The concentrations of cadmium, copper, zinc and lead, in the total soft tissues of green-lipped mussel Perna viridis of a wide range of sizes (2-11 cm), were determined from a population at Pasir Panjang. The metal contents (μg per individual) and concentrations (μg per g) of cadmium, lead, copper and zinc were studied in P. viridis to find the relationships with body sizes. Smaller and younger mussels showed higher concentrations (μg per g) of Cd, Pb and Zn than the larger and older ones. The results of the present study showed that the plotting of the metal content, against dry body flesh weight on a double logarithmic basis, gave good positive straight lines; this observation is in agreement with Boyden’s formula (1977). This indicated that P. viridis showed a different physiological strategy for each metal being studied, which is related to age.
What does this term medical education conjure up? Does it refer to the teaching and learning of medicine and therefore relates to students and the curriculum? Does it refer to the process of teaching and therefore relates to teachers? Perhaps it is both, since teaching and learning go hand in hand.(Copied from article).
There is a high incidence of 36% to 83% of respiratory dysfunction in patients with acute cervical spinal cord
injury. Complications arising from respiratory dysfunction remain one of the most common causes of morbidity
and mortality in the spinal cord injured population. Specialized pulmonary care and therapy can help individuals
with tetraplegia to maintain a stable respiratory status allowing active participation in active rehabilitation.
This would allow them to achieve rehabilitation goals of independent function and community reintegration.
Mechanical insufflation-exsufflation (MIE) therapy is an option for secretion management in individuals with
acute spinal cord injury. In this paper, we present our experience using MIE as an adjunct to management of
secretions in the spinal cord injured population at the University of Malaya Medical Centre.
This study aims to determine the mediating effects of coping strategies on the relationships between organizational support (supervisor and coworker support) and work-family conflict. A questionnaire survey approach was conducted with the purposive sampling. This study was contributed to 342 married employees from different organizations in the Luangprabang province, Laos. The gathered data was analyzed by employing the Structural Equation Modeling using SPSS Amos 21.0 software. The findings showed that organizational support (supervisor support and coworker support) was not significantly related to work-family conflict. Problemfocused coping was not significantly related to work-family conflict, whereas emotion-focused coping was significantly related to work-family conflict. This is one of the first studies to provide empirical evidence in terms of the mediating effects regarding coping strategies among married employees in Laos. The organizations should consider the coping strategies and the support from supervisors and colleagues in formulating strategies to minimize work-family conflict. Additionally, problem-focused coping is a more meaningful predictor of work-family conflict than emotion-focused coping. Providing the training of the comprehensive coping program to the employees could help them to be sensitive in coping work-family conflict. This study could serve as an important guideline to develop planning strategies in managing work and family role and promoting work-life balance among the employees.
Previous studies on instant noodles have been aimed mostly at secondary students, and have
been concerned with the demographics, and the development of product attributes. Very few studies
have examined the role of convenience (CO), product attributes (PA), advertising (AD) and subjective
norms (SN) in predicting the intention of students towards the consumption of instant noodles. The
present rising costs of living and education may affect the intention and behaviour of university students
towards the consumption of affordable food. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to explore the
relationship between these variables and the variables of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) in
association with the intention of university students to consume instant noodles. A research model
approach was used to reflect the effects of CO, PA, AD, and SN on the TRA constructs. In total, 390
cases were gathered from three universities. Structural equation modelling was employed to assess the
proposed research model in terms of the path significance, the general requirements for a model fit,
and the testing of the hypotheses. It was found that AD has a direct positive effect on the behavioural
intention of university students towards the consumption of instant noodles. Nevertheless, CO, PA, and
SN appear to exert no significant influence on the behavioural intention of university students. The
limitation of the study was that the findings were obtained from a small dataset covering only three
universities. Therefore, future researches should cover a broader range of research samples. This paper
provides additional understanding for marketing managers and researchers into the effects of CO, PA,
AD and SN on the intention of Malaysian university students towards the consumption of instant
noodles, which can be used for formulating marketing strategies for instant noodles and for considering
future research directions in other countries.
This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect effect of entrepreneurial leadership
on organization demand for innovation. Over the past years academic debates have mostly focused on
individual’s demand for innovation while emphasizing on the organization's success in producing new
products and services to individual customers. However the organizational customers and
organization's demand to use innovation in day to day work has been generally neglected. Since
previous studies identified leadership as an important determinant of innovation in the organization,
this research proposes a conceptual framework to explore the effect of entrepreneurial leadership on
organization’s demand for innovation. The success of entrepreneurial leadership depends not only on
the behaviors of the leader, but also on the characteristics of their followers in demonstrating
entrepreneurial behaviors. Therefore this study aims to examine the moderating role of follower’s
reliance on social networks to recognize new opportunities on the relationship between
entrepreneurial leadership and organization’s demand for innovation. A sample of Malaysia Top 100
Companies participates in this research and the hypotheses are evaluated using Partial Least Squares
(PLS) analysis. This research makes an important contribution by providing empirical evidences that
may support entrepreneurial leaders and their firms to identify and generate more opportunities and
enact them in ways that increase the organization's receptivity towards innovation
Stridor in infants with subglottic cyst is rare. Mismanagement of such cases may
lead to respiratory compromise with a potentially serious and fatal outcome. The
diversity of the clinical presentations throws a great challenge in the diagnosis of
subglottic cysts. Manifestations vary as they depend on the size and location of
the cysts. We report the case of a 6-month-old girl who had a subglottic cyst
but managed as moderate croup till she developed worsening respiratory acidosis
which difficult intubation. Any case of premature infants with previous history of
neonatal intubation presenting with stridor should prompt clinicians to look for
possible cysts in the larynx. This is important because once the diagnosis is made, appropriate treatment may be given and unnecessary morbidity and mortality may
be avoided.
Eventration of the diaphragm is caused by weakened musculature of the diaphragm. This can occur in one or
both hemidiaphragms. Symptoms may be minimal and it is usually detected incidentally on chest radiograph
which would show an elevation of the diaphragm. We report and discuss a case of eventration of right
diaphragm in a patient presented with a lobulated lung mass on chest radiograph.
Hyperadrenocorticism is the excessive production of cortisol by the adrenal cortex. 15-20% of hyperadrenocorticism in dogs may be due to functional adrenal tumour. Here we present a case of functional adrenal tumour in a 10 years old Shih-Tzu Poodle mixed-breed dog that was presented to University Veterinary Hospital, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Physical examination findings include multiple cutaneous myiasis, a pendulous abdomen with comedones on the ventral thoracic region and thinning of the skin. Clinical signs shown were polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia. Serum biochemistry result showed elevated alkaline phosphatase enzyme of 5 folds. Urinary specific gravity was minimally concentrated (1.015). Radiography showed generalised hepatomegaly. Meanwhile, ultrasonography showed unilateral enlargement of the right adrenal gland with mineralisation. Invasion of the right adrenal gland into the caudal vena cava was observed. A differentiation test (high-dose dexamethasone suppression test) was performed and a lack of suppression of the cortisol level was observed. Based on the appropriate clinical signs and physical examination findings, elevated alkaline phosphatase enzyme, minimally concentrated urinary specific gravity, generalised hepatomegaly, unilateral adrenal gland enlargement, and high-dose dexamethasone suppression test, a diagnosis of functional adrenal tumour was made.
Old intact male dogs are often predisposed to benign prostatic hyperplasia. Both hypertrophy and hyperplasia of prostate
gland occur due to hormonal influences. Clinical signs such as haematuria, stranguria and tenesmus are often associated with benign
prostatic hyperplasia. A seven year-old local breed intact male dog was presented with a primary complaint of haematuria and
stranguria. Diagnostic work-up conducted inclusive of complete blood count, serum biochemistry, urinalysis, abdominal radiograph,
cystourethrography and abdominal ultrasonography. The dog was diagnosed with cystic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Prostatic
omentalisation and castration were performed in this case.
Tuberculosis in children remains a public heath concern in Malaysia and other developing countries. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection of the liver, known as hepatic TB, is an extra pulmonary manifestation of TB. Tuberculous bacilli can reach the liver via hematogenous dissemination through hepatic artery, or by local spread from the gastrointestinal tract via portal vein [1].(Copied from article)
The Morel-Lavallee lesion is a rare soft tissue injury that occurs due to traumatic shearing force on skin surface causing separation of skin and subcutaneous tissue resulting in hematoma. This case report depicts a 22-year-old gentleman who was involved in a motor vehicle accident. He complained of pain and swelling over lower back. He was treated for soft tissue injury and admitted for pain control. One day post-trauma, he complained of increased swelling over the back. His hemoglobin dropped from 12.2g/dL to 10.7g/dL. Diagnosis of Morel-Lavallae lesion was made. Initially no surgical intervention was planned. However, in view of worsening of swelling, bedside aspiration was performed and subsequently a pigtail catheter was inserted to drain the hematoma. In total, 2.05 litre of liquefied hematoma was drained. Thus, Morel-Lavallee lesion is an uncommon soft tissue injury that can cause significant bleeding following trauma.
Keywords: degloving injuries, hematoma, trauma
Mild hyperkalaemia does not typically cause cardiac symptoms. However, for an elderly patient on atrio-ventricular (AV) nodal blocker, even mild hyperkalaemia may result in disastrous outcome. We report a case of persistent bradyarrythmia caused by iatrogenic hyperkalaemia in a patient who had concomitant use of AV nodal medication. An 81-year-old lady with multiple comorbidities and a long list of medications presented with symptomatic bradyarrhythmia. She, in fact, had two AV nodal blockers in her prescription, a beta-blocker and amiodarone. Her potassium level was found to be mildly elevated due to acute renal failure. She remained bradycardic despite initial treatment and was subsequently dependant on intravenous isoproterenol until her renal function improved. This case highlights the different threshold for manifestation of hyperkalaemic symptoms in a growing group of patients: elderly patients with multiple comorbidities and polypharmacy.
Keywords: bradyarrythmia, bradycardia, elderly, hyperkalaemia, polypharmacy
The aim of this study was to assess the viability of coating collagen to Hydroxyapatite (HA) coated commercially pure Titanium (cpTi) samples. Five samples of cpTi were immersed in a simulated body fluid (Tas-SBF) after stages of gritting, sandblasting and acid etching. One sample was taken out after 3, 5 and 7 days of immersion in Tas-SBF respectively. The 7 days Tas-SBF coated sample was coated with collagen by physical adsorption method. Analysis was performed to study the surface roughness, morphology and elemental analysis of the coated surfaces.The equipment used wereAlicona, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Process of sand blasting and acid etching were able to produce desired morphology and surface roughness. The average surface roughness, Sa of sand blasted cpTi surface and acid etched cpTi were 2.17 ± 0.75 µm and 2.12 ± 0.15 µm respectively. Immersion in Tas-SBF produced a crystalline coating and morphology that were similar to bone-like apatite. Roughness value of cpTi after being immersed in SBF for 7 days was 2.23 ± 0.31 µm and the Ca/P ratio was 7.076. Collagen coated samples had the highest Sa value which was 3.91 ± 0.31 µm and the Ca/P ratio was 1.190. This study showed that it is possible to achieve apatite and collagen coating on a modified cpTi surface using physical adsorption method.
The own price, income and price of a substitute are the determinants of demand in the classical theory of consumer behavior. We used the theory to analyze the demand for local rice in Malaysia by using time series variables. We examined whether there is a long run relationship among the variables by using the unit root and cointegration tests. We then conducted the Granger causality, variance decomposition and impulse response function tests to examine their directions of causality as well as short term dynamics. The results show that there is a long run relationship among the variables and a unidirectional causality from price and income to demand. There are also lagged and short term dynamics among the variables.
Radio propagation prediction simulation methods based on deterministic technique such as ray launching is extensively used to accomplish radio channel characterization. However, the superiority of the simulation depends on the number of rays launched and received. This paper presented the indoor three-dimensional (3D) Minimum Ray Launching Maximum Accuracy (MRLMA) technique, which is applicable for an efficient indoor radio wave propagation prediction. Utilizing the novel MRLMA technique in the simulation environment for ray lunching and tracing can drastically reduce the number of rays that need to be traced, and improve the efficiency of ray tracing. Implementation and justification of MRLMA presented in the paper. An indoor office 3D layouts are selected and simulations have been performed using the MRLMA and other reference techniques. Results showed that the indoor 3D MRLMA model is appropriate for wireless communications network systems design and optimization process with respect to efficiency, coverage, number of rays launching, number of rays received by the mobile station, and simulation time.
Formulation 2 (1 g w/w) was the most favourable and was chosen for further analyses to
compare its composition with that of a control (0 g w/w). Total phenolic content (TPC) of
the fresh noodles remained higher than that of the control even after cooking. However,
after cooking, the carbohydrate and protein contents showed significant increases. The
results showed that the lemuni-supplemented noodles have a longer shelf life compared to
the control. The colour parameters L* and a* also showed significant differences as the
lightness decreased, and the redness increased after the substitution. The L*, a* and b*
values decreased significantly after the noodles of both formulations were cooked. The
tensile strength, adhesiveness, and hardness of the lemuni noodles were significantly
higher than those of the control. Thus, the Vitex negundo Linn. leaf has the potential to
increase the health benefits of food products.
Writing ability is essential in second language (L2) learners’ educational and professional life.
However, experiencing writing apprehension can inhibit the L2 learners’ confidence (Daly, 1975). The
objective of this study was to investigate the writing apprehension levels of ESL pre-university learners
in writing argumentative composition. 320 pre-university learners from a local institution participated
in the study. Two instruments were employed in the study. The first was the Second Language Writing
Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) and the other one was the Analytic Scale of Argumentative Writing
(ASAW). The findings revealed a moderate level of writing apprehension among the pre-university
learners in argumentative writing. Among the three Second Language Writing Apprehension (SLWA)
dimensions, avoidance behaviour obtained the highest mean score. As writing is one of the important
components tested in Malaysian University English Test (MUET), the findings of the present study
may become a platform for instructors to develop a better understanding about SLWA. Hence, it may
throw light on what educators can do to help these L2 learners cope with or eliminate writing
apprehension as it hampers the writing quality.
Caring behaviours presented by the nurses while providing care is the essence of nursing. However, operation theatre nurses must also adhere to the nursing value in social sciences and humanities to address the patient's needs. The concern of the nurses should not only be for the basic life sustaining needs but also for physiological, psychological, socio cultural and spiritual dimension ofpatient's human responses. The purposes of this study were to determine the perception regarding caring behaviours and the level of caring among the Operation theatre nurses in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. In addition, there were associations when the determination between demographic variables like genders and years of experience of the nurses in relation to their caring behaviours is necessary. It isa quantitative, descriptive survey design and 95 nurses participated in the study. The revised Wolfs Caring Behaviours Inventory was used to measure the dimensions of caring. "Professional knowledge and skill" was identified to be the highest among the five dimensions of caring that was being measured. Findings show that the nurses demonstrated a high level of caring behaviours during their course of work. However, none of the demographic factors studied were significantly associated to their caring behaviours.
Keywords: Caring attitudes, Caring behaviours, Dimensions of caring
Samples of Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductor with nominal compositions of YBa2Cu3O7-d + x (weight %) Y2O3 (x = 0 - 15) were prepared by solid state reaction method using the Y2Cu2O5 and BaCuO2 precursors as the starting reagents. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) diffractograms for the doped samples (x> 0) show an additional non-superconducting Y2BaCuO5 (211) phase. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs show that the smaller Y2BaCuO5 grains are precipitated on the surface of the larger YBa2Cu3O7-d (YBCO) crystals. The grain size of the YBCO decreases with increasing yttria. The superconducting zero resistivity critical temperature (Tco) of the doped samples is very close to the Tco of the YBCO for x < 5, but it seems to be significantly decreasing for larger x. The transport critical current density (J) for x < 5 is enhanced due to magnetic flux pinning process by the 211 phase. However, Jc decreased for larger x due to the increase of weak links at the grain boundaries of the YBCO phase.
Sampel superkonduktor Y-Ba-Cu-O dengan komposisi nominal YBa2Cu3O7-d + x (% berat) Y2O3 (x = 0 -15) disediakan dengan kaedah tindakbalas keadaan pepejal menggunakan bahan pelopor Y2Cu2O5 dan BaCuO2 Difraktogram pembelauan sinar-X (XRD) bagi sampel yang didop (x > 0) menunjukkan wujudnya fasa tak mensuperkonduksi Y2BaCuO5 (211). Mikrograf mikroskop imbasan elektron (SEM) menunjukkan bahawa butiran Y2BaCuO5 yang lebih kecil itu termendap di atas permukaan hablur YBa2Cu3O7-d yang lebih besar. Saiz hablur YBCO mengecil dengan peningkatan yittria. Suhu genting kerintangan sifar (Tc) bagi sampel yang didop adalah hampir dengan Tco bagi YBCO untuk x<5, tetapi menurun dengan agak cepat untuk x yang lebih besar. Ketumpatan arus genting angkutan (J) untuk x < 5 meningkat jika dibandingkan dengan YBCO disebabkan oleh proses kepinan fluks magnet oleh fasa 211. Walau bagaimanapun, Jc menurun untuk x yang lebih tinggi kerana meningkatnya hubungan lemah pada sempadan butiran fasa YBCO.