Satu model matematik dibina bagi menilai pengurusan aktiviti pelancongan rekreasi di Wetland Putrajaya. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah pengaturcaraan gol (PaG) dan perisian LINDO 6.1.untuk menyelesaikan masalah pelbagai objektif bagi memaksimumkan anggaran keuntungan aktiviti dan bilangan peserta yang terlibat. Tujuh aktiviti di Wetland Putrajaya yang terletak di bawah pengurusan Perbadanan Putrajaya telah dipilih sebagai kes kajian. Data dan maklumat rekod tahun 2008 dijadikan sebagai anggaran untuk kos dan bilangan peserta. Hasil kajian mendapati pihak Wetland Putrajaya boleh mencapai keuntungan lebih 40% daripada jumlah kos dan matlamat untuk memaksimumkan bilangan peserta bagi aktiviti yang terlibat juga tercapai.
We report a rare case of septic arthritis in a healthy child caused by Salmonella enteritidis. No predisposing factor was detected. Salmonella enteritidis was isolated from the infected joint tissue obtained following surgical drainage. Based on the culture and sensitivity report, he was treated with a 6-week course of antibiotic. He improved dramatically without any detrimental sequelae at end of one year.
Stochastic computing (SC) is an alternative computing domain for ubiquitous deterministic computing whereby a single logic gate can perform the arithmetic operation by exploiting the nature of probability math. SC was proposed in the 1960s when binary computing was expensive. However, presently, SC started to regain interest after the widespread of deep learning application, specifically the convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm due to its practicality in hardware implementation. Although not all computing functions can translate to the SC domain, several useful function blocks related to the CNN algorithm had been proposed and tested by researchers. An evolution of CNN, namely, binarised neural network, had also gained attention in the edge computing due to its compactness and computing efficiency. This study reviews various SC CNN hardware implementation methodologies. Firstly, we review the fundamental concepts of SC and the circuit structure and then compare the advantages and disadvantages amongst different SC methods. Finally, we conclude the overview of SC in CNN and make suggestions for widespread implementation.
Septic arthritis of the hip in children represents a serious disorder with unfavourable long-term sequelae. In neonates, a poor hip outcome is expected especially if the treatment was delayed. Late sequelae can lead to structural joint damage and instability, causing deformity and dislocations which ultimately may result in limb length discrepancy, early degenerative changes and limited range of motion. Surgery at the appropriate time can improve the hip condition and functional outcome. Previous classifications of post septic hip sequelae are useful guides for treatment, but did not discuss one particular group of patient. This group-septic hip dislocation with a preserved femoral head, has recently been described as a distinct entity. This report highlights an 11-year follow-up of a 2-year-old child who had a successful outcome following open reduction and varus derotation
osteotomy for a septic hip dislocation with a preserved femoral head.
Keywords: septic arthritis, hip dislocation, child, infection
Acute bacterial meningitis is not an uncommon central nervous system infection. In severe cases, it can be associated with various neurological or systemic complications. However, acute spinal cord dysfunction rarely occurs. We report a case of bacterial meningitis complicated with spinal cord infarction despite adequate treatment with antibiotics and corticosteroid therapy. He had residual paraplegia and was fully dependent in the activity of daily living.
Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is caused by either acquired or inherited pro-thrombotic states. Hyperthyroidism is a less recognised predisposing factor of CVST, and the causality has been debated. We report a case of a life-threatening CVST in a 40-year-old woman, with uncommon dual risk factors: hyperthyroidism and advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. CVST should be considered as a differential diagnosis when a patient with hyperthyroidism presents with new-onset headache or other neurological symptoms. Further assessment to elucidate other covert risk factors may need to be continuously carried out, when the causal relationship of one apparent cause has not been well established.
A 29-year-old female, with giant congenital melanocytic naevi (GCMN) presented with a-year history of symptoms and signs of intracranial hypertension. Investigations revealed raised cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure and severe hypoglycorrhachia (low CSF glucose) without pleocytosis. Initial contrast-enhanced brain MRI was normal, but a repeat MRI after a year showed meningeal enhancement with mild communicating hydrocephalus. The raised intracranial pressure was treated with a lumbar-peritoneal shunt. Intraoperative CSF cytology revealed an abundance of squamous epithelia and degenerative cells, but no malignant cells. Her symptoms recovered with CSF diversion via shunt placement, but the hypoglycorrhachia remained. This case highlights the rare occurrence of a non-inflammatory cause of both intracranial hypertension and severe hypoglycorrhachia in a GCMN adult patient, with progressive radiological changes over time, consistent with a diagnosis of neurocutaneous melanosis.
Ankylosing spondylitis can present with various extra-articular manifestations. Vascular complications due to aortic aneurysm or aortitis have been documented. However, an association with intracranial vascular aneurysm is rarely reported. We report a case of a young male with positive HLA B27 ankylosing spondylitis, with extra-articular involvements, presented with recurrent unilateral headache. He was found to have an unruptured anterior communicating artery aneurysm. It was confirmed by a cerebral angiogram, and he was treated conservatively.
In general, the nature of gold that acts as a hedge against inflation and its stable price over the course of the financial crisis has made it a unique commodity. Priceforecasts are a must for gold producers, investors and central bank to know the current trends in gold prices. Forecasting the future value of a variableis often done with time series analysis method. This study was conducted to determine the best model for forecasting gold commodity prices as well as forecasting world gold commodity prices in 2018 using Box-Jenkins approach. The data used in this study wasobtained from Investing.Com from 2015 until 2017. Thisstudy shows that ARIMA (1,1,1) is the best model to predict gold commodity prices based on Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). MAPE value for ARIMA (1,1,1) is 0.02%, where this value proves that forecasting using ARIMA (1,1,1) is the best forecasting becauseMAPE value is less than 10%.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: To evaluate the influence of music in reducing patients’ anxiety during periodontal surgery. Methods:
This is a clinical trial of involving fifteen patients undergoing periodontal surgery. Patients indicated for
periodontal surgery were invited to participate in the study, and randomly assigned to music (n=8) or control
(n=7) groups. Participants’ dental anxiety were determined using the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (CDAS) before
and after the surgery, while their blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded at pre-, intra- and
post-procedures. Paired t-test was used to compare the statistical significant difference between pre- and postprocedural anxiety for both groups. Result: The participants of this study consist of 22 patients that underwent
periodontal surgery procedures, with majority of the subjects (53.3%) were males (n=8) and the mean age was
50.8 (SD=13.21). The measurement of blood pressure increased in patients allocated in music group compared
to control group were statistically significant with (p
The research is focus generally to identify and investigate the issue of accessible design for wheelchair users on selected Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTM) commuter stations in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The objectives are to ensure that the design of accessibility is comply with the law, regulations, standard requirements and guidelines; to understand the recent condition and their needs in commuter stations and to allow their secure equal rights and opportunities as others. The research began by gaining reliable information through literature study and a checklist for building audit was prepared to evaluate the accessibility. A building access survey was carried out on selected stations which enclosed three main stages to show the pattern of passengers’ path. Stage 1: From the road to the ticket counter. Stage 2: From the ticket counter to the platform. Stage 3: From the platform to the train. A series of structured questionnaire was also constructed to study and get a feedback from selected target of users. Result of findings in this study had been analyzed to assist the management and the station concerned in upgrading their station facilities to a comfortable, accessible, friendly and safe environment in order to encourage more users, including disabled persons to benefit from it.
Respiratory papillomatosis is a disease of viral origin which is characterized by warty exophytic lesions in the aerodigestive tract. It is the most common benign lesion of larynx and the second most common cause of hoarseness in children. It has the tendency to recur and to spread through out the entire length of the aerodigestive tract. Although a benign disease, it has the potential of morbid consequences in view of airway complications and the risk of malignant transformation. We report a case of juvenile onset of respiratory papillomatosis and its therapeutic challenges.
In Malaysia, the use of groundwater can help to meet the increasing water demand. The utilization of the aquifers is currently contributing in water supplies, particularly for the northern states. In this study, quantitative and qualitative assessments were carried out for the groundwater exploitation in the states of Kelantan, Melaka, Terengganu and Perak. The relevant data was acquired from the Department of Mineral and Geoscience, Malaysia. The quantitative assessment mainly included the determination of the use to yield ratio (UTY). The formula was proposed to determine the UTY ratio for aquifers in Malaysia. The proposed formula was applied to determine the maximum UTY ratios for the aquifers located in the states of Kelantan, Melaka, and Terengganu, and were found to be 4.2, 5.2 and 0.6, respectively. This indicated that exploitation of groundwater was beyond the safe limit in the states of Kelantan and Melaka. The qualitative assessment showed that the groundwater is slightly acidic. In addition, the concentrations of iron and manganese were found to be higher than the allowable limits, but the chloride concentration was found within the allowable limit.
Pemprosesan padi adalah salah satu daripada sektor pertanian yang terbesar di Malaysia. Kekerapan kemalangan
di tempat kerja yang berlaku dalam sektor ini berpunca daripada pelbagai faktor. Antara faktor utama ialah tahap
pengetahuan dan kemahiran tentang keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan (KKP) yang rendah. Objektif kajian
ini adalah untuk menilai tahap pengetahuan KKP dan hubung kait antara tahap pengetahuan dan amalan pekerja
berkaitan KKP dalam sektor ini. Seramai 300 orang responden yang terdiri daripada petani dan pemilik sawah padi
di Sungai Besar, Selangor dipilih untuk menyertai kajian ini. Penyelidik menggunakan pendekatan soal selidik dalam
mengumpulkan data kajian. Nilai Cronbach Alpha didapati daripada ujian kebolehpercayaan menggunakan perisian
SPSS 20.0. Hasil kajian nenunjukkan bahawa jumlah responden tertinggi adalah seramai 138 orang yang bertugas
membaja dan meracun. Selain itu, seramai 254 responden mengetahui cara bekerja dengan betul dan selamat. Manakala,
seramai 242 responden mengetahui bahawa bahan kimia boleh meresap ke dalam kulit, mulut, sistem pernafasan dan
seterusnya mata. Hasil kajian mendapati responden yang terlibat mempunyai tahap pengetahuan memuaskan tentang
pendedahan risiko fizikal dan pendedahan risiko kimia terhadap tubuh badan mereka serta peralatan perlindungan
diri yang diperlukan. Walau bagaimanapun, terdapat segelintir responden yang tidak peka untuk meletakkan amaran
semasa proses menyembur racun dan membaja.
The purpose of this study is to explore the possible influence of women’s entrepreneurial orientations (EO) on their decision to opt out from organizational careers to self-employment. It examines how women account for these transitions, reasons for opting for self-employment and experiences of self-employment. This research employs the qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews as the main data collection tool. The study revealed that the entrepreneurial orientations of the women under study are commonly associated with the generally successful entrepreneurial behaviour of risk-taking, creative, proactive, competitive, aggressive and confidence. This suggests that enterprises and their women owners may benefit from efforts to
increase their levels of entrepreneurial orientation in order to survive the dynamic, fast-paced and complex business environment characterized by shorter life cycles, globalization, and continuous improvements in technology. Hence for the women under study with higher entrepreneurial orientation levels, their transitions from their organizational career to self-employment or small business ownership are seen as attractive career moves.
A total of 209 randomly selected Malaysian university students (128 from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 81 from the University of New South Wales) completed a self-filled questionnaire enquiring about their smoking behaviour and psychosocial characteristics. The prevalence of smoking was 26.6 per cent among students in Malaysia and 18.8 per cent among students in Australia (average 23.4%). Both samples have similar patterns in terms of age of starting smoking, time of the day when they smoked, family and peer history of smoking, and whether or not they inhaled deeply during smoking. The smokers tend to be male, studying beyond the first year, staying with peers outside the hostel, having financial sources other than a scholarship, and abnormal mental health score. However, the smokers from the Australian samples were noted to smoke less and made fewer attempts at quitting the habit.
The prediction of bone remodeling behaviour is a challenging factor in encouraging the long-term stability of hip arthroplasties. The presence of femoral components modifies the biomechanical environment of the bone and alters the bone growth process. Issues of bone loss and gait instability on both limbs are associated with the remodeling process. In this study, finite element analysis with an adaptive bone remodeling algorithm was used to predict the changes in bone mineral density following total hip and resurfacing hip arthroplasty. A three-dimensional model of the pelvis-femur was constructed from computed tomography (CT-based) images of a 79-year-old female patient with hip osteoarthritis. The prosthesis stem of the total hip arthroplasty was modelled with a titanium alloy material, while the femoral head had alumina properties. Meanwhile, resurfacing of the hip implant was completed with a cobalt-chromium material. Contact between the components and bone was designed to be perfectly bonded at the interface. Results indicate that the bone mineral density was modified over five years on all models, including hip osteoarthritis. The changes of BMD were predicted as being high between year zero and year one, especially in the proximal region. Changes were observed to be minimal in the following years. The bone remodeling process was also predicted for the non-operated femur. However, the adaptation was lower compared to the operated limbs. The reduction in bone mineral density suggested the bone loss phenomenon after a few years.
Neat cellulose acetate (CA) and CA/polysulfone (PSf) blend ultrafiltration membranes in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone as a pore former were prepared via a phase inversion technique. The prepared membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, mechanical strength, water content, porosity, permeate flux and heavy metals (Pb2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+) rejection to comprehend the impact of polymer blend composition and additive on the properties of the modified membranes. The water flux expanded by increasing of PSf content in the polymer composition. CA/PSf (60/40) had the highest flux among prepared membranes. Prepared blend membranes were able to remove heavy metals from water in the following order: Pb2+ > Cd2+ > Zn2+ > Ni2+. The CA/PSf (80/20) blend membrane had great performance among prepared membranes due to the high heavy metals removal and permeate flux.
Removal of low-concentration ammonia (1-10 ppm) from aquaculture wastewater was investigated via polysulfone (PSf)/zeolite mixed matrix membrane. PSf/zeolite mixed matrix membranes with different weight ratios (90/10, 80/20, 70/30 and 60/40 wt.%) were prepared and characterized. Results indicate that PSf/zeolite (80/20) was the most efficient membrane for removal of low-concentration ammonia. The ammonia elimination by PSf/zeolite (80/20) from aqueous solution for 10, 7, 5, 3 and 1 ppm of ammonia was 100%, 99%, 98.8%, 96% and 95% respectively. The recorded results revealed that pure water flux declined in higher loading of zeolite in the membrane matrix due to surface pore blockage caused by zeolite particles. On the other hand, ammonia elimination from water was decreased in higher contents of zeolite because of formation of cavities and macrovoids in the membrane substructure.