespread use of a different standard for judging the quality of qualitative research consequential to its philosophical stance is the panacea for the unfair criticisms in the future.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Factors affecting motivation level among public health specialists in the Ministry of Health Malaysia

Aniza, I., Syed Mohamed Al Junid, Sharifa Ezat

Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2006;6(1):17-22.
MyJurnal

Employee motivation affects productivity and need to be channeled towards the accomplishment of organizational goals. A cross sectional study was conducted among Public Health Specialists (PHS) in the Ministry of Health Malaysia to study their motivation level and the factors influencing this. The respondents were from the Association of Public Health Specialists of Malaysia working in the Ministry of Health. Quantitative Technique self-administered questionnaires were used in this study and the questionnaires were mailed to the respondents. The response rate for this study was 72.3%. In measuring the motivation level, five (5) aspects were studied. The social aspect, self -achievement aspect and autonomy aspect were found to be the main aspects that motivated the respondents. With regard to motivation level, 55.8 % respondents had low motivation level. In order to improve the motivation level among PHS, the aspect of self actualization and autonomy required serious attention. In the future, PHS are expected to play a major role in controlling, promoting, preventing, maintaining, restoring and solving problems in order to enhance the health of the Malaysian population.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Employee satisfaction of various aspects of human resource management and work environment in a health district office in Perak

Adlina, S., Narimah, A.H.H., Hakimi, Z.A., N Adilah, H., N Syuhada, Y.

Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2006;6(2):26-30.
MyJurnal

Employee satnfaction surveys can provide the information needed to improved levek of productivity, job and loyalty. Management can identify the factors of job issues and provide solutions to improve the working environment. A cross sectional descriptive study on employee satisfaction among a health care district office’s staff was conducted in Perak in March - April 2006. A total of 19 staff were randomly picked and interviewed in the data collection process. Almost all understand the objectives of the administration unit (94%) and were satisfied with the management leadership’s style (78%- l 00%) . Majority agreed that their relationship with immediate superior and within the group was harmonious and professional (89%) and they preferred an open problem solving method in handling conflict (72 %). The most common type of incentive rewarded by the administration to express gratitude to their staff was certificate (56%); bonus and medal (33%); and informal gesture (28%). Majority (83%) were also satisfied by the method used to disseminate the information in their units. Majority agreed that the working environment in the administration unit were conducive (72%), their ideas were equally considered during decision making sessions (89%) and training opportunities were similarly given to them by the management (72%). This study revealed that employee satisfaction was determined by several factors such as management leadership's style, opportunity to contribute skills and idea; reward and incentive; and conducive king environment.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving
Fulltext Does Psychoeducation Improve Insight of Patients with Schizophrenia?

Ruzanna, Z., Marhani, M., Parveen, K.

Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry, 2010;19(2):1-14.
MyJurnal

The main aim of the study was to determine the effect of psychoeducation program on insight of patients with schizophrenia and to determine other factors associated with the change of the insight. This was an interventional study of 70 patients with schizophrenia who underwent a psychoeducation program. Diagnosis was confirmed using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I). Insight was assessed using the Schedule for the Assessment of Insight (SAI) before and after the psychoeducation programme. Effect on insight was measured as the change in SAI scores. There was an improvement in insight after the psychoeducation programme which was significant (p< 0.001). Patient’s age, shorter duration of illness and no previous history of admission to mental institution were significantly related to the improvement of insight (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Psychoeducation is an important tool in improving insight into illness among patients with schizophrenia. It needs to be given as early as possible during the course of the illness.

Matched MeSH terms: Problem Solving

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