MyMedR

The effect of job and environmental factors on job satisfaction in automotive industries

Dawal SZ, Taha Z

Int J Occup Saf Ergon, 2006;12(3):267-80.

A methodology was developed for diagnosing industrial work, which includes questionnaire, observation, measurements, data collection and statistical analysis. A survey was conducted to investigate the relationship between job satisfaction and factors that affect work design in 2 automotives manufacturing companies in Malaysia. A basic work design model was proposed. The aim of this model was to determine the factors that influence employees' perception towards their work. A set of multiple-choice questionnaires was developed and data was collected by interviewing employees at a production plant. The survey focused on job and environmental factors. The results supported the proposed model and showed that job and environmental factors were significantly related to job satisfaction. They highlighted the significant influence of age, work experience and marital status on job satisfaction. Further, environmental factors, especially the surroundings, context dependence and the building's function, also had a significant impact on job satisfaction.

Determination of volatile organic compounds pollution sources in malaysian drinking water using multivariate analysis

Soh SC, Abdullah MP

Environ Monit Assess, 2007 Jan;124(1-3):39-50.

PMID: 16967208

A field investigation was conducted at all water treatment plants throughout 11 states and Federal Territory in Peninsular Malaysia. The sampling points in this study include treatment plant operation, service reservoir outlet and auxiliary outlet point at the water pipelines. Analysis was performed by solid phase micro-extraction technique with a 100 microm polydimethylsiloxane fibre using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection to analyse 54 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of different chemical families in drinking water. The concentration of VOCs ranged from undetectable to 230.2 microg/l. Among all of the VOCs species, chloroform has the highest concentration and was detected in all drinking water samples. Average concentrations of total trihalomethanes (THMs) were almost similar among all states which were in the range of 28.4--33.0 microg/l. Apart from THMs, other abundant compounds detected were cis and trans-1,2-dichloroethylene, trichloroethylene, 1,2-dibromoethane, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, chlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene and 1,2-dichloro - benzene. Principal component analysis (PCA) with the aid of varimax rotation, and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) method were used to statistically verify the correlation between VOCs and the source of pollution. The multivariate analysis pointed out that the maintenance of auxiliary pipelines in the distribution systems is vital as it can become significant point source pollution to Malaysian drinking water.

Individual and combined effects of organic, toxic, and hydraulic shocks on sequencing batch reactor in treating petroleum refinery wastewater

Mizzouri NSh, Shaaban MG

J Hazard Mater, 2013 Apr 15;250-251:333-44.

PMID: 23474407 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.01.082

This study analyzes the effects of toxic, hydraulic, and organic shocks on the performance of a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with a capacity of 5L. Petroleum refinery wastewater (PRWW) was treated with an organic loading rate (OLR) of approximately 0.3 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/kg MLSSd at 12.8h hydraulic retention time (HRT). A considerable variation in the COD was observed for organic, toxic, hydraulic, and combined shocks, and the worst values observed were 68.9, 77.1, 70.2, and 57.8%, respectively. Improved control of toxic shock loads of 10 and 20mg/L of chromium (VI) was identified. The system was adversely affected by the organic shock when a shock load thrice the normal value was used, and this behavior was repeated when the hydraulic shock was 4.8h HRT. The empirical recovery period was greater than the theoretical period because of the inhibitory effects of phenols, sulfides, high oil, and grease in the PRWW. The system recovery rates from the shocks were in the following order: toxic, organic, hydraulic, and combined shocks. System failure occurred when the combined shocks of organic and hydraulic were applied. The system was resumed by replacing the PRWW with glucose, and the OLR was reduced to half its initial value.

Comparison of susceptibility test methods to detect penicillin susceptibility in Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates

Mohd Nasir MD, Parasakthi N

Malays J Pathol, 2004 Jun;26(1):29-33.

PMID: 16190104

The increasing prevalence of penicillin-resistant Streptococuus pneumoniae urges for fast and accurate susceptibility testing methods. This study evaluated the comparability of three commonly used techniques; disk diffusion, E-test and agar dilution, to detect penicillin susceptibility in clinical isolates of S. pneumoniae. Fifty pneumococcal isolates, obtained from patients at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, were selected to include both penicillin-susceptible strains and those that had decreased susceptibility (resistant and intermediate) to penicillin. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of penicillin to serve as the reference was determined by the agar dilution method in which, based on the MIC breakpoints recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS), 27 strains had decreased susceptibility to penicillin with 17 strains resistant and 10 intermediate. Comparing to the agar dilution method, oxacillin disk diffusion test detected all strains with decreased penicillin susceptibility as such while E-test showed a close agreement of susceptibility (92%) of the isolates to penicillin. This confirmed that oxacillin is a good screening test for S. pneumoniae isolates with decreased susceptibility to penicillin while E-test is very reliable for rapid and accurate detection of penicillin susceptibility.

Fulltext Heavy Metal Adsorption onto Kappaphycus sp. from Aqueous Solutions: The Use of Error Functions for Validation of Isotherm and Kinetics Models

Rahman MS, Sathasivam KV

Biomed Res Int, 2015;2015:126298.

PMID: 26295032 DOI: 10.1155/2015/126298

Biosorption process is a promising technology for the removal of heavy metals from industrial wastes and effluents using low-cost and effective biosorbents. In the present study, adsorption of Pb(2+), Cu(2+), Fe(2+), and Zn(2+) onto dried biomass of red seaweed Kappaphycus sp. was investigated as a function of pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration, and temperature. The experimental data were evaluated by four isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich) and four kinetic models (pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion models). The adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic in nature. Functional groups in the biomass involved in metal adsorption process were revealed as carboxylic and sulfonic acids and sulfonate by Fourier transform infrared analysis. A total of nine error functions were applied to validate the models. We strongly suggest the analysis of error functions for validating adsorption isotherm and kinetic models using linear methods. The present work shows that the red seaweed Kappaphycus sp. can be used as a potentially low-cost biosorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions. Further study is warranted to evaluate its feasibility for the removal of heavy metals from the real environment.

Fulltext Clinical characteristic of vertigo in children

Rosdan S, Basheer L, Mohd Khairi MD

Med J Malaysia, 2015 Aug;70(4):220-3.

PMID: 26358017 MyJurnal

Objective: To review the clinical characteristic of vertigo in children.
Method: A retrospective observational study was done on children who presented to a specialised vertigo clinic over period of six years. The patients’ case notes were retrieved from the medical record unit and reviewed. All patients were seen by an otologist who thoroughly took down history, completed ear, nose, throat and neurological examination.
Result: Seven different causes were identified in 21 patients (86%) while no diagnosis was reached in three patients (12.5%). The most common cause of giddiness was childhood paroxysmal vertigo (33%) followed by benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (16.6%) and sensorineural hearing loss (12.5%). Other causes include chronic suppurative otitis media and anxiety disorder each accounting for 8.3%, one case of cholesteatoma and another case of ear wax each accounting for 4.1%.
Conclusion: It is not uncommon for the children to be affected by vertigo. Management of vertigo in children should include a detailed history, clinical examination, audiological and neurological evaluation. Imaging should be performed in selected patients. The main cause of vertigo in our series is CPV. The outcome of most of the patients is good.

Fulltext Author's Response: Regarding the Relative Importance of Demographic, Socioeconomic and Health Factors on Life Expectancy in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries

Mondal MN, Shitan M

J Epidemiol, 2015;25(6):460.

PMID: 25986157 DOI: 10.2188/jea.JE20150046

Fulltext Diagnostic challenges in fine needle aspiration cytology of salivary gland lesions

Ameli F, Baharoom A, Md Isa N, Noor Akmal S

Malays J Pathol, 2015 Apr;37(1):11-8.

PMID: 25890608 MyJurnal

Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been widely accepted as a safe method for diagnosis of salivary gland lesions and its accuracy is increased with increasing the experience of the physician. This study was conducted to examine the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of FNAC of salivary gland lesions by cyto-histological correlation and to identify the discrepancies that contribute to false diagnoses.

Heavy metals removal in fixed-bed column by the macro fungus Pycnoporus sanguineus

Zulfadhly Z, Mashitah MD, Bhatia S

Environ Pollut, 2001;112(3):463-70.

PMID: 11291452

The ability of Pycnoporus sanguineus to adsorb heavy metals from aqueous solution was investigated in fixed-bed column studies. The experiments were conducted to study the effect of important design parameters such as column bed height, flow rate and initial concentration of solution. The breakthrough profiles were obtained in these studies. A mathematical model based on external mass transfer and pore diffusion was used for the prediction of mass transfer coefficient and effective diffusivity of metals in macro-fungi bed. Experimental breakthrough profiles were compared with the simulated breakthrough profiles obtained from the mathematical model. Bed Depth Service Time (BDST) model was used to analyse the experimental data and evaluated the performance of biosorption column. The BDST model parameters needed for the design of biosorption columns were evaluated for lead, copper and cadmium removal in the column. The columns were regenerated by eluting the metal ions using 0.1 M hydrochloric acid solution after the adsorption studies. The columns were subjected to repeated cycles of adsorption of same metal ions and desorption to evaluate the removal efficiency after adsorption-desorption.

Management of a rare case of arteriovenous malformation of the head of the pancreas

Shahrudin MD, Noori SM

Hepatogastroenterology, 1997 Jan-Feb;44(13):284-7.

PMID: 9058160

Arterio-venous malformation (AVM) of the head of the pancreas is a rare condition that may cause upper gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) bleeding. A 45-year-old man with a large AVM at the pancreato-biliary region is described. The patient had recurrent episodes of hematemesis and melena. Enlargement of the AVM was documented by serial abdominal CT scans performed after each bleed. Whipple procedure was successfully performed in this patient.

Re-innervation of muscles after nerve injury in neonates

Naidu MD, Subramaniam K, Vrbová G

Restor. Neurol. Neurosci., 1996 Jan 1;10(1):35-42.

PMID: 21551851 DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1996-10105

Three-day-old neonatal rats had their common peroneal nerve crushed 3 mm from the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle. At periodic intervals of 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 days following nerve injury the EDL muscles were removed, weighed, stained using the silver cholinesterase method and their muscle fibres counted. In these rats during the re-innervation process, the bands of Biingner were absent, some endplates disintegrated and a large proportion of the muscle fibres were lost. This study has shown that interruption of the normal nerve-muscle interaction during the neonatal period is highly detrimental to the subsequent growth and development of the muscle.

Anatomical variability of the frontal sinuses and their application in forensic identification

Nambiar P, Naidu MD, Subramaniam K

Clin Anat, 1999;12(1):16-9.

PMID: 9890725

The uniqueness of anatomical structures and their variations provides the basis for forensic identification of unknown deceased persons. Similar to fingerprints, each frontal sinus is so distinctive and unique that the chances of two individuals having the same morphology of the frontal sinuses is extremely remote. Radiographs, especially the occipitomental view commonly used in the assessment of paranasal pathology, provide excellent records of these sinuses. The case illustrated here is an application of the frontal sinus identification of a victim in a mass disaster.

Racial characteristics of human teeth with special emphasis on the Mongoloid dentition

Yaacob H, Nambiar P, Naidu MD

Malays J Pathol, 1996 Jun;18(1):1-7.

PMID: 10879216

Determining the racial affinity of an unknown individual from dentition for identification is indeed a difficult endeavour. However, there are certain dental characteristics which are predominant in certain racial groups and these contribute important indicators in the identification process. Inherited dental characteristics are modified by prenatal and postnatal environmental and nutritional conditions. They can also become less discernible due to admixture of the various races.

Erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in northeastern Malaysia

Kamaliah MD, Zainal D, Mokhtar N, Nazmi N

Int J Dermatol, 1998 Jul;37(7):520-3.

PMID: 9679693

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported that drugs and infections are common causes of erythema multiforme (EM) and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS). Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is mainly related to drugs. No study has been conducted in Kelantan, the northeastern state of Malaysia, to assess these cutaneous reactions.

METHODS: A retrospective study of all hospitalized cases of EM, SJS, and TEN was conducted covering an 8-year period from 1987 to 1994.

RESULTS: There were four cases (13.8%) of EM, 22 cases (75.9%) of SJS, and three cases (10.3%) of TEN. Drugs as a definitive cause was observed in one case (25%) of EM, 12 cases (54.5%) of SJS, and two cases (66.7%) of TEN. Drugs as a probable cause was observed in seven cases (31.8%) of SJS and one case (33.3%) of TEN. The male to female ratio was equal in EM and SJS. Antiepileptics were the commonest culprits, followed by antibiotics. One patient died of SJS and one patient died of TEN, giving mortality rates of 4.5% and 33.5% respectively. Fever was noted in 18 patients (62.1%). Leukocytosis was noted in 10 patients (34.5%), and nine patients (31.0%) had elevated liver transaminase enzymes. No significant correlation was noted between these biochemical changes and cutaneous eruption. Secondary infections were observed in 11 patients (37.9%): Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest isolated organism.

CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that drugs remain the commonest culprit in SJS and TEN. Despite adequate treatment, the mortality rate remains high, especially in TEN. These findings are similar to those of other reported studies.

Cancer of the colon and rectum in the first three decades of life

Shahrudin MD, Noori SM

Hepatogastroenterology, 1997;44(14):441-4.

PMID: 9164516

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recently an increasing number of young colorectal carcinoma patients attending the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur were noted. This report represents our experience with patients suffering from colorectal cancer aged 30 years or younger.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: All cases of primary carcinoma of the colon and rectum admitted to the University Hospital during 1990 to 1994 were respectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria was that the patient had been 30 years or younger. Data collected included age, gender, race, site of tumour, presenting symptomatology, duration of symptoms, histology, extension of tumour and nodal involvement predisposing factors, treatment and follow-up.
RESULTS: 21 patients were included, 5 patients (24%) were 30 years old at diagnosis, 12 (57%) patients were aged 20-29 years and 4 patients (19%) were less than 20 years old. Thirteen of the 21 patients were female, and 8 (38%) were male, 6 of the 21 patients (29%) were Malaysian, while 1 was Indian (4%). The remainder were Chinese, 14 patients (67%). Six patients (29%) had their primary tumour located in the rectosigmoid, 4 (19%) in the left colon, 1 (4%) in the splenic flexure, 2 in the transverse colon (9%), 1 in the hepatic flexure (4%) and 5 in the caecum 24(%). One patient had a tumour too diffuse to detect a primary site at the time of operation. One patient with a family history of polyps had his entire colon removed at age 14. He had 3 separate foci of tumour. The 5-year survival rate was 25%.
DISCUSSION: Most patients with extensive disease and mucinous histology. Lesions are commonly seen beyond the transverse colon (57%). Presentation included most commonly abdominal pain, haematochezia or haemoccult positive stools.
CONCLUSION: The symptoms above should alert surgeons to colorectal carcinoma as a differential diagnosis

Pancreatic pseudocyst: the controversial value of total parenteral nutrition

Shahrudin MD, Noori SM

Hepatogastroenterology, 1997 Mar-Apr;44(14):559-63.

PMID: 9164537

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) for the non-operative treatment of acute pancreatic pseudocyst has been of hypothetical benefit.

Biloma and biliary fistula associated with hepatorrhaphy for liver injury

Shahrudin MD, Noori SM

Hepatogastroenterology, 1997 Mar-Apr;44(14):519-21.

PMID: 9164529

To review our experience in managing post-hepatorrhaphy complications in liver trauma.

Fulltext Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis. A report of two cases

Yaakub JA, Abdullah MM

Med J Malaysia, 1990 Sep;45(3):263-6.

PMID: 2152092

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis is a rare form of chronic pyelonephritis affecting adults and children. Two patients with the disease are reported.

Immunomodulation by morphine and marijuana

Yahya MD, Watson RR

Life Sci, 1987 Dec 07;41(23):2503-10.

PMID: 2824957

The immunomodulatory effects of morphine and the active components of marijuana, particularly tetrahydrocannabinol, on various aspects of the host immune parameters include alterations in humoral, cell-mediated and innate immunity. Most studies have shown immunosuppressive effects due to use of these abused substances, although there are reports that they may not produce any deleterious effect and may even enhance some aspects of host immunity. They reduce resistance to cancer growth and microbial pathogens in animals.

Evaluation of the thermal effects of prenatal ultrasound on hematological analysis of young Oryctolagus Cuniculus

Isa IN, Dom SM

J Vet Med Sci, 2016 Oct 1;78(9):1399-1403.

PMID: 27211519

Elevated temperatures can induce changes in red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC) and platelet (PLT) counts. Ultrasound heating during obstetric scans has the potential to increase body temperature owing to the phenomenon of absorption. We conducted a study to determine the thermal effects of prenatal ultrasound on RBCs, hemoglobin concentration (Hb), WBCs and PLTs in young rabbits. We selected 69 rabbits that were 1 month of age and 73 that were 5 months of age, and allocated them to four groups. The control group consisted of four pregnant does that were allowed to have a full term delivery without any ultrasound exposure. The experimental groups were subjected to one-time ultrasound exposure for 30, 60 and 90 min in the middle of each gestational stage accordingly. RBCs and Hb showed significant reductions in the experimental groups of 1- and 5-month-old rabbits (P<0.05). In addition, WBCs and PLTs yielded significant differences in the 1-month group that were not observed in the 5-month group (P>0.05). The highest values recorded were those of the WBCs of 1-month-old subjects that received 90 min of exposure at the second stage of gestation. The PLTs were the lowest values recorded in 1-month-old subjects following 90 min of ultrasound exposure at the third stage of gestation. These findings suggest that hematological fluctuations during the early stages of postnatal life persisted until 1 month of age and recovered thereafter, as the subjects progressed into adulthood. Therefore, ultrasound heating can cause significant, yet reversible effects on the hematological parameters of rabbits.

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