The issue of overwork due to numerous responsibilities among academicians is getting a serious
attention in educational literature. Academicians have to fulfil many responsib ilitie s simultaneously,
including teaching, conducting research, writing, publication, holding administrative posts,
involvement in committees and community services, and other professional works which may
improve the image of their university. Thus, the o bjecti ves of this study are to examine the
academicians’ perceptions on their academic and non academic responsibilities and investigate the
relationship between the respondents’ length of service with academic workloads and administrative
posts. This stud y has used self administered questionnaires, which have been distributed to 391
lecturers from various faculties on the Campus of UiTM Cawangan Terengganu. Results obtained
from 119 academicians have indicated that a majority of the respondents have chosen to be in the
teaching and learning track for their performance evaluation purpose. This is consistent with the
findings that they have spent most of their working hours to fulfil their academic workloads. In
addition, the non academic responsibilities hav e requ ired them to work beyond office hours in
performing their duties. Overall, the findings of this study have shown that most academicians have
spent more time on the academic responsibilities. On the other hand, the correlation has revealed that
the lo nger t he length of service of the respondents, the more academic workloads will be given and
the higher their chances to be appointed as administrators. This has implied that the academicians will
be responsible for higher positions and a wide range of tas ks as they become more experienced and at
a senior level.
Fibres from banana’s stem are abundantly available in Malaysia. This study focused on the production
of woven fabric from banana pseudo-stem fibres. Yarn made of 100% banana stem and 100% cotton
yarn were produced. Two types of retting techniques were conducted, which are water retting and
retting using softening agent. The fibres were spun and weaved into plain weave fabric. All specimens
were evaluated for yarn twist, yarn evenness, yarn linear density and selected fabric physical
properties. The results obtained showed that banana stem fabric treated with softening agent has lower
area density and higher thickness. Weft sample retted in softening agent has higher bending length and
flexural rigidity than sample retted in water. This might be due to the decrement of yarn’s stiffness,
which eases the insertion of yarn during shedding process. Weft sample retted in water has lower
bending length due to coarser yarn and tends to break easily. It is found that retting banana stem fibres
with softening agent affect the yarn linear density, area density, fabric stiffness properties and flexural
rigidity of the fabric.
Of late, dyeing fabrics with natural dyes have become an attraction because of its eco-friendly and less threatening disposition towards humankind. In the textile colouration industry, natural dyes play an important role because of the need for replacement synthetic dyes which have a great deal of tension with the environmental issues. This study focuses on the colour shade, colour coordinates, and fastness properties of dyed silk fabric from tagetes erecta (Mexican Marigold flower) using the water boiling extraction method. The dyeing was carried out using lemon juice as a natural mordant through the simultaneous mordanting method, using two different dyeing methods: infrared (IR) dyeing and exhaustion dyeing. The shades produced for exhaustion dyed fabric is light-yellow compared to the IR dyed fabric, which is medium-light yellow. These shades were confirmed with the CIELAB colour coordinates, L*a*b* values. The colourfastness to washing, perspiration, rubbing, and light of the fabrics were conducted to investigate the performance of the dye and mordant on the dyed silk fabrics. The colourfastness properties of the dyed silk fabric using infrared (IR) dyeing technique have better performance than using exhaustion dyeing technique.
Failure to screen susceptible individuals for human leucocyte allele B∗1502 leads to the onset of Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS). We report a case of a 27-year-old Malay female who was treated with carbamazepine following the diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia without a genetic screening. She was prescribed 150 mg of carbamazepine initially and the dose was increased to 300 mg following the initial dose. A sudden development of skin and mucous membrane ulcers was observed and this warranted immediate hospitalization. A diagnosis of SJS was made and she was treated immediately with intravenous corticosteroids. Genetic screening prior to carbamazepine prescription is essential especially in susceptible populations.