A preliminary assessment of a simple and rapid electrochemical method was carried out to analyse imidacloprid (IMI) in water samples using cyclic voltammetry (CV) based on modified screen-printed gold electrode (SPGE). Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) was optimized using 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (11-MUA) with several parameters such as scan rates, type of supporting electrolyte, and pH of the supporting electrolyte. The modified SPGE showed high suppressed current against the potential due to the formation of a monolayer on the electrode surface. Surface morphology of the electrode was analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) confirming that 11-MUA was present on the modified SPGE. The water samples were collected from GM Peladang, Kuala Terengganu and two locations at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. Method detection limit was expressed as limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for modified SPGE which were calculated at 3.784 and 12.613 mg/L in water samples, respectively. This study showed that the reduction peak current observed on the modified electrode was lower compared with oxidation peak current. Hence, gold is unsuitable for IMI detection.
Introduction: Epidural analgesia is the most effective method for intra-partum pain relief and most widely applied during childbirth. Various adverse effects of epidural analgesia have been described such as lower rate of sponta- neous vaginal delivery, a higher rate of instrumental vaginal delivery and prolongation of labour, however it remains controversial. The aim of this study to determine the effect of epidural on maternal outcome. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of epidural analgesia on the mothers with epidural and non epidural parturient at Hospital Putrajaya. Methods: Retrospective cohort study was used to collect data through Total Hospital Informa- tion System (THIS) on all delivery cases in Hospital Putrajaya from 1st January to 31st December 2016. A total of 906 mothers was retrospectively investigated in a cohort of 8000 delivery; and was divided into two groups of 453 mothers with epidural analgesia and non-epidural analgesia. Data were analysed using inferential statistics. Results: The mean age in this study was 30.1±4.1 years old with body mass index (BMI) was 28.5±4.5. Univariate analysis demonstrated that epidural group have lower rate of instrumental delivery (34.4%) and caesarean section (30.5%). However, they required more oxytocin used for augmentation (66.4%). The mean duration of first stage of labour was prolong in epidural group (6.0±2.5 hours) compared with non-epidural group (4.3±1.7 hours) while the duration of second stage of labour was also prolong in epidural group (15±19 min) as compared with non-epidural (7±11 min). Conclusion: Epidural analgesia had better maternal outcomes in term of mode of delivery but had adverse effects on duration of labour and oxytocin used.
Kemajuan teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi menerusi pengenalan dan aplikasi sistem kedudukan global (GPS - Global Positioning System) dan papan tanda elektronik telah melancarkan mobiliti pengguna di jalan raya terutama di kawasan bandar. Justeru, kajian ini akan mengupas persepsi pengguna terhadap penggunaan alat pandu arah atau kombinasi alat pantu arah yang kerap digunakan oleh pengguna belia. Menerusi soal selidik yang diedarkan di sekitar Lembah Klang, terdapat tiga dapatan utama. Pertama, papan tanda masih menjadi pandu arah ke destinasi serta menjadi amaran atau isyarat situasi sebenar di jalan raya. Kedua, pengguna selesa menggunakan aplikasi GPS menerusi telefon pintar berbanding dengan GPS terbina pada kenderaan, terutama di kawasan bandar. Ketiga, responden lebih menggunakan kombinasi papan tanda dan aplikasi GPS pada telefon pintar apabila membuat perjalanan di jalan raya berbanding dengan kombinasi papan tanda, aplikasi GPS pada telefon pintar dan GPS terbina pada kenderaan. Keputusan ini dilihat dapat membantu penawaran bagi ketiga-tiga alat pandu arah tersebut untuk menambah baik perkhidmatan dan meningkatkan lagi keunikan alat pandu arah tersebut agar kekal releven dalam pasaran pada masa hadapan.
We report a 38-year-old gentleman who presented with painless haematuria for 6-months duration. Contrast-enhanced CT renal revealed a large, calcified intrapelvic mass with calyceal extension confined within the right kidney with moderate pelvicalyceal dilatation but no evidence of synchronous lesion elsewhere. Histopathological analysis showed high grade urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis with invasion of the renal parenchyma. Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) which was once thought similar to urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB), is increasingly being recognized as a different entity. However, heterogenous array of imaging manifestations of UTUC is also increasingly being encountered and pose diagnostic challenges though UTUC is not as prevalent as UCB which is easier to diagnose. Despite distinctive features against renal cell carcinoma (RCC), UTUC may mimic numerous other renal pathology especially the benign ones hence imaging plays a pivotal role to ascertain the diagnosis. This disease is usually treated with radical nephroureterectomy with superadded neoadjuvant chemotherapy for high risk cases. Less invasive endoscopic resection is also offered in certain cases but stringent surveillance of the whole urinary tract as well as post-operative follow-up are mandatory.
Introduction: Cyberbullying is a growing public health menace although research into the topic is very much lacking in Malaysia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cyberbullying among Malaysian adolescents and its association to gender, internet use pattern and offline bullying.
Methods: This study adopts a cross-sectional methodology among Malaysian adolescents’ (N=882, 13 to 14 years old) through both the dimensions of victimization and perpetration using the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire (ECIPQ).
Results: The result shows that if the period of the cyberbullying experience is confined to the past one month, the prevalence cyber-victimization and cyber-perpetration are 31.6% and 20.9% respectively. The prevalence however increased by more than 2-fold when it was extended to the past 3-months experience (73.7% and 64.2% respectively). Online harassment seems to dominate the prevalence of various types of cyberbullying in both cyber-victimization and cyber-perpetration dimensions (60.4% and 55.4% respectively). Both offline victims (AOR 2.40, p
Introduction: A growing evidence supported that variation of sweet taste perception, mediated by TAS1Rs gene variants could lead to excess sweetened food and beverages intake and also obesity. However, obesity development may also alter individuals' taste sensitivity and perception. Thus, it is best to further investigate whether or not the individuals' sweet taste sensitivity and acceptance are associated with variation in TAS1R2 gene and Body Mass Index (BMI) status. Methods: This comparison cross sectional study comprised of 88 obese and 92 non-obese subjects aged 20-45. All the subjects were genotyped for TAS1R2 gene variant at rs12033832 using polymerase chain reaction – restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Suprathreshold sensitivity for sweet taste was assessed using general Labeled Magnitude Scales. Intensity rating and hedonic test were carried out on 2 food samples (tea drink and rose flavoured agar) to examine subject's intensity rating and liking at different sugar contents. Results: Our re- sults showed that rs12033832 of TAS1R2 gene is associated with sweet taste perception among obese and non-obese subjects. No interaction effect between BMI status and TAS1R2 gene variant (rs12022832) was found on sweet taste measures. Overall, non-obese subjects with AA genotype on rs12033832 had the highest sweet taste sensitivity and dislike high sugar content products the most. The effect was reverse among the obese subjects with GG homozygous. Conclusion: These findings suggest that TAS1R2 gene variation plays an important role in sweet taste perception among individuals and may have nutritional implications and obesity.
Introduction: This study investigated the effect of combined plant-based protein supplementation and resistance training on muscular strength, blood markers of protein catabolism, immune function, and bone metabolism in sed- entary adult males. Methods: In this randomised, double-blinded study, 28 healthy males aged 19 – 29 years old were equally assigned into four groups: a combined plant-based protein with resistance training (PBPEX), plant- based protein alone (PBP), resistance training alone (EX) and control (C). Mode of resistance training was flat barbell press, machine shoulder press, wide grip lateral pull-down, seated cable row, barbell back squat, leg press and leg extension. The 8-week resistance training involved three sets of 60-70% of one-repetition maximum (1-RM) at 4-6 repetition/set/mode per session, three sessions/week. Participants in PBPEX and PBP groups consumed a plant-based protein supplement consisted of 9.8 g soy and pea protein for seven days/week. Results: PBPEX showed significant increases (p
Synthetic fibers such as glass fiber and carbon fiber are traditionally used as reinforcement in engineering composites. The increasing of environmental concerns has led to the use of natural fibers as renewable alternatives reinforcement. Among them, coconut meat husk fiber which abundant availability can be used as reinforcement fiber. However, the coconut meat husk fiber, same as other natural fibers, has the issues of fiber/matrix bonding and moisture absorption. Chemical treatments are needed to modify the surface of fiber, aiming at improving the adhesion with polymer matrix and reducing the hydrophilicity of the fiber. Alkalization was used in this study to treat the coconut meat husk fiber. The effects of chemical treatments for 1hr and 24 hr treatment time on the coconut meat husk fibers reinforced composites were investigated. A result showed that the 24 hr alkali treatment gave the highest tensile stenght compared to the 1hr treatment and RO water.
Cloud computing technology has succeeded in attracting the interest of both academics and industries because of its ability to provide flexible, cost-effective, and adaptable services in IT solution deployment. The services offered to Cloud Service Subscriber (CSS) are based on the concept of on-demand self-service, scalability, and rapid elasticity, which allows fast deployment of IT solutions, whilst leads to possible misconfiguration, un-patched system, etc. which, allows security threats to compromise the cloud services operations. From the viewpoint of Cloud Service Provider (CSP), incidents such as data loss and information breach, will tarnish their reputations, whilst allow them to conserve the issues internally, in which there is no transparency between CSP and CSS. In the aspects of information security, CSP is encouraged to practice cybersecurity in their cloud services by adopting ISO/IEC27017:2015 inclusive of all additional security controls as mandatory requirements. This study was conducted to identify factors that are influencing the CSP readiness level in the cybersecurity implementation of their cloud services by leveraging the developed pre-assessment model to determine the level of cloud security readiness. Approached the study is based on the combination of qualitative and quantitative assessment method in validating the proposed model through interview and prototype testing. The findings of this study had shown that factors that influence the CSP level of cloud security readiness are based on these domains; technology, organisation, policy, stakeholders, culture, knowledge, and environment. The contribution of the study as a Pre-Assessment Model for CSP which is suitable to be used as a guideline to provide a safer cloud computing environment.
Gangguan fungsi ereksi adalah salah satu kesan sampingan metadon yang paling lazim. Gangguan ini menjejaskan lebih daripada separuh populasi pesakit metadon dari segi fungsi seksual mereka. Masalah ini dikaitkan dengan penurunan kualiti hidup yang ketara. Gangguan fungsi ereksi boleh menyebabkan masalah yang lebih besar jika tidak dirawat kerana pesakit mungkin memilih untuk menggunakan rawatan sendiri yang berbahaya seperti menyalahgunakan methamphetamine. Penggunaan dadah untuk mengatasi kesan sampingan metadon boleh menyebabkan gangguan penggunaan dadah ganda yang dapat mengganggu rawatan ketagihan dadah. Untuk mengatasi masalah ini, pengamal dan pesakit memainkan peranan yang penting dalam pengurusan gangguan fungsi ereksi. Kesedaran pesakit mengenai gangguan fungsi ereksi dan impaknya serta intervensi aktif oleh doktor untuk mengesan gangguan fungsi ereksi, adalah penting untuk meningkatkan tingkat pengesanan dan pengurusan gangguan fungsi ereksi. Saringan gangguan fungsi ereksi yang kerap dan faktor risikonya akan membantu mengenalpasti pesakit yang menderita gangguan fungsi ereksi. Pelbagai pilihan rawatan seperti rawatan bupropion, trazodone dan banyak lagi tersedia untuk merawat gangguan fungsi ereksi yang akan diterokai lebih lanjut dalam kajian ini.
The firm’s involvement in innovation became a necessary attribute for firms to remain competitive and successful. However, innovation is still considered a hallmark of large firms only. The literature on SME's involvement in innovation is scant and needs further exploration regarding the innovation process in the SME firms. This paper aims to hint the gap of knowledge related to the association between the owner-manager characteristics and innovation orientation at the SMEs. A review of relevant literature was exhausted for the achievement of the study objective. The findings of the study highlight that to fully explore the innovation process at the SME level, there is a need to divide the innovation concept into innovation creation and innovation adoption as two discrete concepts effected by the owner-manager personal characteristics. Literature hints at these two conceptualizations of the innovation among SMEs, but empirical examination is non-existence. Therefore, this work recommends future research endeavors to empirically examining the direction and strength of the relationship between owner-manager characteristics and SME's innovation performance in terms of creation and adoption. Moreover, literature and policy direction can be drawn from the respective research activities.
Spontaneous pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum is defined as presence of free air or gas in the pleural cav- ity and mediastinal structures respectively. Spontaneous pneumothorax seems to be associated with anatomical abnormalities such as subpleural blebs or bullae, however not for spontaneous pneumomediastinum which may developed without an apparent precipitating cause. Both usually may occur in young healthy adults without serious underlying lung disease. We report a case of spontaneous pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum after a trivial injury. He was initially presented with dyspnea after two weeks of initial trivial trauma. Chest radiograph showed left apical pneumothorax with pneumomediastinum with no evidence of rib fracture. His condition was deemed non-traumatic by surgical colleague, thus admitted to medical ward for observation and eventually discharged well.
Fraktur avulsi tulang belakang iliac anterior (ASIS) jarang terjadi, dan lebih lumrah berlaku di kalangan remaja muda semasa bersukan. Ini disebabkan oleh rawan apophyseal yang lemah semasa remaja, apabila kontraksi otot yang kuat mengatasi ASIS semasa aktiviti olahraga. Seorang lelaki berusia 15 tahun dibawa ke Jabatan Kecemasan (ED) mengadu sakit pinggul kanan selepas perlumbaan semasa Hari Sukan sekolahnya. Ketika dia melintasi garisan penamat dan menang, dia tiba-tiba rasa sensasi “pop” di pinggul kanannya dan jatuh ke tanah dengan kesakitan. Di ED, dia baring meniarap dengan skor sakit 6/10. Intravena Ketorolac diberikan untuk melegakan kesakitannya. Pemeriksaan fizikal menunjukkan kesakitan setempat di kawasan hadapan pelvis kanan, tanpa bengkak atau kecacatan pada sendi pinggul kanan. Tiada perbezaan antara kepanjangan kaki kanan berbanding kaki kiri. Pergerakan pinggul kanan terhad akibat kesakitan. Pemeriksaan neurovaskular adalah normal. Radiografi pelvis menunjukkan fraktur avulsi ASIS kanan. Beliau telah dirujuk kepada pasukan Ortopedik dan telah dirancang untuk rawatan konservatif rehat di katil, analgesik, dan ambulansi tanpa berat. Dia dibenarkan pulang dan dirancang untuk temujanji di Klinik Ortopedik. Pemeriksaan semula selepas 2 bulan kecederaan menunjukkan pesakit sihat dan bebas kesakitan. ASIS mudah terdedah kepada kecederaan avulsi semasa menjalankan aktiviti sukan kerana otot sartorius menarik anteroinferior ASIS semasa lekukan maksimum pinggul dan lanjutan lutut. Walaupun fraktur avulsi apophyses pelvis jarang berlaku, ia harus dipertimbangkan di kalangan atlet remaja jika mekanisma kecederaan adalah sangat sugestif.
The global increase in young consumer population and purchasing power has created a new demand for halal cosmetics product development. In Malaysia, it is now the trend in the industry of cosmetics for local manufacturers to produce halal cosmetic products. As the market growth is rapid, the manufacturers of cosmetics are eager to dominate the market and come up with many product varieties in order to pursue and satisfy customers. However, most consumers are conscious of the ingredients used in the making of cosmetic products. While the introduction of new products may facilitate companies in gaining competitive advantage, the failure rate of local products is high. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to understand the relationship between product characteristics, social influence and individual innovativeness with halal cosmetics adoption among young consumers in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The sampling of this study comprised 350 respondents using survey questionnaires that were distributed in shopping malls in the Klang Valley. In order to test the model, this study used the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique using partial least squares (PLS) with SmartPLS 3.2.8. The findings of this study show that there is a positive relationship between product characteristics, social influence and individual innovativeness towards halal cosmetics adoption among respondents. This study demonstrates that halal cosmetics adoption is increasing among young consumers. Therefore, cosmetics producers or marketers need to understand the behaviour of young consumers in order to ensure that failure rate can be minimised.
Bone can heal on its own through the process known as bone remodelling. Nonetheless, a critical size bone defect will hinder the natural bone-healing process and may not allow for complete fracture healing. These requires surgical intervention by employing the use of bone tissue implants and in need of realignment and fixation for proper fracture healing. Traditional knowledge of bone injury and fracture healing must be comprehended thoroughly for a proper invention of bioengineered material or devices that could enhance the physiological process. Heretofore, engineered materials used to address critical size bone defects haveencounteredvarious challenges and improvement be it in bone grafting or choices of mechanicalstabilization devices. To date, researchers have been mainly focussingon the alternative material for bone graft substitutealbeit the selection of fixators to establish mechanical stabilization are as important. This review highlighted the challenges, improvement and advancement in mechanical stabilization devices and bone graft substitute with respect to the physiological process of bone fracture healing. Identifying these challenges would helpassist theresearcher in an expedition toward the recovery and restoration of critical size bone defects.
Seeking treatment is a vital when an individual falls sick. However, some may not do so perhaps they are ashamed to admitting having shameful diseases or unable to seek and reach help. Negative perception of the community on sensitive diseases like AIDS or sexual transmitted disease (STD) may drive the patients away from seeking treatment and suffer alone. In Islam we are thought to always have positive perceptions (husnu dzan) towards any issues in daily life especially when dealing with human interaction by avoiding bad perceptions (su’u dzan). Thus, this study aims to identify the factors affecting treatment seeking patterns among public in three selected areas in Kuantan, and to explore factors affecting people not able or avoid seeking treatment, also to determine the relationship between treatment seeking patterns and the influential factors ie distance, accessibility and behaviour; attitude to health, healthcare and self-perception. A cross sectional survey was carried out at Taman Gelora, Teluk Cempedak and Terminal Makmur, Kuantan, Pahang. Convenient sampling method was used in this study. 201 respondents participated and answered a semi-structured questionnaire modified from Adamson. Results showed that the data was normally distributed, 50.2% respondents were male and 58.7% the total respondents were between 16-26 years old. Majority of the respondents had neutral attitude to health and healthcare, and to self-perception; 94.03% and 73.63% respectively. From the results, there were significant association between distance and accessibility, and monthly income, plus between self-perception and demographic data (p
Training at high altitude for prolonged periods can cause low oxygen tension which can developed complication of hypoxia. Hypoxia is a cascade activity from a level of down regulation and function of cell’s nucleus. Early detection of biomarker and physiological changes are important in prevent the hypoxia at high altitude. Hyperbaric medicine is a new treatment that were used an oxygen therapy to treat hypoxic and inflammatory driven conditions which patients are treated with 100% oxygen at pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. The review discusses physiological changes associated with hypoxia, the response of biomarker hypoxia changes in high altitude and the role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy can play as part of the treatment for pilots and athletes training at high altitudes that suffering from disease with underlying hypoxia.
Introduction: In Indonesia, most training modules for health paraprofessionals
have been adapted from existing foreign modules without assessment. In addition,
there have been few studies on training development for this group. We aimed to
develop, using a systematic tool, implement and evaluate a training module to
improve the competencies of voluntary health workers (cadres) in communicating
safe complementary feeding practice to caregivers of young children in Indonesia.
Methods: A mixed methods approach was used. A qualitative study employing
in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, mini-workshops, documentary
reviews and expert validation was used to develop the training module, following a
systematic approach. The module’s effectiveness for improving the health workers’
competencies was evaluated using a quantitative study with a non-equivalent
pre-test and post-test control group design that included 70 (intervention group)
and 68 (comparison group) voluntary health workers from a peri-urban district.
Changes in the workers’ cognitive, affective and psychomotor competencies were
tested before and after attending a 3-day training module (intervention group) or
a half-day event (comparison group). Results: A 24-hour learning session module
on communicating safe complementary feeding was developed and used to train
voluntary health workers. After the training, a significantly higher proportion of
workers in the intervention group than in the comparison group were assessed as
competent in the psychomotor and composite domains (psychomotor: 67.1% vs.
20.6%; composite: 74.3% vs. 36.8%; p
Introduction: Appropriate oral health knowledge is essential to enable parents to be responsible for the oral health care of their children especially those with special needs. This study aimed to determine the oral health knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of parents and cariogenic food intake of their non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate children (NSCLP) compared to non-cleft children.
Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected parents with children aged 1 to 6 years at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia and Kota Bharu Dental Clinic. A face-to-face interview using a validated questionnaire on oral health KAP and cariogenic food intake of their children was done. Data were analysed by using IBM SPSS version 22.0.
Results: Sixty-four Malay parents with NSCLP (n=33) and non-cleft (n=31) children were recruited. The mean (SD) percentage score of oral health knowledge of parents in both groups (NSCLP and non-cleft) was fair, 59.5%(11.85) and 62.0%(15.00), P=0.4722; oral health attitude was good, 78.0% (9.30) and 80.2% (15.40), P=0.504; but oral health practice was poor 33.8% (5.94) and 36.1 (8.44), P=0.220. The cariogenic food frequency score was significantly higher in noncleft children; 40.2(10.32) compared to NSCLP children, 34.8(9.46), P=0.032.
Conclusions: Parents of both groups had fair knowledge and good attitude but poor oral health practice. Cariogenic foods were consumed more by the non-cleft children. Oral health awareness among the parents needs to be strengthened towards good oral health attitude and practice and non-cariogenic food choices for the betterment of oral health status of their children.
In today’s society, there is a great demand for appreciating nutritional standards in which characterized by rising costs and often decreasing availability of raw material together with concern about environmental pollution. Consequently, there is a considerable emphasis on their recovery, recycling and upgrading wastes. The food industry produces large volumes of wastes, both solids and liquids, resulting from the production, preparation and consumption of food. Due to legislation and environmental reasons, the food and beverage industry is highly enforced to find an alternative use for the residual matter. The latest trends impacting the food industry include moves to reduce the huge amount of food waste, as consumers simultaneously adapt their habits in times of continuing austerity. In the last decades, consumers demands in the field of food production has changed considerably. Consumers believe that food contribute directly to their health. Therefore, the idea of using underutilized and waste food products was triggered, where the main ingredient is made of plants waste which is corn silk. It is an invention to transform plant waste to corn silk flour – Zea Mays Flour ( ZMF) that benefit the society through its help of increasing food for the world. Furthermore, it can help to enhance global efforts towards food security, nutrition, dietary needs, as well as foster health and income generation. Recycling products using underutilized and waste food products also could help to sustain the environment. There is one fact that must be beared in inventors’ mind that scientific research alone does not guarantee for a product to be successful in the market. The product invented should fit the taste and needs for the consumers as the market success rate is influenced by the degree of familiarity and acceptance toward the product being sold. Many of the today’s food and beverage products are not intended merely to satisfy hunger and provide humans with necessary nutrients, as they aim to prevent nutrition related diseases and increase physical and mental well-being of consumers. Therefore, it is necessary for product development to explore which need that consumers are concerned about, so that the product could achieve success and market acceptance. The idea using food product using underutilized/waste product, corn silk become Zea Mays Flour ( ZMF), is hoped will support the idea of sustainability, specifically ins steadily gaining more attention from many food producers worldwide, to save the environment while at the same time boost the business through reduction of costs and considerable amount of waste.