Displaying publications 141 - 160 of 215 in total

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  1. Bande, Y. M., Mariah, N. A.
    MyJurnal
    In this study, various methods and applications of flat plate solar collectors are discussed and pictorial representations are presented. Low temperature applications of flat plate collectors are identified in solar cooking, solar water heating, space and air heating, industrial heating plants and in agricultural produce drying processes. Basic equations, as presented by many researchers in the performances of flat plate collectors, are also presented. The review discusses the analysis of losses from flat plate collectors towards obtaining the overall heat loss coefficient which indicate the performance of flat plate collectors.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  2. Tan KK, Azizan NS, Yaacob CN, Che Mat Seri NAA, Samsudin NI, Teoh BT, et al.
    BMC Infect Dis, 2018 04 11;18(1):169.
    PMID: 29642856 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-018-3065-1
    BACKGROUND: A method for rapid detection of dengue virus using the reverse-transcription recombinase polymerase amplification (RT-RPA) was recently developed, evaluated and made ready for deployment. However, reliance solely on the evaluation performed by experienced researchers in a well-structured and well-equipped reference laboratory may overlook the potential intrinsic problems that may arise during deployment of the assay into new application sites, especially for users unfamiliar with the test. Appropriate assessment of this newly developed assay by users who are unfamiliar with the assay is, therefore, vital.

    METHODS: An operational utility test to elucidate the efficiency and effectiveness of the dengue RT-RPA assay was conducted among a group of researchers new to the assay. Nineteen volunteer researchers with different research experience were recruited. The participants performed the RT-RPA assay and interpreted the test results according to the protocol provided. Deviation from the protocol was identified and tabulated by trained facilitators. Post-test questionnaires were conducted to determine the user satisfaction and acceptability of the dengue RT-RPA assay.

    RESULTS: All the participants completed the test and successfully interpreted the results according to the provided instructions, regardless of their research experience. Of the 19 participants, three (15.8%) performed the assay with no deviations and 16 (84.2%) performed the assay with only 1 to 5 deviations. The number of deviations from protocol, however, was not correlated with the user laboratory experience. The accuracy of the results was also not affected by user laboratory experience. The concordance of the assay results against that of the expected was at 89.3%. The user satisfaction towards the RT-RPA protocol and interpretation of results was 90% and 100%, respectively.

    CONCLUSIONS: The dengue RT-RPA assay can be successfully performed by simply following the provided written instructions. Deviations from the written protocols did not adversely affect the outcome of the assay. These suggest that the RT-RPA assay is indeed a simple, robust and efficient laboratory method for detection of dengue virus. Furthermore, high new user acceptance of the RT-RPA assay suggests that this assay could be successfully deployed into new laboratories where RT-RPA was not previously performed.

    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  3. Kasvar, K.K., Nagapan, S., Abdullah, A.H., Ullah, K., Deraman, R., Yunus, R., et al.
    MyJurnal
    Concrete and masonry waste are the main types of waste typically generated at a construction project. There is a lack of studies in the country regarding the cost implication of managing these types of construction waste To address this need in Malaysia, the study is carried out to measure the disposal cost of concrete and masonry waste. The study was carried out by a site visit method using an indirect measurement approach to quantify the quantity of waste generated at the project. Based on the recorded number of trips for waste collection, the total expenditure to dispose the waste were derived in three construction stages. Data was collected four times a week for the period July 2014 to July 2015. The total waste generated at the study site was 762.51 m3 and the cost incurred for the 187 truck trips required to dispose the waste generated from the project site to the nearby landfill was RM22,440.00. The findings will be useful to both researchers and policy makers concerned with construction waste.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  4. Khan A, Ali I, Ghani A, Khan N, Alsaqer M, Rahman AU, et al.
    Sensors (Basel), 2018 May 18;18(5).
    PMID: 29783686 DOI: 10.3390/s18051619
    Recent research in underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) has gained the attention of researchers in academia and industry for a number of applications. They include disaster and earthquake prediction, water quality and environment monitoring, leakage and mine detection, military surveillance and underwater navigation. However, the aquatic medium is associated with a number of limitations and challenges: long multipath delay, high interference and noise, harsh environment, low bandwidth and limited battery life of the sensor nodes. These challenges demand research techniques and strategies to be overcome in an efficient and effective fashion. The design of routing protocols for UWSNs is one of the promising solutions to cope with these challenges. This paper presents a survey of the routing protocols for UWSNs. For the ease of description, the addressed routing protocols are classified into two groups: localization-based and localization-free protocols. These groups are further subdivided according to the problems they address or the major parameters they consider during routing. Unlike the existing surveys, this survey considers only the latest and state-of-the-art routing protocols. In addition, every protocol is described in terms of its routing strategy and the problem it addresses and solves. The merit(s) of each protocol is (are) highlighted along with the cost. A description of the protocols in this fashion has a number of advantages for researchers, as compared to the existing surveys. Firstly, the description of the routing strategy of each protocol makes its routing operation easily understandable. Secondly, the demerit(s) of a protocol provides (provide) insight into overcoming its flaw(s) in future investigation. This, in turn, leads to the foundation of new protocols that are more intelligent, robust and efficient with respect to the desired parameters. Thirdly, a protocol can be selected for the appropriate application based on its described merit(s). Finally, open challenges and research directions are presented for future investigation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  5. Lee LC, Liong CY, Jemain AA
    Analyst, 2018 Jul 23;143(15):3526-3539.
    PMID: 29947623 DOI: 10.1039/c8an00599k
    Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) is a versatile algorithm that can be used for predictive and descriptive modelling as well as for discriminative variable selection. However, versatility is both a blessing and a curse and the user needs to optimize a wealth of parameters before reaching reliable and valid outcomes. Over the past two decades, PLS-DA has demonstrated great success in modelling high-dimensional datasets for diverse purposes, e.g. product authentication in food analysis, diseases classification in medical diagnosis, and evidence analysis in forensic science. Despite that, in practice, many users have yet to grasp the essence of constructing a valid and reliable PLS-DA model. As the technology progresses, across every discipline, datasets are evolving into a more complex form, i.e. multi-class, imbalanced and colossal. Indeed, the community is welcoming a new era called big data. In this context, the aim of the article is two-fold: (a) to review, outline and describe the contemporary PLS-DA modelling practice strategies, and (b) to critically discuss the respective knowledge gaps that have emerged in response to the present big data era. This work could complement other available reviews or tutorials on PLS-DA, to provide a timely and user-friendly guide to researchers, especially those working in applied research.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  6. Muhammad Hasbullah, M.A., Leman, A.M., Baba, I.
    MyJurnal
    Occupational safety and health (OSH) in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have not received the proper
    attention not only in Malaysia, but in most of the countries globally, in terms of research or support for implementation.
    This research focuses on the implementation of the occupational safety and health in small and medium industries in
    the southern region of peninsular of Malaysia. The objective of this research is to determine the level of awareness of
    SME owners and also their employers towards the importance of implementing OSH in their daily tasks. This study
    will be based on conducting a survey to 200 SMEs owners and workers throughout the southern region of Malaysia.
    The results from this research can be use as a benchmark for other researchers to further enhance the research in this
    area.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  7. Aktar-Uz-Zamana, Md., Tuhina-Khatun, Mst., Mohamed Hanafi Musa, Sahebi, Mahbod
    MyJurnal
    A resistant variety with high yielding potential is key for increasing crop production to
    fulfill the food requirement of the ever increasing world populations. Consequently, the aim of plant
    breeders is to develop high yielding varieties or cultivars that are resistant or tolerant to specific
    diseases or insects. For developing a resistant variety, it is enormously indispensable to incorporate or
    introgress the specific resistant genes of that particular disease into the recipient. Suppression
    subtractive hybridization (SSH) is a powerful technique for the identification of disease specific
    differentially expressed genes that are expressed in a resistant or susceptible variety. This paper
    presents a brief review on the SSH technique with examples focusing on the identification of the
    wheat disease specific differentially expressed genes and their defense mechanisms against fungal
    pathogens in global wheat cultivars. This review is helpful for wheat researchers for the updated
    information on the SSH technique for the identification of differentially expressed genes in the global
    wheat cultivars and varieties. Eventually, the identified genes could be used to develop the disease
    resistance variety through marker-assisted backcrossing programme or conventional breeding.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  8. Noor Shaila Sarmin, Mohd Hasmadi Ismail
    MyJurnal
    The aim of this paper is to review the potentialities and major methodological challenges
    of integrating remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) with socioeconomic data
    from published articles or book chapters. RS and GIS combined with social science (SS)(termed as
    geoinformation technology) serve many applications for sustainable management and monitoring of
    the environment. This combined approach gives more accurate results than the single one. It makes
    information available about the trend and pattern of land use and land cover change (LUCC) with
    socioeconomic variables like population, demographic or income. This combined study which links
    RS and GIS with socioeconomic data can also be used successfully for monitoring transmission rate
    of disease and mapping or preparing vulnerability index. For impact assessment and modelling, this
    combined technology provides better results than the single one. There are some methodological
    problems for the researchers to link completely two different disciplines as the object of study and
    observational unit is completely different. However, this interdisciplinary study is gaining popularity
    day by day to researchers from different disciplines as well as decision makers.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  9. Balasingam, M.
    MyJurnal
    Researchers have in recent years pointed to microgravity as presenting a unique opportunity for better disease prevention and treatments. Spaceflight can induce many changes in human physiological systems. In particular, the cardiovascular system is especially affected by spaceflight due to changes at the cellular level. Endothelial cells are very sensitive to microgravity. Morphological and functional changes in endothelial cells have been extensively studied since they are believed to be the source of many cardiovascular diseases. Studies have also shown that endothelial cells play a key role in angiogenesis, which can be stimulated in a clinostat-induced microgravity environment. This is a review of studies, based on different research approaches, on human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The myriad molecular cascades and signalling pathways involving gene regulation, proteins, inflammatory response activation, alteration of endothelial behaviour, and cell senescence are highlighted. Age-related disorders experienced on earth are very similar to the changes induced in space by microgravity. As we seek solutions to medical problems, the most innovative and beneficial at present are in space medicines and therapies.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  10. Peikari HR, T R, Shah MH, Lo MC
    BMC Med Inform Decis Mak, 2018 Nov 15;18(1):102.
    PMID: 30442138 DOI: 10.1186/s12911-018-0681-z
    BACKGROUND: Researchers paid little attention to understanding the association of organizational and human factors with patients' perceived security in the context of health organizations. This study aims to address numerous gaps in this context. Patients' perceptions about employees' training on security issues, monitoring on security issues, ethics, physical & technical protection and trust in hospitals were identified as organizational and human factors.

    METHODS: After the development of 12 hypotheses, a quantitative, cross-sectional, self-administered survey method was applied to collect data in 9 hospitals in Iran. After the collection of 382 usable questionnaires, the partial least square structural modeling was applied to examine the hypotheses and it was found that 11 hypotheses were empirically supported.

    RESULTS: The results suggest that patients' trust in hospitals can significantly predict their perceived security but no significant associations were found between patients' physical protection mechanisms in the hospital and their perceived information security in a hospital. We also found that patients' perceptions about the physical protection mechanism of a hospital can significantly predict their trust in hospitals which is a novel finding by this research.

    CONCLUSIONS: The findings imply that hospitals should formulate policies to improve patients' perception about such factors, which ultimately lead to their perceived security.

    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  11. Tabet SM, Lambie GW, Jahani S, Rasoolimanesh SM
    Assessment, 2020 12;27(8):1731-1747.
    PMID: 30873844 DOI: 10.1177/1073191119834653
    The researchers examined the factor structure and model specifications of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) with confirmatory tetrad analysis (CTA) using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a sample of adult clients (N = 298) receiving individual therapy at a university-based counseling research center. The CTA and PLS-SEM results identified the formative nature of the WHODAS 2.0 subscale scores, supporting an alternative measurement model of the WHODAS 2.0 scores as a second-order formative-formative model.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  12. Mutafi A, Yidris N, Ishak MR, Zahari R
    Heliyon, 2018 Nov;4(11):e00937.
    PMID: 30839801 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00937
    Steel sections are normally shaped via cold work manufacturing processes. The extent of cold work to shape the steel sections might induce residual stresses in the region of bending. Previously, researchers had performed studies on the influences of local buckling on the failure behavior of steel compression members which shown that failure will happen when most of the yielding has extended to the middle surface in the bend region of the sections. Therefore, these cold work methods may have major effect on the behavior of the steel section and also its load-bearing capability. In addition, another factor may play significant role in formed section's load-bearing capacity which is the longitudinal residual strain. The longitudinal residual strain raised during forming procedure can be used to define the section imperfection of the formed section and its relation to the existence of defects. Therefore, the main motivation of this research paper is to perform three-dimensional finite element (3D-FE) to investigate peak longitudinal residual strains of a thin-walled steel plate with large bending angle along member length. A 3D finite element simulation in ABAQUS has been employed to simulate this forming process. The study concluded that the longitudinal residual strain at the section corner edge was higher than those at the rest of the corner region. These strains at the edge were higher than the yield strain


    (



    ε


    y



    )


    of the formed section which occurred due to the lack of transverse restraint. This made the plate edge tended to bend toward the normal direction when it was under a high transverse bending. This causes a significant difference in longitudinal strain at the plate edge.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  13. Mad' Atari MFB, Folta KM
    BMC Res Notes, 2019 Mar 15;12(1):144.
    PMID: 30876440 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-019-4117-3
    OBJECTIVE: The treatment of plant tissue with Agrobacterium tumefaciens is often a critical first step to both stable and transient plant transformation. In both applications bacterial suspensions are oftentimes physically introduced into plant tissues using hand-driven pressure from a needleless syringe. While effective, this approach has several drawbacks that limit reproducibility. Pressure must be provided with the syringe perfectly perpendicular to the tissue surface. The researcher must also attempt to provide even and consistent pressure, both within and between experimental replicates. These factors mean that the procedures do not always translate well between research groups or biological replicates.

    RESULTS: We have devised a method to introduce Agrobacterium suspensions into plant leaves with greater reproducibility. Using a decommissioned dissecting microscope as an armature, a syringe body with the bacterial suspension is mounted to the nosepiece. Gentle, even pressure is applied by rotating the focus knob. The treatment force is measured using a basic kitchen scale. The development of the Standardized Pressure Agrobacterium Infiltration Device (SPAID) provides a means to deliver consistent amounts of bacterial suspensions into plant tissues with the goal of increasing reproducibility between replicates and laboratories.

    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  14. Sonne C, Ok YS, Lam SS, Rinklebe J, Alstrup AKO, Kim KH
    Sci Total Environ, 2020 May 01;715:136990.
    PMID: 32014787 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136990
    Science of the Total Environment recently discussed how open access and predatory journals affect the flow of scientific knowledge in an unfortunate way. Now, South Korea's Ministry of Education is intervening to establish a system that will help its researchers avoid the growing global number of fake conferences of low academic and scientific merit. Here, we discuss solutions to this problem with respect to what is needed. Particularly, a list similar to that of Beall's for predatory conferences, without restricting researchers' academic freedom.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  15. Ahmad Fazlan Ghazalli, Mahamad Yusof Abdul Rani, Nelfianty Mohd
    MyJurnal
    The purpose of this study examines the effect of Selangor weightlifters concerns over the performance of the National Weightlifting Championship in Johor Bahru 2015. The sample is Selangor weightlifting athletes aged 13 to 15 years who participated in the national weightlifting championship in Johor Bahru. Data were collected through questionnaires Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2) to measure the level of anxiety (cognitive, somatic, self-confidence). The mean value analysis, the percentage used to determine the level of concern for athletes. Correlation tests were used to examine the association between the phases of concern with the performance of athletes during the competition. The results showed the level of anxiety (cognitive, somatic and self-confidence) athletes a day before the tournament is at a moderate level. Other while, cognitive anxiety level significantly correlated with performance or achievement during the tournament. Therefore, the coaches and athletes must continue to concentrate on the concerns of cognitive intentions to achieve excellent performance in a weightlifting tournament in the future. Researchers suggest the management should seek the help of a sports psychologist to provide psychological training for athletes particularly to address the concerns of cognitive as well as physical exercise by periods of sustained exercise.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  16. Yuhanif Yusof, Anisah Che Ngah, Zaki Morad Mohamad Zaher
    Int J Public Health Res, 2014;4(1):384-390.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction The aim of this study was to examine the aspect of information disclosure by doctor-investigator during the process of obtaining informed consent in clinical trials.
    Methods This research employed a mixed-method data collection that is library research and interview. A qualitative methodology and analysis were used in an open-ended, face-to-face interviews with 17 patient-subjects. The interview questions were based on information that needed to be disclosed to patient-subjects during the process of obtaining informed consent. Each interview took place in Kajang Hospital and National Heart Institute and lasted 25-30 minutes. Interviews were conducted in Bahasa Melayu and English. The interviews were tape-recorded, and the main points from the interviews were jotted down to ensure that all information was adequately gathered. Interviewed occurred in Kajang Hospital and National Heart Institute. The participants were patients who had been referred to the Kajang Hospital and National Heart Institute. They were recruited (8 from Kajang Hospital and 9 from National Heart Institute) by their own doctors to participate in a study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the investigational stent after been diagnosed with coronary artery disease and also in a study to investigate drug for antidepressant. respectively.
    Results The study revealed that doctor-investigators fail to disclose full information to patient-subjects. Instead, doctor-investigators only disclosed information which they thought were necessary for the patient-subjects to know. The study also showed that there were doctor-investigators who did not disclose information at all to the patient-subjects.
    Conclusions This study implies that the aspect of information disclosure in the process of obtaining informed consent in clinical trials is rather poor and did not fulfill the criterion of good medical practice. A random monitoring task to be conducted by the research ethics commitees during the informed consent process is suggested.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  17. Singh VP, Nettemu SK, Nettem S, Hosadurga R, Nayak SU
    J Hum Reprod Sci, 2017 Jul-Sep;10(3):162-166.
    PMID: 29142443 DOI: 10.4103/jhrs.JHRS_87_17
    Ample evidence strongly supports the fact that periodontal disease is a major risk factor for various systemic diseases namely cardio-vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, etc. Recently, investigators focussed on exploring the link between chronic periodontitis (CP) and erectile dysfunction (ED) by contributing to the endothelial dysfunction. Both the diseases share common risk factors. Various studies conducted in different parts of the world in recent years reported the evidence linking this relationship as well as improvement in ED with periodontal treatment. Systemic exposure to the periodontal pathogen and periodontal infection-induced systemic inflammation was thought to associate with these conditions. The objective of this review was to highlight the evidence of the link between CP and ED and the importance of oral health in preventing the systemic conditions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  18. Kuan Mei Yang, Rusli Ahmad, Siti Mariam Abdullah
    MyJurnal
    This is a study on employees’ perception of justice towards performance-based pay and
    the effect of these perceptions on their turnover intention. This study aims to examine
    the mediating role played by distributive and procedural justice in linking pay distribution
    and pay procedure of performance-based pay to employees’ turnover intention. A
    review of past literature in this particular area has prompted the researchers to narrow
    the gaps in previous studies. Towards that, this study utilized questionnaires which
    were administered among 50 non-managerial employees currently working in a private
    company located in Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia. Data analysis was done using
    Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 20.0. Pearson Correlation and
    Stepwise Regression were used to examine the relationship between the variables. The
    outcomes of Stepwise Regression revealed that distributive justice fully mediated the
    relationship between pay distribution and employees’ turnover intention in contrast to
    procedural justice which did not have a significant impact in the relationship. The findings
    of this study are useful references for organisation management of the pay system
    to improve employees’ performance.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  19. Mokhtar, M., Shuib, A., Mohamad, D.
    MyJurnal
    Portfolio optimisation is one of the most crucial issues in investment decision-making and has received considerable attention from researchers and practitioners. Traditionally, the portfolio optimisation models are formulated based on the assumption that investors have complete information on the distribution of random returns. However, in real life case, this is not possible since decisions have to be made under uncertainty. This paper deals with a fuzzy portfolio optimisation problem in which returns and turnover rates of securities are represented by fuzzy variables. A goal programming model is proposed to optimise three objectives: maximisation of portfolio return, maximisation of liquidity and minimisation of the portfolio risk. The cardinality constraints, floor and ceiling constraints are also taken into consideration. Finally, a numerical experiment using real data is conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the model.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
  20. Mohd. Shareduwan Mohd. Kasihmuddin, Mohd. Asyraf Mansor, Saratha Sathasivam
    MyJurnal
    Swarm intelligence is a research area that models the population of swarm that is able to self-organise effectively. Honey bees that gather around their hive with a distinctive behaviour is another example of swarm intelligence. In fact, the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is a swarm-based meta-heuristic algorithm introduced by Karaboga in order to optimise numerical problems. 2SAT can be treated as a constrained optimisation problem which represents any problem by using clauses containing 2 literals each. Most of the current researchers represent their problem by using 2SAT. Meanwhile, the Hopfield neural network incorporated with the ABC has been utilised to perform randomised 2SAT. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the performance of the solutions produced by HNN2SAT-ABC and compared it with the traditional HNN2SAT-ES. The comparison of both algorithms has been examined by using Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 C++ Express Software. The detailed comparison on the performance of the ABC and ES in performing 2SAT is discussed based on global minima ratio, hamming distance, CPU time and fitness landscape. The results obtained from the computer simulation depict the beneficial features of ABC compared to ES. Moreover, the findings have led to a significant implication on the choice of determining an alternative method to perform 2SAT.
    Matched MeSH terms: Research Personnel
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