INTRODUCTION: The participation of general practitioners (GPs) in primary care research is variable and often poor. We aimed to develop a substantive and empirical theoretical framework to explain GPs' decision-making process to participate in research.
METHODS: We used the grounded theory approach to construct a substantive theory to explain the decision-making process of GPs to participate in research activities. Five in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions were conducted among 21 GPs. Purposeful sampling followed by theoretical sampling were used to attempt saturation of the core category. Data were collected using semi-structured open-ended questions. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and checked prior to analysis. Open line-by-line coding followed by focus coding were used to arrive at a substantive theory. Memoing was used to help bring concepts to higher abstract levels.
RESULTS: The GPs' decision to participate in research was attributed to their inner drive and appreciation for primary care research and their confidence in managing their social and research environments. The drive and appreciation for research motivated the GPs to undergo research training to enhance their research knowledge, skills and confidence. However, the critical step in the GPs' decision to participate in research was their ability to align their research agenda with priorities in their social environment, which included personal life goals, clinical practice and organisational culture. Perceived support for research, such as funding and technical expertise, facilitated the GPs' participation in research. In addition, prior experiences participating in research also influenced the GPs' confidence in taking part in future research.
CONCLUSIONS: The key to GPs deciding to participate in research is whether the research agenda aligns with the priorities in their social environment. Therefore, research training is important, but should be included in further measures and should comply with GPs' social environments and research support.
In heterogeneous wireless networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) is highly preferred by mobile terminals (MTs) owing to its high transmission bandwidth and low access cost. However, in high-speed environment, handover from a cellular network to a WLAN cell will lead to a high number of handover failures and unnecessary handovers due to the WLAN coverage limitation and will become worse at high speed. A new vertical handover method is proposed to minimize the probability of handover failure and unnecessary handover while maximizing the usage of WLAN in high-speed environment. The simulation results show that the proposed method kept the probability of handover failure and unnecessary handover below 0.5% and 1%, respectively. Compared with previous studies, the proposed method reduced the number of handover failures and unnecessary handovers up to 80.0% and 97.7%, respectively, while the MT is highly mobile. Using the proposed prediction method, the MT can benefit high bandwidth and low network access cost from the WLAN with minimum interruption regardless of speed.
To achieve realistic Augmented Reality (AR), shadows play an important role in creating a 3D impression of a scene. Casting virtual shadows on real and virtual objects is one of the topics of research being conducted in this area. In this paper, we propose a new method for creating complex AR indoor scenes using real time depth detection to exert virtual shadows on virtual and real environments. A Kinect camera was used to produce a depth map for the physical scene mixing into a single real-time transparent tacit surface. Once this is created, the camera's position can be tracked from the reconstructed 3D scene. Real objects are represented by virtual object phantoms in the AR scene enabling users holding a webcam and a standard Kinect camera to capture and reconstruct environments simultaneously. The tracking capability of the algorithm is shown and the findings are assessed drawing upon qualitative and quantitative methods making comparisons with previous AR phantom generation applications. The results demonstrate the robustness of the technique for realistic indoor rendering in AR systems.
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.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of an individually-tailored multifactorial intervention in reducing falls among at risk older adult fallers in a multi-ethnic, middle-income nation in South-East Asia.
DESIGN: Pragmatic, randomized-controlled trial.
SETTING: Emergency room, medical outpatient and primary care clinic in a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 65 years and above with two or more falls or one injurious fall in the past 12 months.
INTERVENTION: Individually-tailored interventions, included a modified Otago exercise programme, HOMEFAST home hazards modification, visual intervention, cardiovascular intervention, medication review and falls education, was compared against a control group involving conventional treatment.
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was any fall recurrence at 12-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes were rate of fall and time to first fall.
RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty-eight participants (mean age 75.3 ±7.2 SD years, 67% women) were randomized to multifactorial intervention (n = 134) or convention treatment (n = 134). All participants in the intervention group received medication review and falls education, 92 (68%) were prescribed Otago exercises, 86 (64%) visual intervention, 64 (47%) home hazards modification and 51 (38%) cardiovascular intervention. Fall recurrence did not differ between intervention and control groups at 12-months [Risk Ratio, RR = 1.037 (95% CI 0.613-1.753)]. Rate of fall [RR = 1.155 (95% CI 0.846-1.576], time to first fall [Hazard Ratio, HR = 0.948 (95% CI 0.782-1.522)] and mortality rate [RR = 0.896 (95% CI 0.335-2.400)] did not differ between groups.
CONCLUSION: Individually-tailored multifactorial intervention was ineffective as a strategy to reduce falls. Future research efforts are now required to develop culturally-appropriate and affordable methods of addressing this increasingly prominent public health issue in middle-income nations.
With the on-going interest in implementing school policies to address the problem of childhood obesity in Malaysia, there is urgent need for information about the association between school environment and children's weight status. This study aims to investigate the association between school environmental factors (physical, economic, political and sociocultural) with BMI of school children in Terengganu. The school environment factors were assessed using a set of validated whole-school environmental mapping questionnaires, consisting of 76 criteria with four domains; physical environment (41 criteria), economic environment (nine criteria), political environment (nine criteria) and sociocultural environment (17 criteria). This involved face-to-face interview sessions with 32 teachers from 16 schools (eight rural and eight urban). In addition, 400 school children aged between 9 and 11 years of the selected schools were assessed for BMI (WHO 2007 reference chart), dietary intake (food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)) and physical activity level (physical activity questionnaire for children (PAQ-C)). Multiple regression was used to examine the association between school environment factors and BMI of the school children. Seven school environment criteria were found to be associated with BMI of school children when it was adjusted for calorie intake and physical activity level. About 33.4% of the variation in BMI of school children was explained by health professional involvement, simple exercise before class, encouragement to walk/ride bicycle to/from school, no high-calorie food sold, healthy options of foods and drinks at tuck shop, availability of policy on physical activity and training teacher as a role model. Policy makers should make urgent actions to address the obesogenic features of school environments. It should strive towards setting up healthy school environment and improving school curricula to promote healthy behaviours among the school children.
Image Quality Assessment (IQA) is essential for the accuracy of systems for automatic recognition of tree species for wood samples. In this study, a No-Reference IQA (NR-IQA), wood NR-IQA (WNR-IQA) metric was proposed to assess the quality of wood images. Support Vector Regression (SVR) was trained using Generalized Gaussian Distribution (GGD) and Asymmetric Generalized Gaussian Distribution (AGGD) features, which were measured for wood images. Meanwhile, the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) was obtained from the subjective evaluation. This was followed by a comparison between the proposed IQA metric, WNR-IQA, and three established NR-IQA metrics, namely Blind/Referenceless Image Spatial Quality Evaluator (BRISQUE), deepIQA, Deep Bilinear Convolutional Neural Networks (DB-CNN), and five Full Reference-IQA (FR-IQA) metrics known as MSSIM, SSIM, FSIM, IWSSIM, and GMSD. The proposed WNR-IQA metric, BRISQUE, deepIQA, DB-CNN, and FR-IQAs were then compared with MOS values to evaluate the performance of the automatic IQA metrics. As a result, the WNR-IQA metric exhibited a higher performance compared to BRISQUE, deepIQA, DB-CNN, and FR-IQA metrics. Highest quality images may not be routinely available due to logistic factors, such as dust, poor illumination, and hot environment present in the timber industry. Moreover, motion blur could occur due to the relative motion between the camera and the wood slice. Therefore, the advantage of WNR-IQA could be seen from its independency from a "perfect" reference image for the image quality evaluation.
Landmarks, also known as feature points, are one of the important geometry primitives that describe the predominant characteristics of a surface. In this study we proposed a self-contained framework to generate landmarks on surfaces extracted from volumetric data. The framework is designed to be a three-fold pipeline structure. The pipeline comprises three phases which are surface construction, crest line extraction and landmark identification. With input as a volumetric data and output as landmarks, the pipeline takes in 3D raw data and produces a 0D geometry feature. In each phase we investigate existing methods, extend and tailor the methods to fit the pipeline design. The pipeline is designed to be functional as it is modularised to have a dedicated function in each phase. We extended the implicit surface polygonizer for surface construction in first phase, developed an alternative way to compute the gradient of maximal curvature for crest line extraction in second phase and finally we combine curvature information and K-means clustering method to identify the landmarks in the third phase. The implementations are firstly carried on a controlled environment, i.e. synthetic data, for proof of concept. Then the method is tested on a small scale data set and subsequently on huge data set. Issues and justifications are addressed accordingly for each phase.
This exploratory qualitative study investigates older adults' unmet needs in the age-friendly city of Ipoh, Malaysia. Seventeen participants were interviewed, including ten older adults residing in Ipoh City for at least six months, four carers, and three professional key informants. Interviews were conducted using semi-structured questions based on the WHO Age-Friendly Cities Framework. A 5P framework for active ageing based on the ecological ageing model was adapted for data analysis. The 5P framework consists of domains of person (micro), process (meso), place (macro), policymaking (macro), and prime, which allows for the dissection of older adults' unmet needs in planning for multilevel approaches, which were employed for analysis. Person: the personal needs requiring improvement included digital divide disparity, inadequate family support, and restricted sports activities attributed to physical limitations. Process: There were fewer social activities and a lack of low-cost and easily accessible venues for seniors. Economic challenges include expensive private healthcare services, variation in the quality of care in older residential care facilities, and limited savings for retirement. Place issues include unequal distribution of exercise equipment, public open spaces, the need for more conducive parking for seniors, and a place for social activities. Difficulties assessing public transportation, digitalized services, and unaffordable e-hailing services are common among seniors. Housing issues for seniors include a lack of barrier-free housing design and unaffordable housing. Policymaking: Insufficient private sector commitment to improving services to older adults, lack of policy governance on the quality of nursing homes, and insufficient multidisciplinary governance collaboration. Prime: Health promotion for preventing age-related illness is required to preserve health in old age, and full-time family caregivers' psychological well-being is often overlooked.
Matched MeSH terms: Environment; Social Environment*
The origins of linguistic diversity remain controversial. Studies disagree on whether group features such as population size or social structure accelerate or decelerate linguistic differentiation. While some analyses of between-group factors highlight the role of geographical isolation and reduced linguistic exchange in differentiation, others suggest that linguistic divergence is driven primarily by warfare among neighbouring groups and the use of language as marker of group identity. Here we provide the first integrated test of the effects of five historical sociodemographic and geographic variables on three measures of linguistic diversification among 50 Austronesian languages: rates of word gain, loss and overall lexical turnover. We control for their shared evolutionary histories through a time-calibrated phylogenetic sister-pairs approach. Results show that languages spoken in larger communities create new words at a faster pace. Within-group conflict promotes linguistic differentiation by increasing word loss, while warfare hinders linguistic differentiation by decreasing both rates of word gain and loss. Finally, we show that geographical isolation is a strong driver of lexical evolution mainly due to a considerable drift-driven acceleration in rates of word loss. We conclude that the motor of extreme linguistic diversity in Austronesia may have been the dispersal of populations across relatively isolated islands, favouring strong cultural ties amongst societies instead of warfare and cultural group marking.
Based on an updated taxonomy of Gesneriaceae, the biogeography and evolution of the Asian Gesneriaceae are outlined and discussed. Most of the Asian Gesneriaceae belongs to Didymocarpoideae, except Titanotrichum was recently moved into Gesnerioideae. Most basal taxa of the Asian Gesneriaceae are found in the Indian subcontinent and Indo-China Peninsula, suggesting Didymocarpoideae might originate in these regions. Four species diversification centers were recognized, i.e. Sino-Vietnam regions, Malay Peninsula, North Borneo and Northwest Yunnan (Hengduan Mountains). The first three regions are dominated by limestone landscapes, while the Northwest Yunnan is well-known for its numerous deep gorges and high mountains. The places with at least 25% species are neoendemics (newly evolved and narrowly endemic) which were determined as evolutionary hotspots, including Hengduan Mountains, boundary areas of Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi in Southwest China, North Borneo, Pahang and Terengganu in Malay Peninsula, and mountainous areas in North Thailand, North Sulawesi Island. Finally, the underlying mechanisms for biogeographical patterns and species diversification of the Asian Gesneriaceae are discussed.
The primary objective of this project was to study the life cycle and ecology of Plasmodium pitheci, a malaria parasite of the orang-utan. The field work was based on the orang-utan rehabilitation centre in the Sepilok Forest Reserve of eastern Sabah. Two visits were made to Sepilok, the first in February and March, 1972, and the second (by W.P.) in January 1974. On the first visit two species of "surrogate host" were taken to Sabah, i.e. chimpanzees and Aotus monkeys for experimental work. The arboreal habitat of the orang-utan in the dipterocarp forests of eastern Sabah is described. In the Sepilok Forest Reserve dwell gibbons and leaf-monkeys, in addition to a small population of semi-domesticated and wild, free-ranging orang-utans of various ages. Although numerous species of anopheline mosquitoes have been collected in eastern Sabah, longitudinal studies are not available. Anopheles balabacensis was caught both attracted to orang-utans and to man at Sepilok. This species which is the main vector of human malaria in the north of Borneo, is suspected also of transmitting orang-utan malaria in this part of Sabah. Repeated blood examinations have been made on a number of orang-utans in the centre since 1966 and a high prevalence of infection was recorded with Plasmodium pitheci. In 1966 10 out of 19 animals had demonstrable parasitaemia. Detailed case histories are presented to show the course of parasitaemia in several orang-utans. Infections of P. pitheci were found to run a very chronic course. During the 1972 expedition a second, previously undescribed malaria parasite of the orang-utan was discovered, and was named P. silvaticum. The new parasite was successfully transmitted both by blood inoculation and, later, by sporozoite inoculation, into splenectomized chimpanzees. Although both species of malaria parasite may cause transitory signs of illness, orang-utans in general appear to be little discomforted by the infection. The animals do however suffer from other infectious diseases such as amoebic and balantidial dysentery, and melioidosis is a serious natural hazard which may have accounted for several deaths of wild orang-utans. An unidentified, intraerythrocytic structure that appeared in the blood of one chimpanzee, which had been inoculated with blood from an orang-utan, may have contributed to its death. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of P. pitheci and P. silvaticum are given. All stages of the life cycle of P. silvaticum are known (the tissue stages having been described in the liver of a "surrogate host", the chimpanzee) but only the blood and sporogonic stages of P. pitheci have been seen. This species was not infective to a chimpanzee, although there is an earlier report of a transient infection in this host by other workers. In the blood both parasites showed a tertian periodicity. From the appearance of the tissue schizonts on the seventh day it was estimated that the complete pre-erythrocytic cycle of P. silvaticum in the chimpanzee would occupy 8 days. P...
In this study a GIS model was developed and spatial analytical techniques performed to identify and select a suitable location for a waste transfer station in the sprawling suburban town of Petaling Jaya. The lack of a transfer station in urban centres of Malaysia has caused many problems and affects the efficiency of waste collection and disposal. With diminishing space for landfills and the increasing cost of solid waste management, the need for urban solid-waste recycling has become very important. However, finding a place for waste to be efficiently sorted before unwanted waste can be carried to disposal landfills has social and physical constraints. This study applies GIS techniques and analysis for site selection and identifies an acceptable area. In the model, environmental, physical and social constraints were taken into account, resulting in the selection of a potential area that is acceptable to the residents of the area because it is out of range of causing public nuisance and within minimum travelling distance for collection vehicles. The results show that the potential location for the transfer station should be in proximity of the industrial area of Petaling Jaya, allowing for the possible sale of recyclable materials to local industries. The location is also sited near a major highway to allow quick transportation of the rest of the unwanted waste to the landfill.
Vapour pressure deficit (VPD) analysis introduces an approach to develop a better basis for the control of the environment of lowland greenhouses in Malaysia. The study of vapour pressure deficit (VPD) is to show air moisture conditions for plant production while taking into account different temperature levels. The purpose of this project is to develop a real-time automatic temperature and relative humidity control system in the lowland tropical greenhouse using a PIC16f876A microcontroller. The controller will then be used to monitor the temperature, relative humidity and VPD in the planting of Chili Kulai (Titisan 15). The fertigation system was introduced to the greenhouse to fertilize and irrigate the plant as well as to provide moisture to the environment. A swamp cooler was used to bring down the temperature and increase moisture content in the greenhouse. Ventilators were installed to remove the heat in the greenhouse. The study was carried out in an experimental greenhouse located at the Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Tailing sand is the residue mineral from tin extraction that contains between 94% and 99.5% silica, which can be used as moulding sand. It is found in abundance in the Kinta Valley in the state of Perak, Malaysia. Adequate water content and clay in moulding sand are important factors for better strength and
casting quality of products made from tailing sand. Samples of tailing sand were investigated according
to the American Foundrymen Society (AFS) standard. Cylindrical test pieces of Ø50 mm×50 mm in height from various sand-water ratios were compacted by applying three ramming blows of 6666g each using a Ridsdale-Dietert metric standard rammer. The specimens were tested for green compression strength using a Ridsdale-Dietert universal sand strength machine. Before the tests were conducted, moisture content of the tailing sand was measured using a moisture analyser. A mixture bonded with 8% clay possesses higher green compression strength compared to samples bonded with 4% clay. The results also show that in order to achieve maximum green compression strength, the optimum allowable moisture content for mixtures bonded with 8% clay is ranged between 3.75 and 6.5% and for mixtures bonded with 4% clay is 3-5.5%.
This research focuses on the ASTER DEM generation for visual and mathematical analysis of topography, landscapes and landforms, as well as modeling of surface processes of Central Alborz, Iran. ASTER DEM 15 m generated using tie points over the Central Alborz and Damavand volcano with 5671 m height from ASTER (Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) satellite data using PCI Geomatica 9.1. Geomorphic parameters are useful to identify and describe geomorphologic forms and processes, which were extracted from ASTER DEM in GIS environment such as elevation, aspect, slope angle, vertical curvature, and tangential curvature. Although the elevation values are slightly low in altitudes above 5500 m asl., the ASTER DEM is useful in interpretation of the macro- and meso-relief, and provides the opportunity for mapping especially at medium scales (1:100,000 and 1:50,000). ASTER DEM has potential to be a best tool to study 3D model for to geomorphologic mapping and processes of glacial and per glacial forms above 4300 m asl.
Shotcrete is a process where concrete is projected or “shot” under pressure, using a feeder or a
“gun” onto a surface to form structural shapes including walls, floors, and roofs. The surface can
be wood, steel, polystyrene, or any other surfaces that concrete can be projected onto. The surface
can be trowel led smooth while the concrete is still wet. Shotcrete has high strength, durability, low
permeability, excellent bond, and limitless shape possibilities. These properties allow shotcrete
to be used as a structural material in most cases. Although the hardened properties of shotcrete
are similar to conventional cast-in-place concrete, the nature of the placement process provides
additional benefits, such as excellent bond with most substrates and instant or rapid capabilities,
particularly on complex forms or shapes. In addition to building homes, shotcrete can also be used
to build pools. The practice of underground tunneling shows that the degree of stability of tunnels
is dependent on the state of the soil, rock mass, and shotcrete around the tunnel contour. The
development in the urban or suburban areas leads to the construction of tunnels in all kinds of soil
and rock. Meanwhile, the construction of tunnels in shallow depth or soft soils causes the ground
to displace. The determination of soil and rock mechanical properties to assess the stability of New
Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) tunnels and design the support system is one of the most
important steps in tunnelling. This paper provides information pertaining to the safety and increase
the stability of NATM tunnel before, during and after the operation of the tunnel. Therefore, the
shotcrete process is a recognized method for cemented sandy silt stabilization, with the aid of high
pressure shot concrete to increase the stability of tunnels.
Linear density polyethylene (LDPE)/thermoplastic sago starch (TPSS), blended with and without the addition of compatibilizer [Polyethylene-grafted-Maleic Anhydride, (PE-g-MA)] were prepared for soil burial test. The test was conducted in the natural soil environment for 3 and 6 months. Different loading of TPSS (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 wt. %) were used in this study. After soil burial, the blends were evaluated for their tensile properties and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe the surface morphology properties after the test. For LDPE/TPSS, it was observed that the tensile strength decreased with the increase of soil burial time, as well as Young modulus and elongation at break (EB). The LDPE/TPSS/PE-g-MA also showed the same trend for the tensile properties, but with higher properties as compared to uncompatibilized blends. The tensile properties also decreased with the increase in the TPSS loading for both the LDPE/TPSS and LDPE/TPSS/PE-g-MA. Meanwhile,
the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on the blend surfaces after the soil burial test showed that degradability increased with the increase in the exposure time as well as the TPSS loading.
Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing are geospatial technologies that have been used for many years in environmental studies, including gathering and analysing of information on the physical parameters of wildlife habitats and modelling of habitat assessments. The home range estimation provided in a GIS environment offers a viable method of quantifying habitat use and facilitating a better understanding of species and habitat relationships. This study used remote sensing, GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) application tools as methods to assess the habitat parameters preference of Asian elephant. Satellite images and topographical maps were used for the environmental and topographical habitat parameter generation encompassing land use-land cover (LULC), Normalized Digital Vegetation Index (NDVI), water sources, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), slope and aspect. The kernel home range was determined using elephant distribution data from satellite tracking, which were then analysed using habitat parameters to investigate any possible relationship. Subsequently, the frequency of the utilization distribution of elephants was further analysed using spatial and geostatistical analyses. This was followed by the use of AHP for identifying habitat preference, selection of significant habitat parameters and classification of criterion. The habitats occupied by the elephants showed that the conservation of these animals would require good management practices within and outside of protected areas so as to ensure the level of suitability of the habitat, particularly in translocation areas.
Oil pollution remains a serious concern especially in Malaysia. Many strategies have been employed to overcome oil pollution. In this research, sago waste material abundantly found in Sarawak was used and chemically modified into an oil adsorbent . Sago waste cellulosic residues were modified using fatty acid derivatives. The capability of the chemically modified sago waste to absorb oil from aqueous solution was studied and compared with the untreated sago waste. The modified sago waste showed higher hydrophobicity than the untreated sago waste, implying that it is less affinity for water and also an excellent affinity for oil. This chemically modified sago waste would be the most suitable for applications where engine oil (i.e., Shell Helix HX5) is to be removed from an aqueous environment. The modified sago waste selectively absorbs the oil and remains on the surface and is to be removed when the application is complete.