Introduction: This study reported the concentration of bacterial and fungal bioaerosol at an animal house and hospi- tal laboratories with the aim to compare the concentration levels at library and administrative offices. The bioaerosol levels between mid-shift (afternoon) were also compared to the concentration measured during pre-shift (morning). Methods: The NIOSH 0800 method utilising microbiological air sampler collecting airborne bacterial and fungal samples via impaction technique on Nutrient agar (NA) and Sabouraud Dextrouse agar (SDA) as culture medium, respectively. Sampling was done twice daily; before (pre-shift) and during working (mid-shift) hour. Results: The highest bacteria and fungi concentration was recorded at the animal house with median concentration of 2477 CFU/ m3 (IQR=121-2477) and 791 CFU/m3 (IQR = 379-2081), respectively. Higher-risked workplaces such as animal house and hospital laboratories have significantly higher bioaerosol concentrations compared to control workplaces such as library and administrative offices (p
Eye socket contracture is a well-known late complication of enucleation surgery, and the additional insult of radiotherapy at an early age causes even further fibrosis and scarring of the socket. Management of the contracted socket is challenging, and several methods have been proposed. We report a case of eye socket contracture after enucleation and radiotherapy in which multiple reconstructive procedures failed. The recurrent contracture caused difficulty in housing and retaining the eye prosthesis. We reconstructed the lower eyelid with a facial artery myomucosal flap and nasolabial flap, and the upper eyelid with a Fricke flap following reconstruction of the orbital rims (supraorbital and infraorbital rims with a calvarial bone graft, and further augmentation of the infraorbital rim with a rib bone graft). Cosmesis post-reconstruction was acceptable and the prosthesis was retained very well.
The household activities such as vacuuming may elevate the concentration of particulate matter in indoor environments. Cleaning workers and occupants inside closed room may be exposed to the fine particulate matter and at risk of developing numerous respiratory symptoms. This study aims to determine the concentration of the particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) that might arise during vacuuming activities and estimated the surface compartmental residence time of particulate matter in indoor environment after each vacuuming activities. The PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations throughout vacuuming were measured in forty-seven offices in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu using the TSI Dust Track DRX. Based on the concentrations measured, the surface compartmental residence time was then estimated using standardized equations taken from literature. The result shows that highest particulate matter concentration was nearly eleven times higher than the World Health Organization guidelines of 25 µg/m3 for PM2.5 concentration (PM2.5 was 270 µg/m3, PM10 was 421 µg/m3), while the particulate matter were estimated to remain lingers inside the air for around 1-4 days before being deposited on the surface. In conclusion, the usage of vacuum cleaners may contribute to more particulate matter being released inside the air due to the resuspension phenomenon. Therefore, it is important for the occupants to maintain proper ventilation after each vacuuming activities took place.
Environmental hazards, industrial, and municipal wastes geochemical and geophysical assessments were carried out at an industrial waste disposal (IWD) site at Bukit Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. RES2-D geophysical method was applied, capable of identification and quantification of the industrial wastes; buried hazardous materials (BHM) and their effects on the subsurface stratum, from the moderately saturated zones, to fully saturated zones housing the aquifer units underneath the water table. Six RES2-D survey profiles were respectively acquired along E-W, and N-S directions. The perpendicular arrangement of the RES2-D survey lines, was tenaciously designed to make possible, the industrial waste materials (IWM)and municipal solid waste (MSW) quantification, with sufficient length of survey lines set at 200 m, and electrode spacing of 5 m, to cover as much details segments of the IWM and MSW as possible. The six RES2-D inversion results, helped in the subsurface stratum classification into three layers, namely; soft layers, which encompasses the waste materials, with varied resistivity values i.e., 0-100 Ω-m, at 10-15 m depths. The consolidated layers produced varied resistivity values i.e., 101-400 Ω-m, at 15-20 m depths. The bedrock has the highest resistivity values i.e., 401-2000 Ω-m, at depths > 20 m. The estimated volume of the waste materials was 312,000 m 3, using 3-D Oasis Montaj modeling via rectangular prism model generated from the inverted RES2-D. Results from the geochemical analysis helped in the validation of the site as a potential contaminated zone with severe health effects.
The Healthy City concept was taken by Malaysia in 1994 and Malacca State has initiated this project in late 1997 and launched in September 1998. The aim of the project is to had ways of achieving a better quality of urban life. The objective of this study was to assess the views and responses of Melaka Tengah community with regards to the existing facilities and services rendered in the district. The views will be incorporated into ideas for the policymakers and planners to develop Malacca into a healthy city. Three methods were used to collect the data. Questionnaires were given to the community of Melaka Tengah District. The respondents were selected by multistage sampling, Observation was carried out at selected public places to assess the community's practices and contribution, Ten focus group discussion were conducted consisting of health staff and public to discuss on environmental, social, physical and economic issues of Malacca. There were 3 sectors that had mean scores above 3.0 (the cut off level for being satisfed). They were health, housing and environment, ln terms of dissatisfaction, there were 4 sectors scoring below 3.0, These include domestic waste dnposal, road system, public transportation and recreational park. The community
expected the services to be improved especially in terms of cleanliness, They agreed to contribute in their own ways in developing the sectors discussed except for public transportation, wet market and food premises which were beyond their control. Observation showed that some of the community members exhibit bad behaviours that can contribute to an unhealthy city. The Melaka
Tengah community expected ejficient and quality services and they agreed to contribute in making Malacca into a Healthy City.
Throughout the years, the construction industry has made an important contribution to the Malaysian economy. Moreover, the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006–2010) has also played a significant role in the demands of executing major residential housing project developments where it has been observed that construction waste was one of the priority waste streams. Due to the increasing number in the population that is actively involved in economic activities, and the modernization of the country, the types of construction waste that are being produced, and identifying the source such as waste are becoming more complex. Therefore, appropriate actions and approaches are needed to be taken with respect to its effective management in handling the solid waste from construction sites. This paper is intended to review the issues and the challenges enclosed within the supply chain management mechanisms in order for improving construction waste management. Throughout this review, useful information and better understanding concerning the current issues, challenges and the supply chain management mechanisms would be made inclusive in the field to be explored. The findings would also assist in improving the quality and awareness on the construction waste management that is being practiced.
A study was carried out to determine short term diurnal radon concentration at five locations in Malaysia. Two locations (KG & AP) are former tin mining areas that has been converted to housing area and training centre respectively, one a relatively new city (SA), that was formerly a rubber and oil palm plantation area, one older cities (KB) and one housing complex by the sea (LP). The study was carried out in 2005, 2006 and 2007 using a diffused-junction photodiode sensor continuous radon monitor. The monitor is recognized by the USEPA. In each location, measurements were carried out on at least ten sites. Former tin mining areas of KG and AP shows up to seven times higher indoor average than the average in the other three locations. However the indoor average in all locations is still below the action level of 4 pCiL-1. For outdoor, the former tin mining areas average concentration was higher than the global average of 0.4 pCiL-1. For the twenty four hours temporal variation the trend indicated that former tin mining areas concentration are always higher, and at time up to six fold higher. The hourly variation of all locations follows an identical trend of high concentration during early to late morning and drop in the afternoon till evening. The outdoor twenty four hour temporal average of former tin mining areas is consistently higher than the outdoor global average of 0.4 pCiL-1. The strong correlation between indoor and outdoor concentration at AP, indicates that indoor radon might originates from outdoor environment. The study was also extended to estimate the effective dose (mSvyr-1) of Rn-222 to the public.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in indoor air were investigated at 39 private residences in Selangor State, Malaysia to characterize the indoor air quality and to identify pollution sources. Twenty-two VOCs including isomers (14 aldehydes, 5 aromatic hydrocarbons, acetone, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene) were collected by 2 passive samplers for 24h and quantitated using high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Source profiling based on benzene/toluene ratio as well as statistical analysis (cluster analysis, bivariate correlation analysis and principal component analysis) was performed to identify pollution sources of the detected VOCs. The VOCs concentrations were compared with regulatory limits of air quality guidelines in WHO/EU, the US, Canada and Japan to clarify the potential health risks to the residents. The 39 residences were classified into 2 groups and 2 ungrouped residences based on the dendrogram in the cluster analysis. Group 1 (n=30) had mainly toluene (6.87±2.19μg/m3), formaldehyde (16.0±10.1μg/m3), acetaldehyde (5.35±4.57μg/m3) and acetone (11.1±5.95μg/m3) at background levels. Group 2 (n=7) had significantly high values of formaldehyde (99.3±10.7μg/m3) and acetone (35.8±12.6μg/m3), and a tendency to have higher values of acetaldehyde (23.7±13.5μg/m3), butyraldehyde (3.35±0.41μg/m3) and isovaleraldehyde (2.30±0.39μg/m3). The 2 ungrouped residences showed particularly high concentrations of BTX (benzene, toluene and xylene: 235μg/m3 in total) or acetone (133μg/m3). The geometric mean value of formaldehyde (19.2μg/m3) exceeded an 8-hour regulatory limit in Canada (9μg/m3), while those in other compounds did not exceed any regulatory limits, although a few residences exceeded at least one regulatory limit of benzene or acetaldehyde. Thus, the VOCs in the private residences were effectively characterized from the limited number of monitoring, and the potential health risks of the VOCs exposure, particularly formaldehyde, should be considered in the study area.
This The fields of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and human resource (HR) function have gained
increasingly importance to corporate strategies. As many hotels are concerned with sustainability
issues and CSR, the HR function is positioned to assist implementing and enhancing CSR strategy as
well as administering its core functions. In most cases, CSR in the hotels are housed in HR Department
where the managers have responsibility for the strategic application of CSR in the hotels. This paper
presents a case study of five hotels in Penang Island, Malaysia as an attempt to demonstrate how
Human Resource managers of these hotels perform their CSR practices. Specific focus is placed on the
role of Human Resource managers who are not well-equipped with social work experience or
background and specifically to investigate how these managers perceive CSR concept, the impact of
their CSR programs on beneficiaries and the challenges that they encountered in the process. To
answer these questions, we have conducted interviews with five managers from four and five star
hotels in Penang. Our findings have reflected the importance of conceptualization of CSR particularly
in hotel sector as well as gaining insight into current HR profession in administering CSR activities to
consider someone with social work background in a bid to improve the quality of life of targeted
communities.
Parent-youth conflict and behavioural difficulties are common issues in the field of developmental psychology. This study examines the correlations of conflict and behavioural difficulties, to see if these factors predicted a negative affect on a sample of at-risk youth. A sample of 335 at-risk youth aged 13-24 years old from Public Housing Projects in Kuala Lumpur was selected. Conflict with the father was significantly associated with negative affect. Further analysis showed that three factors were required to produce negative affect. The results support claims that father conflict, emotional problems and conduct problems are an integral part of the close relationships of at-risk youth, and discourage positive youth development among at-risk youth.
In this study, the toxicology of two commercial larvicides--cyromazine (Neporex 50SP) and ChCy (combination of chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin, Naga 505)--and five commercial adulticides--thiamethoxam (Agita 10WG), cyfluthrin (Responsar WP), lambda-cyhalothrin (Icon 2.8EC), fipronil (Regent 50SC), and imidacloprid (Toxilat 10WP)--was examined against the WHO/VCRU (World Health Organization/ Vector Control Research Unit) susceptible strain and the AYTW (Ayer Tawar) field strain of house fly, Musca domestica L. These pesticides were administered topically, in the diet, or as a dry residue treatment on plywood. Probit analysis using at least five concentrations and the concentration that was lethal to 50% (LC(50)) of the organisms was applied to compare the toxicology and resistance levels of the AYTW population to different insecticides. In the larvicide laboratory study, ChCy was more effective than cyromazine, with a significantly lower LC(50) value when administered topically or in the diet, although the AYTW population was susceptible to both larvicides with a resistance ratio (RR) <10. For the adulticide laboratory study, cyfluthrin and fipronil exhibited the lowest LC50 values of the adulticides, indicating that they are both effective at controlling adult flies, although lambda-cyhalothrin showed moderate resistance (RR = 11.60 by topical application; 12.41 by plywood treatment). Further investigation of ChCy, cyromazine, cyfluthrin, and fipronil under field conditions confirmed that ChCy and cyromazine strikingly reduced larval density, and surprisingly, ChCy also exhibited adulticidal activity, which significantly reduced adult fly numbers compared with the control group. Cyfluthrin and fipronil were also confirmed to be effective, with a significant reduction in adult fly numbers compared with the control group.
The optimum maintenance conditions of the fungus-growing termite, Macrotermes gilvus (Hagen) (Blattodea: Termitidae), in the laboratory were studied. Termites were kept on a matrix of moist sand and with fungus comb as food. The survival of groups of termites was measured when maintained at different population densities by changing group size and container volume. Larger groups (≥0.6 g) were more vigorous and had significant higher survival rates than smaller groups (≤0.3 g). The population density for optimal survival of M. gilvus is 0.0025 g per container volume (ml) or 0.0169 g per matrix volume (cm(3)), i.e., 1.2 g of termites kept in a 480-ml container filled with 71 cm3 of sand. In termite groups of smaller size (i.e., 0.3 g) or groups maintained in smaller container (i.e., 100 ml) the fungus comb was overgrown with Xylaria spp., and subsequently all termites died within the study period. The insufficient number of workers for regulating the growth of unwanted fungi other than Termitomyces spp. in the fungus comb is the most likely reason. Unlike some other mound-building termite species, M. gilvus showed satisfactory survival when maintained in non-nutritious matrix (i.e., sand). There was no significant difference in the survival rate between different colonies of M. gilvus (n=5), with survival in the range of 78.5-84.4% after 4 wk. Advances in the maintenance of Macrotermes will enable researchers to study with more biological relevance many aspects of the biology, behavior, and management of this species.
Microwave vacuum pyrolysis of palm kernel shell (PKS) was performed to produce biochar, which was then tested as bio-fertilizer in growing Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). The pyrolysis approach produced biochar containing a highly porous structure with a high BET surface area of up to 270m2/g and low moisture content (≤10wt%), exhibiting desirable adsorption properties to be used as bio-fertilizer since it can act as a housing that provides many sites on which living microorganisms (mycelium or plant-growth promoting bacteria) and organic nutrients can be attached or adsorbed onto. This could in turn stimulate plant growth by increasing the availability and supply of nutrients to the targeted host plant. The results from growing Oyster mushroom using the biochar recorded an impressive growth rate and a monthly production of up to about 550g of mushroom. A shorter time for mycelium growth on one whole baglog (21days) and the highest yield of Oyster mushroom (550g) were obtained from cultivation medium added with 20g of biochar. Our results demonstrate that the biochar-based bio-fertilizer produced from microwave vacuum pyrolysis of PKS shows exceptional promise as growth promoting material for mushroom cultivation.
Information on waste generation, socioeconomic characteristics, and willingness of the households to separate waste was obtained from interviews with 402 respondents in Dhaka city. Ordinary least square regression was used to determine the dominant factors that might influence the waste generation of the households. The results showed that the waste generation of the households in Dhaka city was significantly affected by household size, income, concern about the environment, and willingness to separate the waste. These factors are necessary to effectively improve waste management, growth and performance, as well as to reduce the environmental degradation of the household waste.
Matched MeSH terms: Housing/statistics & numerical data
This study employed contingent valuation method to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of the households to improve the waste collection system in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The objective of this study is to evaluate how household WTP changes when recycling and waste separation at source is made mandatory. The methodology consisted of asking people directly about their WTP for an additional waste collection service charge to cover the costs of a new waste management project. The new waste management project consisted of two versions: version A (recycling and waste separation is mandatory) and version B (recycling and waste separation is not mandatory). The households declined their WTP for version A when they were asked to separate the waste at source although all the facilities would be given to them for waste separation. The result of this study indicates that the households were not conscious about the benefits of recycling and waste separation. Concerted efforts should be taken to raise environmental consciousness of the households through education and more publicity regarding waste separation, reducing and recycling.
The artificial living conditions of captive animals present numerous challenges for animal caretakers. In this study I explored abnormal behaviors in certain caged animals at the Kuala Lumpur Zoo. Findings obtained from observations of animals and interviews of the zoo staff are followed by recommendations: including the development of standards and manuals, licensing of zoos and animals, and increased budgets from governments or alternative sources. Such interventions should bring considerable improvements in animal welfare at the zoos in the region.
The focus of this study is on urbanization in Malaysia. "This paper is divided into three parts. The first part examines the trend of uneven urban development in West Malaysia. The second part discusses the change [in] ethnic composition of urban population between 1970 and 1980 intercensal period. The third part analyses the impact of the urbanization process on the Malays in the context of housing problems of the lower income groups." (SUMMARY IN THA)