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Incomplete bladder emptying due to labial fusion in a pubertal girl: a delayed consequence of female circumcision

Awang NA, Viegas C, Viegas OAC

Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol, 2004 Aug;44(4):372-3.
PMID: 15282020 DOI: 10.1111/j.1479-828X.2004.00261.x
Fulltext A Bonferroni mean considering Shapley fuzzy measure under hesitant bipolar-valued neutrosophic set environment for an investment decision

Awang NA, Abdullah L, Hashim H

J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput, 2023;14(6):6919-6946.
PMID: 34721710 DOI: 10.1007/s12652-021-03550-w

Bonferroni mean (BM) operators have been established as a powerful tool for handling the interrelationship between the input arguments under various decision-making information. However, the existing BM operators do not take into account the overall interaction among decision makers or criteria. To overcome this limitation, this study considers the Shapley fuzzy measure (SFM) with the normalized weighted BM (NWBM) operator under a neutrosophic environment. In addition, the current research ignores the bipolarity and hesitancy during decision elicitations, resulting in the imprecise decision results. In this paper, the hesitant bipolar-valued neutrosophic set (HBNS) which is the extension of hesitant fuzzy set and bipolar neutrosophic set is employed. The main focus of this paper is in the development of an aggregation operator for HBNS. Based on the literature review, we would like to fill in the gaps by developing a hesitant bipolar-valued neutrosophic Shapley NWBM (HBN-SNWBM) operator where the overall interaction among decision makers can be considered. Besides that, a three-phase decision making framework is also proposed to show the applicability of the proposed aggregation operator to the real-world decision problems. The HBN-SNWBM operator and the decision making framework are applied to two examples of investment selection where evaluations are implemented using the proposed aggregations that based upon hesitant bipolar-valued neutrosophic sets. In the first example, it is found that a weapon company is the best alternative for investment followed by a food company. Sensitivity of parameters of the aggregation operator is also analysed and it is found that the ranking results are consistent despite of different parameter values used. This verifies the insensitivity of p,q parameters in the developed aggregation operator. The proposed decision making framework and hesitant bipolar-valued neutrosophic sets would be a great significance for the practical implementation of the aggregation operators.
Characterization of white rot fungi from wood decayed for lignin degradation

Nurul-Aliyaa YA, Awang NA, Mohd MH

Lett Appl Microbiol, 2023 Oct 04;76(10).
PMID: 37777838 DOI: 10.1093/lambio/ovad118

The present study was conducted to isolate and identify white rot fungi (WRF) from wood decayed and to determine their ability to produce lignin-modifying enzymes (LMEs), specifically laccase (Lac), lignin peroxidase (LiP), and manganese peroxidase (MnP), on solid and liquid media supplemented with synthetic dyes namely 2,2'-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), azure B, and phenol red. A total of 23 isolates of WRF were isolated from decayed wood and identified as eight different species namely Phanerochaete australis, Perenniporia tephropora, Lentinus squarrosulus, Ganoderma australe, Trametes polyzona, Lentinus sajor-caju, Gymnopilus dilepis, and Fomitopsis palustris based on morphological characteristics, DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, and phylogenetic inference. The fungal isolates can be divided into four groups based on the type of LMEs produced, namely A (Lac-LiP-MnP) with 16 isolates, B (Lac-MnP) (three isolates), C (Lac) (three isolates), and D (MnP) (one isolate). This study highlights P. australis (BJ38) as the best producer of Lac and LiP, while L. squarrosulus (IPS72) is the best producer of MnP. The present study is the first reported P. australis as an efficient lignin degrader by demonstrating the highest activity of two important LMEs.
Persons with disability perception of facilities management service quality: hospital buildings in Malaysia

Awang NA, Chua SJL, Ali AS, Au-Yong CP, Naicker AS, Yuliawiratman BS

Int J Health Care Qual Assur, 2021 Oct 04;ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print).
PMID: 34595895 DOI: 10.1108/IJHCQA-08-2020-0165

PURPOSE: This study aims to discover the perception of persons with disabilities (PWDs) towards facilities management (FM) service quality at hospital buildings in Malaysia.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 99 respondents in selected hospitals in Selangor, Malaysia.
FINDINGS: This study aims to discover the perception of PWDs towards FM service quality, and it has found a gap for improvement. The area that requires the highest attention includes the importance of (1) assurance on accessibility despite maintenance activity being conducted (2) criticality of facilities maintenance itself, (3) assurance on comfort and safety, (4) reliable medium to ask for assistance or giving feedback, (5) signage that is clearly seen and easily understood and (6) staff responsiveness.
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: This instrument is validated by PWDs under the physical disability category only, specifically in the hospital context. Future research is recommended to identify the FM service quality aspect for different categories of disability (sensory, mental or intellectual impairment).
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The findings provide evidence for FM to consider PWDs' perceptions in FM strategy development. Even FM provides a healthcare support system. FM service quality partly reflects healthcare service quality.
SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Accommodating the need of PWDs through the improvement of FM service quality aspect will partly fulfil the right of PWDs for equality of access to healthcare.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This SERVQUAL tools can be improvised and used to measure the perception of PWDs on FM service quality systematically and holistically. Understanding the service quality aspect is important for a facility manager to precisely measure and prioritise what is truly important to the building users with special needs and try to accommodate this need in the management activity.
Effects of wastewater type on stability and operating conditions control strategy in relation to the formation of aerobic granular sludge - a review

Hamiruddin NA, Awang NA, Mohd Shahpudin SN, Zaidi NS, Said MAM, Chaplot B, et al.

Water Sci Technol, 2021 Nov;84(9):2113-2130.
PMID: 34810301 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2021.415

Currently, research trends on aerobic granular sludge (AGS) have integrated the operating conditions of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) towards the stability of AGS systems in various types of wastewater with different physical and biochemical characteristics. More attention is given to the stability of the AGS system for real site applications. Although recent studies have reported comprehensively the mechanism of AGS formation and stability in relation to other intermolecular interactions such as microbial distribution, shock loading and toxicity, standard operating condition control strategies for different types of wastewater have not yet been discussed. Thus, the dimensional multi-layer structural model of AGS is discussed comprehensively in the first part of this review paper, focusing on diameter size, thickness variability of each layer and diffusion factor. This can assist in facilitating the interrelation between disposition and stability of AGS structure to correspond to the changes in wastewater types, which is the main objective and novelty of this review.
An overview on cellulose-based material in tailoring bio-hybrid nanostructured photocatalysts for water treatment and renewable energy applications

Mohamed MA, Abd Mutalib M, Mohd Hir ZA, M Zain MF, Mohamad AB, Jeffery Minggu L, et al.

Int J Biol Macromol, 2017 Oct;103:1232-1256.
PMID: 28587962 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.05.181

A combination between the nanostructured photocatalyst and cellulose-based materials promotes a new functionality of cellulose towards the development of new bio-hybrid materials for various applications especially in water treatment and renewable energy. The excellent compatibility and association between nanostructured photocatalyst and cellulose-based materials was induced by bio-combability and high hydrophilicity of the cellulose components. The electron rich hydroxyl group of celluloses helps to promote superior interaction with photocatalyst. The formation of bio-hybrid nanostructured are attaining huge interest nowadays due to the synergistic properties of individual cellulose-based material and photocatalyst nanoparticles. Therefore, in this review we introduce some cellulose-based material and discusses its compatibility with nanostructured photocatalyst in terms of physical and chemical properties. In addition, we gather information and evidence on the fabrication techniques of cellulose-based hybrid nanostructured photocatalyst and its recent application in the field of water treatment and renewable energy.
Physicochemical characterization of cellulose nanocrystal and nanoporous self-assembled CNC membrane derived from Ceiba pentandra

Mohamed MA, W Salleh WN, Jaafar J, Ismail AF, Abd Mutalib M, Mohamad AB, et al.

Carbohydr Polym, 2017 Feb 10;157:1892-1902.
PMID: 27987909 DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.11.078

This research involves the rare utilisation of the kapok fibre (Ceiba pentandra) as a raw material for the fabrication of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and self-assembled CNC membranes. The isolation of CNC from Ceiba pentandra began with the extraction of cellulose via the chemical alkali extraction by using 5wt% NaOH, followed by the typical acidified bleaching method and, finally, the CNC production through acid hydrolysis with 60wt% H2SO4 at the optimum time of 60min. The prepared CNC was then employed for the preparation of self-assembled membrane through the water suspension casting evaporation technique. The obtained CNC membrane was characterised in terms of its composition, crystallinity, thermal stability, as well as, structural and morphological features with the use of several techniques including FTIR, XRD, AFM, TEM, FESEM, and TGA. The FESEM and AFM analyses had illustrated the achievement of a self-assembled CNC membrane with a smooth surface and a well-distributed nano-porous structure, with the porosity of 52.82±7.79%. In addition, the findings proved that the self-assembled CNC membrane displayed good adsorption capability indicated by the recorded efficiency of 79% and 85% for 10mg/L and 5mg/L of methylene blue in an aqueous solution, respectively.