MyMedR

Displaying publications 81 - 100 of 365 in total

Abstract:

Sort:

Fulltext A dataset of tree heights in mangrove and non-mangrove trees in Malaysia derived from multiple measurement methods

Saliu IS, Wolswijk G, Satyanarayana B, Fisol MAB, Decannière C, Lucas R, et al.

Data Brief, 2020 Dec;33:106386.
PMID: 33102654 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.106386

The dataset contains tree height data collected in 200 mangrove and non-mangrove trees sampled in various sites in Malaysia. Different height measurement methods were performed, including visual measurements (stick, thumb rule) and precision field instruments (clinometer, laser rangefinder and altimeter), which were compared against benchmark values obtained using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a Leica distometer. The core data have been analysed and interpreted in the paper by Saliu et al. ''An accuracy analysis of mangrove tree height mensuration using forestry techniques, hypsometers and UAVs '' [1], in which the accuracy of each method for tree height measurement was discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext Fully-automated identification of fish species based on otolith contour: using short-time Fourier transform and discriminant analysis (STFT-DA)

Salimi N, Loh KH, Kaur Dhillon S, Chong VC

PeerJ, 2016;4:e1664.
PMID: 26925315 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.1664

Background. Fish species may be identified based on their unique otolith shape or contour. Several pattern recognition methods have been proposed to classify fish species through morphological features of the otolith contours. However, there has been no fully-automated species identification model with the accuracy higher than 80%. The purpose of the current study is to develop a fully-automated model, based on the otolith contours, to identify the fish species with the high classification accuracy. Methods. Images of the right sagittal otoliths of 14 fish species from three families namely Sciaenidae, Ariidae, and Engraulidae were used to develop the proposed identification model. Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) was used, for the first time in the area of otolith shape analysis, to extract important features of the otolith contours. Discriminant Analysis (DA), as a classification technique, was used to train and test the model based on the extracted features. Results. Performance of the model was demonstrated using species from three families separately, as well as all species combined. Overall classification accuracy of the model was greater than 90% for all cases. In addition, effects of STFT variables on the performance of the identification model were explored in this study. Conclusions. Short-time Fourier transform could determine important features of the otolith outlines. The fully-automated model proposed in this study (STFT-DA) could predict species of an unknown specimen with acceptable identification accuracy. The model codes can be accessed at http://mybiodiversityontologies.um.edu.my/Otolith/ and https://peerj.com/preprints/1517/. The current model has flexibility to be used for more species and families in future studies.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext Characteristics of seizure frequency among Malaysian children diagnosed with structural-metabolic epilepsy

Salih MR, Bahari MB, Hassali MA, Shafie AA, Al-Lela OQ, Abd AY, et al.

J Neurosci Rural Pract, 2012 Sep;3(3):244-50.
PMID: 23188969 DOI: 10.4103/0976-3147.102596

INTRODUCTION: Seizure-free patients or substantial reduction in seizure frequency are the most important outcome measures in the management of epilepsy. The study aimed to evaluate the patterns of seizure frequency and its relationship with demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Hospital Pulau Pinang. Over a period of 6 months, the required data were extracted from the medical records using a pre-designed data collection form.
RESULTS: Seizure frequency showed no significant association with patient's demographics and clinical characteristic. However, significant reduction in seizure frequency from the baseline to the last follow-up visit was only seen in certain subgroups of patients including Malays, females, patients <4 years of age, patients with global developmental delay/intellectual disability, and patients with focal seizure. There was no significant association between seizure frequency and rate of adverse events. Polytherapy visits were associated with higher seizure frequency than monotherapy visits (27.97 ± 56.66, 10.94 ± 30.96 attack per month, respectively) (P < 0.001). There was a clear tendency to get antiepileptic drugs used at doses above the recommended range in polytherapy (8.4%) rather than in monotherapy (1.4%) visits (P < 0.001). A significant correlation was found between seizure frequency and number of visits per patient per year (r = 0.450, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Among children with structural-metabolic epilepsy, Malays, females, patients <4 years of age, patients with global developmental delay/intellectual disability and patients manifested with focal seizure are more responsive antiepileptic drug therapy than the other subgroups of patients.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Assessment of medical graduates competencies

Salam A, Zainuddin Z, Latiff AA, Ng SP, Soelaiman IN, Mohamad N, et al.

Ann Acad Med Singap, 2008 Sep;37(9):814-6.
PMID: 18989506
Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
A portable electrochemical sensor for detection of the veterinary drug xylazine in beverage samples

Saisahas K, Soleh A, Promsuwan K, Phonchai A, Mohamed Sadiq NS, Teoh WK, et al.

J Pharm Biomed Anal, 2021 Feb 08;198:113958.
PMID: 33662759 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2021.113958

A portable electrochemical sensor was developed to determine xylazine in spiked beverages by adsorptive stripping voltammetry (AdSV). The sensor was based on a graphene nanoplatelets-modified screen-printed carbon electrode (GNPs/SPCE). The electrochemical behavior of xylazine at the GNPs/SPCE was an adsorption-controlled irreversible oxidation reaction. The loading of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) on the modified SPCE, electrolyte pH, and AdSV accumulation potential and time were optimized. Under optimal conditions, the GNPs/SPCE provided high sensitivity, linear ranges of 0.4-6.0 mg L-1 (r = 0.997) and 6.0-80.0 mg L-1 (r = 0.998) with a detection limit of 0.1 mg L-1 and a quantitation limit of 0.4 mg L-1. Repeatability was good. The accuracy of the proposed sensor was investigated by spiking six beverage samples at 1.0, 5.0, and 10.0 mg L-1. The recoveries from this method ranged from 80.8 ± 0.2-108.1 ± 0.3 %, indicating the good accuracy of the developed sensor. This portable electrochemical sensor can be used to screen for xylazine in beverage samples as evidence in cases of sexual assault or robbery.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext Changing domesticity of Aedes aegypti in northern peninsular Malaysia: reproductive consequences and potential epidemiological implications

Saifur RG, Dieng H, Hassan AA, Salmah MR, Satho T, Miake F, et al.

PLoS One, 2012;7(2):e30919.
PMID: 22363516 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030919

BACKGROUND: The domestic dengue vector Aedes aegypti mosquitoes breed in indoor containers. However, in northern peninsular Malaysia, they show equal preference for breeding in both indoor and outdoor habitats. To evaluate the epidemiological implications of this peridomestic adaptation, we examined whether Ae. aegypti exhibits decreased survival, gonotrophic activity, and fecundity due to lack of host availability and the changing breeding behavior.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This yearlong field surveillance identified Ae. aegypti breeding in outdoor containers on an enormous scale. Through a sequence of experiments incorporating outdoors and indoors adapting as well as adapted populations, we observed that indoors provided better environment for the survival of Ae. aegypti and the observed death patterns could be explained on the basis of a difference in body size. The duration of gonotrophic period was much shorter in large-bodied females. Fecundity tended to be greater in indoor acclimated females. We also found increased tendency to multiple feeding in outdoors adapted females, which were smaller in size compared to their outdoors breeding counterparts.
CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The data presented here suggest that acclimatization of Ae. aegypti to the outdoor environment may not decrease its lifespan or gonotrophic activity but rather increase breeding opportunities (increased number of discarded containers outdoors), the rate of larval development, but small body sizes at emergence. Size is likely to be correlated with disease transmission. In general, small size in Aedes females will favor increased blood-feeding frequency resulting in higher population sizes and disease occurrence.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext Knowledge, attitude, and practices towards schistosomiasis among rural population in Yemen

Sady H, Al-Mekhlafi HM, Atroosh WM, Al-Delaimy AK, Nasr NA, Dawaki S, et al.

Parasit Vectors, 2015 Aug 25;8:436.
PMID: 26302747 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-1050-8

BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is highly prevalent in Yemen, with an estimated 3 million cases, particularly among rural communities. This community-based study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) on schistosomiasis among rural communities in Yemen.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 250 households from ten rural districts in Yemen. Overall, 400 children were screened for urogenital and intestinal schistosomiasis. Moreover, parents were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire to collect information about the demographic and socioeconomic information and their KAP concerning schistosomiasis.
RESULTS: A total of 127 (31.8%) children were found to be excreting schistosome eggs in either their urine or faeces (22.5% S. haematobium and 8.0% S. mansoni). Although 92.4% of the respondents had heard about schistosomiasis, 49.8%, 68.0% and 47.2% had knowledge concerning the transmission, signs and symptoms, and prevention, respectively. In addition, 77.1% considered schistosomiasis as harmful while 48.5% believed that schistosomiasis could be prevented, albeit their practices to prevent infections were still inadequate. Significant associations between the KAP and age, education, employment status and household monthly income were reported (P

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext Variable-Length Multiobjective Social Class Optimization for Trust-Aware Data Gathering in Wireless Sensor Networks

Saad MA, Jaafar R, Chellappan K

Sensors (Basel), 2023 Jun 12;23(12).
PMID: 37420692 DOI: 10.3390/s23125526

Data gathering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is vital for deploying and enabling WSNs with the Internet of Things (IoTs). In various applications, the network is deployed in a large-scale area, which affects the efficiency of the data collection, and the network is subject to multiple attacks that impact the reliability of the collected data. Hence, data collection should consider trust in sources and routing nodes. This makes trust an additional optimization objective of the data gathering in addition to energy consumption, traveling time, and cost. Joint optimization of the goals requires conducting multiobjective optimization. This article proposes a modified social class multiobjective particle swarm optimization (SC-MOPSO) method. The modified SC-MOPSO method is featured by application-dependent operators named interclass operators. In addition, it includes solution generation, adding and deleting rendezvous points, and moving to the upper and lower class. Considering that SC-MOPSO provides a set of nondominated solutions as a Pareto front, we employed one of the multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, i.e., simple additive sum (SAW), for selecting one of the solutions from the Pareto front. The results show that both SC-MOPSO and SAW are superior in terms of domination. The set coverage of SC-MOPSO is 0.06 dominant over NSGA-II compared with only a mastery of 0.04 of NSGA-II over SC-MOPSO. At the same time, it showed competitive performance with NSGA-III.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext Implementation of Retro-Futurism Style in Architectural Building Design for 3D Animation

SAUD AMERROUF SIAN, TERRY LUCAS

Trends in Undergraduate Research, 2018;1(1):0-0.
MyJurnal

When we heard Retro design, people will think about the fashion, music, poster, style and trend of the 1940s to1980s. The trend retro-futurism, however, is entirely different. It is a trend that was created by writers, artists and film directors in the past and is closely related to science fiction. This research concentrates on investigating the characteristics of retro-futurism and how it can be used to incorporate its features into building design for 3D animation. An exploratory method was used to analyse the architectural design of the past. The gathered information could give some insights and understanding of what retro-futurism is and the reason behind why the architectural design in the previous era was created that way. The process and challenges of implementing retro-futurism visual style are also discussed. As the result of the collected data, developing a design with the aesthetic of retro-futurism become more accessible and well-planned.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext The health care professional's attitudes towards brain death and cadaveric organ transplantation: the influence of cadaveric donor and transplantation programs--a Malaysian survey

Rozaidi SW, Sukro J, Dan A

Med J Malaysia, 2000 Dec;55(4):478-85.
PMID: 11221161

One of the main reasons for poor response in organ donation is the lack of positive attitudes and knowledge present in health care professionals. Definite legislation, policies and programmes dealing with brain death and cadaveric organ transplantation have shown some favourable results in terms of increasing donor rates. These programmes are mainly Western based; therefore adopting such programmes to be used locally may not be adequate or proper. To address this issue, we decided to carry out a questionnaire in two tertiary hospitals in Malaysia, one with a well establish brain death and cadaveric organ transplantation programme and one with none.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Hospital service quality: a managerial challenge

Rose RC, Uli J, Abdul M, Ng KL

Int J Health Care Qual Assur Inc Leadersh Health Serv, 2004;17(2-3):146-59.
PMID: 15301271

While much is known generally about predictions of customer-perceived service quality, their application to health services is rarer. No attempt has been made to examine the impact of social support and patient education on overall service quality perception. Together with six quality dimensions identified from the literature, this study seeks to provide a more holistic comprehension of hospital service quality prediction. Although 79 percent of variation is explained, other than technical quality the impact of the remaining factors on quality perception is far from constant, and socio-economic variables further complicate unpredictability. Contrary to established beliefs, the cost factor was found to be insignificant. Hence, to manage service quality effectively, the test lies in how well healthcare providers know the customers they serve. It is not only crucial in a globalized environment, where trans-national patient mobility is increasingly the norm, but also within homogeneous societies that appear to converge culturally.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext The timing and stability of choice of medical specialty among Malaysian doctors

Rogayah J, Zulkifli A

Med J Malaysia, 2001 Sep;56(3):324-30.
PMID: 11732078

A total of 356 doctors responded to a survey on the timing and stability of choice of medical specialty. The majority of doctors made their final decision while working as a medical officer. One hundred (48.5%) of the doctors had made an earlier choice as medical students, 63 (30.6%) during their internship and 43 (20.9%) made their final choice while they were medical officers. Working experience in the specialty was the most important factor in determining final choice of specialty. Advice from consultants/seniors, better financial prospects and parental influence were more important for the male doctors while marriage and family considerations were more important for the female doctors in making their final choice.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Comparison of knowledge on filariasis and epidemiologic factors between infected and uninfected respondents in a Malay community

Riji HM

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 1986 Sep;17(3):457-63.
PMID: 3563614

A study to identify the knowledge of infected and uninfected respondents on filariasis and epidemiologic factors in one endemic community in Malaysia to determine their role in the transmission and control of filariasis was carried out. The data were collected by non-participant observations and interviews using semi-structured schedules. The majority of respondents in both groups had knowledge of filariasis. There was no marked difference between male and female respondents, and similarly, there was fair distributions of knowledgeable respondents with and without some years of schooling. On filarial transmission, 9.2% of the infected said that filariasis was contacted through mosquito bites, while among the uninfected it was 7.4%. Within the infected, 14.8% thought that filarial worms entered the human body through the consumption of unhygenically prepared foods and drinks while, among the uninfected it was 20.4%. Both groups were aware of the presence of mosquitoes in their village. However, the majority did not associate this factor with host's susceptibility to filarial infections. Rather, they were of the opinion that personal hygiene and proper meals had something to do with filariasis. The findings showed there was general awareness of filariasis in the community which might indicate that the health campaigns had reached various levels of the population. Yet, they still lacked knowledge on disease transmission. Also, they did not make direct association between environment and exposure to mosquitoes bites though they were aware of their presence but which they regarded as not directly harmful to their health.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
The relationship between age of smoking initiation and current smoking: an analysis of school surveys in three European countries

Reidpath DD, Ling ML, Wellington E, Al-Sadat N, Yasin S

Nicotine Tob Res, 2013 Mar;15(3):729-33.
PMID: 22990215 DOI: 10.1093/ntr/nts177

INTRODUCTION: It is held that younger smoking initiates are more likely to become regular smokers. The definitions of smoking initiation (a puff, part of a cigarette, a whole cigarette) are inconsistent and raise questions about the robustness of the view. We sought to re-examine the relationship using adolescent smoking data from 3 European countries.
METHODS: A stratified secondary, logistic regression analysis of Global Youth Tobacco Survey data was conducted using a design-based analysis. Subgroup analyses were conducted of 13- to 15-year olds from Latvia (high smoking prevalence), Slovenia (moderate prevalence), and Montenegro (low prevalence) who had initiated smoking. The outcome was current smoking--smoking everyday for the past 30 days, or smoking 10 or more days in the past 30 days. Smoking initiation was operationalized as a single puff of a cigarette, and age of smoking initiation was a derived continuous measure.
RESULTS: In Latvia, there was a significant association between age of smoking initiation and current smoking for males (p < .05) and females (p < .001) when smoking was operationalized as smoking every day. It was only significant in female adolescents (p < .001) for smoking 10 or more days. In Slovenia and Montenegro, there was no significant relationship between age of smoking initiation and current smoking for either males or females.
CONCLUSIONS: The evidence about the relationship between age of smoking initiation and current smoking is not clear. Explanations for the findings may relate to a lack of power, the specificity of the measure, or problems with the theory.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Malaysia and harm reduction: the challenges and responses

Reid G, Kamarulzaman A, Sran SK

Int J Drug Policy, 2007 Mar;18(2):136-40.
PMID: 17689356

In Malaysia the response to illicit drug use has been largely punitive with the current goal of the Malaysian government being to achieve a drug-free society by 2015. This paper outlines the results of a desk-based situation assessment conducted over a 3-week period in 2004. Additional events, examined in 2005, were also included to describe more recent policy developments and examine how these came about. Despite punitive drug policy there has been a substantial rise in the number of drug users in the country. Over two-thirds of HIV/AIDS cases are among injecting drug users (IDUs) and there has been an exponential rise in the number of cases reported. Further, data suggest high risk drug use practices are widespread. Harm reduction initiatives have only recently been introduced in Malaysia. The successful piloting of substitution therapies, in particular methadone and buprenorphine, is cause for genuine hope for the rapid development of such interventions. In 2005 the government announced it will allow methadone maintenance programmes to operate beyond the pilot phase and needle and syringe exchange programmes will be established to serve the needs of IDUs.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Case vignette in a community-based study

Razali SM, Hamzah AM

Am J Psychiatry, 1999 Jan;156(1):158.
PMID: 9892319
Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection/methods
Maternal mortality in Malaysia 1991-1992: the paradox of increased rates

Ravindran J, Mathews A

J Obstet Gynaecol (Lahore), 1996 Mar;16(2):86-8.
PMID: 12292342

"This paper aims to show that the establishment of a better data collection and reporting system in Malaysia since 1991 has led to an apparent increase in the maternal mortality ratio.... Because of improved surveillance, the maternal mortality ratio may continue to appear to rise for a few years but should decline after that reflecting the improvement in the health status and service delivery in Malaysia."

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection*
Fulltext How good are doctors as drug prescribers?

Rahman AR, Noor AR, Hassan Y

Med J Malaysia, 1994 Dec;49(4):364-8.
PMID: 7674972

The training of doctors in therapeutics has created interesting discussions internationally. A survey of senior hospital pharmacists currently practising throughout West Malaysia was embarked on during a recent postgraduate seminar. About sixty per cent said prescribing errors were common amongst doctors. Sixteen per cent of the prescribing errors were potentially serious. Most of the time errors were due to carelessness, lack of knowledge on drug action or a combination of both. Nearly 35% of prescribing errors were not acknowledged by doctors. Most doctors did not give reasons for not acknowledging pharmacists' intervention. About half (46.5%) of the respondents thought that doctors were not adequately trained in the use of drugs.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
The impact of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic movement control order (MCO) on dengue cases in Peninsular Malaysia

Rahim MH, Dom NC, Ismail SNS, Mulud ZA, Abdullah S, Pradhan B

One Health, 2021 Jun;12:100222.
PMID: 33553566 DOI: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100222

This study has highlighted the trend of recently-reported dengue cases after the implementation of the Movement Control Orders (MCOs) caused due to COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. The researchers used the dengue surveillance data published by the Malaysian Ministry of Health during the 3 phases of MCO (which ranged between 17th March 2020 and 28th April 2020) was used for determining the cumulative number of dengue patients. Thereafter, the dengue cases were mapped using the Geographical Information System (GIS). The results indicated that during the 42 days of MCO in Peninsular Malaysia, 11,242 total cases of dengue were reported. The daily trend of the dengue cases showed a decrease from 7268 cases that occurred before the MCOs to 4662 dengue cases that occurred during the initial 14 days of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., MCO I), to 3075 cases occurring during the MCO II and 3505 dengue cases noted during MCO III. The central peninsular region showed a maximal decrease in new dengue cases (52.62%), followed by the northern peninsular region (1.89%); eastern coastal region (1.25%) and the southern peninsular region (1.14%) during the initial MCO implementation. However, an increase in the new dengue cases was noted during the MCO III period, wherein all states showed an increase in the new dengue cases as compared during MCO II. The decrease in the pattern was not solely based on the MCO, hence, further investigation is necessary after considering different influencing factors. These results have important implication for future large-scale risk assessment, planning and hazard mitigation on dengue management.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection
Fulltext Multipath routing in wireless sensor networks: survey and research challenges

Radi M, Dezfouli B, Abu Bakar K, Lee M

Sensors (Basel), 2012;12(1):650-85.
PMID: 22368490 DOI: 10.3390/s120100650

A wireless sensor network is a large collection of sensor nodes with limited power supply and constrained computational capability. Due to the restricted communication range and high density of sensor nodes, packet forwarding in sensor networks is usually performed through multi-hop data transmission. Therefore, routing in wireless sensor networks has been considered an important field of research over the past decade. Nowadays, multipath routing approach is widely used in wireless sensor networks to improve network performance through efficient utilization of available network resources. Accordingly, the main aim of this survey is to present the concept of the multipath routing approach and its fundamental challenges, as well as the basic motivations for utilizing this technique in wireless sensor networks. In addition, we present a comprehensive taxonomy on the existing multipath routing protocols, which are especially designed for wireless sensor networks. We highlight the primary motivation behind the development of each protocol category and explain the operation of different protocols in detail, with emphasis on their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, this paper compares and summarizes the state-of-the-art multipath routing techniques from the network application point of view. Finally, we identify open issues for further research in the development of multipath routing protocols for wireless sensor networks.

Matched MeSH terms: Data Collection*

Filters

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links