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- PublicationFeeding tolerance in enteral nutrition via bolus and continous feeding mode in critically ill ventilated patient.(2018-06)The term critically ill patients are characterized with the presence of hyper catabolism that cause by physiological and psychosocial stressors that associated with critical illness. Enteral nutrition is the alternative to provide sufficient energy required by critically ill patient as it contains complete balanced nutrients which include macronutrients and micronutrients in form that easy to digest. The aim for this study is to measure the feeding tolerance compared between bolus versus continuous feeding modes. The rate of feeding tolerance was measured by comparing the aspiration rate, and gastrointestinal (GI) complication. A total of 48 respondent was involved in this study. Study respondents who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected through convenience sampling technique. A social demographic data and health condition was collected from medical folder. All the data in this study was collected from medical folders that available in ward selected. This study found that there is no association between feeding mode and aspiration rate (/?= 0.563). There is also no association between feeding modes and diarrhea incidence (/?=0.838). The association between mode of feeding and vomiting is not found (p=0.663).
- PublicationMalnutrition screening among cancer patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia(2021)Malnutrition is one of the nutritional issues that we should concern among cancer patients and it is negatively associated with poor clinical outcomes. Nutrition screening has been supported to work as the foremost step in identifying the nutritional risk of cancer patients. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the accuracy of Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) in detecting malnutrition risk among cancer patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). The MST was compared against scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (scored PG-SGA) as gold standard. 94 respondents who full-filled the inclusion criterion and interested, admitted to HUSM and Department Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy & Oncology were recruited through convenience sampling. Socio-demographic characteristics and clinical data of respondents were obtained from their medical record. Weight and height were measured using dial mechanical weighing scale with height rod which provide in respective setting. Two sets of questionnaires - MST and scored PG-SGA were then subsequently used to interview respondents. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. Out of 94 respondents, 62.8% was female while 37.2% was male. 72.3% was hospitalised whereas 27.7% was from outpatient. Highest proportion of respondents (40.4%) was diagnosed with hematologic cancer. According to scored PG-SGA, 64.9% of respondents was classified as malnourished while 35.1% of them was classified as well-nourished. Significantly higher proportion of malnourished respondents was from inpatients (p-0.019). Malnourished respondents had significantly lower body weight, BMI and higher percentage of weight loss for the past 6 months (/?<0.001). MST score and PG-SGA score were also significantly higher among malnourished respondents (p<0.001). Next, MST yielded 72.1% sensitivity, 93.9% specificity, 95.7% positive predictive value and 64.6% negative predictive value. There is statistically significant, positive and moderately strong correlation between MST score and PG-SGA score (r - 0.734, p<0.001). In conclusion, MST is recommended as screening tool in predicting malnutrition risk among cancer patients.
- PublicationAssociation between incidence of white matter hyperintensities in magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and smoking(2021)Background: White matter hyperintensity (WMH) is a common finding on T2 weighted MRI brain or CT Brain among the older subjects. There has been a recognized linkage between the development of Dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Technological advancements in recent years have made the understanding of the pathogenesis of WMHs deeper, with several proposed mechanisms, focusing on anatomy, blood-brain barrier disruption, cerebral blood flow autoregulation, venous collagenases, and genetic factors. Smoking has been postulated to have an influence on WMH in several reports. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in Hospital USM, Kota Bharu, Malaysia with MRI brain of patient aged 18 years and above were reviewed. The MRI must include both T2WI and FLAIR sequences. Patients with gross brain lesions, structural abnormalities, and history suggestive ongoing intracranial infection, inflammatory or demyelinating diseases were excluded. Demographic data regarding pack-years, age of initiation/cessation, duration of smoking, type of cigarettes (nonfiltered, filtered, e-cigarette) was collected and analysed using Pearson’s correlation method, Fisher exact test, and Independent T-test as necessary. Results: There was a significant association between age (p<0.001), smoking status (p<0.001) especially in the ex-smoker and passive smoker group (p=0.022), and comorbidities (p<0.001) with WMH. The mean age of participants in the WMH group was higher than No WMH (p<0.001). For smoking status, a higher prevalence of nonsmoker was found in the No WMH group. There was a high percentage of participants with no comorbidities reported to be in the No WMH group (n=80, 77.7%). Conclusion: Significant association was found between age, smoking status (Exsmoker and passive smoker), and co-morbidities with WMHs.
- PublicationComparison between transcutaneous And total serum bilirubin Measurement in Malay neonates(2021)Background: Transcutaneous bilirubinometer is a portable, painless and non-invasive device to measure bilirubin. This study aims to investigate the reliability of Dräger Jaundice Meter JM-105 for the screening of neonatal jaundice in Malay neonates. Methods: Prospective cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary university hospital involving 130 jaundiced neonates who required serum bilirubin determination from day 2 to day 7 of life. Paired bilirubin samples of total serum bilirubin (TSB) and transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) were obtained. TcB were measured at the neonates’ forehead and sternum. The TcB were measured using JM-105. Results: There were 130 paired samples of TSB and TcB. The mean TSB was 232 μmol/L. The mean TcB measured at forehead and sternum were 222 μmol/L and 223 μmol/L, respectively. The mean difference between TSB and TcB was 10 μmol/L at forehead and 9 μmol/L at sternum. Strong positive correlation between TSB with mean TcB forehead (r=0.82) and TcB sternum (r=0.80), and strong correlation (r=0.91) between TcB forehead and TcB sternum. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated strong correlation between TcB values and TSB values. TcB measured at forehead or sternum is a good alternative as a non-invasive screening tool for non-severe hyperbilirubinemia in Malay neonates.
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- ItemPengetahuan Dan Tingkah Laku Pengguna Dadah Secara Suntikan (IDU) Yang Mengikut Program Pertukaran Jarum Dan Alat Suntikan (NSEP) Di Pulau Pinang(Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2017-07)Kajian kualitatif ini dijalankan bagi meningkatkan tahap kualiti dan keberkesanan penyampaian perkhidmatan dalam Program Pertukaran Jarum dan Alat Suntikan (NSEP) kepada pengguna dadah secara suntikan (IDU). Objektif kajian ini meliputi: (1) mengenal pasti ciri-ciri sosiodemografi IDU yang terlibat dalam NSEP; (2) meneroka pengetahuan IDU yang terlibat dalam NSEP berkaitan HIV/AIDS, HCV, VCT dan NSEP; (3) meneroka bentuk tingkah laku IDU yang terlibat dalam NSEP berkaitan dengan tingkah laku suntikan dan tingkah laku hubungan seks; (4) menganalisis halangan dan cabaran IDU dalam mengamalkan tingkah laku pengurangan risiko; dan (5) mencadangkan strategi atau peranan yang boleh dipraktikkan oleh pekerja sosial dalam meningkatkan lagi keberkesanan NSEP ke arah pembentukan tingkah laku pengurangan risiko dalam kalangan IDU. Kajian ini telah dijalankankan di Pulau Pinang dengan melibatkan seramai 20 orang responden. Kaedah temu bual mendalam berlandaskan panduan temu bual separa berstruktur telah digunakan dalam proses pengumpulan data. Penemuan kajian mendapati dalam konteks pengetahuan bahawa: (1) IDU mempunyai pengetahuan mengenai HIV/AIDS yang baik; (2) IDU tidak mempunyai pengetahuan mengenai HCV yang baik; (3) IDU mempunyai pengetahuan mengenai VCT yang baik; dan (4) IDU mempunyai pengetahuan yang baik mengenai NSEP. Dalam konteks tingkah laku menyuntik dadah dan hubungan seks pula, didapati bahawa: (1) tingkah laku penggunaan jarum dan picagari adalah secara amalan pengurangan risiko; (2) tingkah laku menggunakan pad alkohol adalah secara amalan pengurangan risiko; (3) penggunaan kapas adalah secara amalan pengurangan risiko; (4) tidak menggunakan tourniquet secara amalan pengurangan risiko; (5) mengamalkan pemilihan urat berbanding arteri; (6) mengamalkan penukaran kawasan anggota badan bagi tujuan menyuntik dadah; (7) tidak mengamalkan penyimpanan jarum dan alat suntikan yang telah digunakan di tempat yang selamat; dan (8) IDU tidak aktif dalam tingkah laku hubungan seks.
- PublicationFabrication and characterization of electrospinning biodegradable fabric layer for face mask application(2022-08-19)The increased use of 3-ply facemasks has raised concerns about the pollution they cause to the environment. The non-biodegradability of current 3-ply facemasks is highlighted because it is difficult to manage the waste and much more pollution is created when facemasks are discarded. Several studies have been conducted in order to improve the filtration layer on a consistent basis by using biodegradable polymers as an alternative. The present study aimed to fabricate polylactic acid (PLA), poly (butylene adipate-co terephthalate) (PBAT) and PLA/PBAT fibre mat layers. The effect of different needle sizes on the properties and morphology of PLA and PBAT fibre mats was identified by using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) tabletop, ImageJ and Universal Tensile Machine (UTS). In addition, the effect of single and binary solvents was investigated to produce PLA/PBAT fibre mat layer. Results showed that small size needles produced small-diameter fibres. The best needles to use for the fabrication of the PLA and PBAT fibre mats are 25G and 23G, respectively based on the fibre diameter and tensile properties. A 25G needle produced the smallest diameter and compact fibre mat. However, a 21G needle produced a PLA fibre mat with the highest tensile strength and Young’s modulus. On the other hand, a 25G needle is the best needle size to produce a PBAT fibre mat with good tensile properties. Binary solvents using DCM and DMF produced continuous and thinner fibres and showed higher tensile properties compared to the single solvent system.
- ItemCrash recovery support for variable strength t-way test generation strategy(2016-06-01)Often, the biggest challenge in software testing relates to the fact that it is not feasible to test for all the input parameters exhaustively owing to constraints in costs, resources and time. Considering these factors, software testers must appropriately sample the test cases in order to best utilize the resources at hand. Within the context of Combinatorial Testing, testers often resort to t-way test generation strategy (where t indicates the strength of interaction). Empirical evidence in the literature indicated that t-way test generation strategy has managed to minimize the test cases significantly whilst maintaining the fault detection capability of the testing process. Much useful progress has been achieved as far as the development of t-way test generation strategy is concerned. Nevertheless, some issues remain especially in the context of addressing ever increasing complexity and size of software (i.e. lines of code) resulting into high number of interaction among input parameters. Firstly, the test generation can be painstakingly long, interruption is expensive as the whole generation process needs to be restarted from scratch. Time and efforts will also be wasted. Secondly, existing strategies commit too early on selection of the best value of input parameters when sampling of the test cases. For this reason, these strategies were less sufficient in terms of generating optimal test suite size. Here, to enhance the t-way testing capability, there is also a need to consider variable-strength strategy. This approach is often favored because of the compromise in terms of test suite size as the strategy focuses testing where it has the most potential value which usually is associated with a risk analysis and priority. In order to address these issues, this research develops a variable-strength (VS) interaction t-way test generation strategy, called Test Suite Generator with Crash Recovery support (TSGCR). Unlike existing strategies, TSGCR adopts Multilevel Greedy algorithm, which delays choosing the best value until it satisfies certain rules. To provide a reliable operation, TSGCR also permits crash recovery support integrated as part of the strategy itself. As the test generation can potentially be long lasting processes (i.e. due to large selection of input parameters and values), TSGCR tolerates involuntary transaction failures (e.g. such as power failure or system errors) or voluntary execution suspension (e.g. to give ways for other computations) enabling restoration of state and data to the last consistent state. To evaluate the competitiveness of TSGCR, the test generator is tested with uniform and mixed input parameters and the performance (in terms of the generated test suite size) is compared with existing variable strength t-way test generation strategies using well-known standard benchmark configurations (based on six sets of experiments). Benchmarking results showed that for VS interaction configurations for uniform input parameters, TSGCR is able to get seven Δ with 0 value, i.e. similar value to the best solution obtained by other strategies, seven Δ with +ve values, i.e. able to get the best solution; from fourteen out of forty four experimental results. While for VS interaction configurations for mixed input parameters, TSGCR is able to get twenty seven Δ with 0 value, eight Δ with +ve values; from thirty five out of forty one experimental results. Hence, the results demonstrated that TSGCR produces competitive results as far as the size of the test suite is concerned against most existing strategies.
- ItemKaedah Kepimpinan Dan Perancangan Strategik Dalam Pengurusan Kualiti Di Institusi Pembangunan Berteraskan Islam Brunei Darussalam(Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2017-03)Tesis ini bertujuan mengkaji kaedah kepimpinan dan perancangan strategik dalam pengurusan kualiti di institusi pembangunan berteraskan Islam (IPBI). Sekalipun pengurusan kualiti lazim dilihat lebih dominan pada masa kini, namun terdapat pengkaji sudah mula menilai pengurusan kualiti dari perspektif Islam. Ini merupakan satu perkembangan yang baik bertujuan membina pengurusan kualiti yang berteraskan Islam sepenuhnya. Penelitian terhadapnya memerlukan evolusi secara perlahan-lahan. Oleh sebab itu, kajian ini hanya melihat sebahagian aspek utama dalam pengurusan kualiti iaitu kaedah kepimpinan dan perancangan strategik sahaja. Memandangkan IPBI di Malaysia secara dominannya masih terikat dengan konsep pengurusan kualiti lazim, maka ada keperluan untuk mengkaji negara lain yang cuba melaksanakan pengurusan secara Islam. Negara tersebut ialah Negara Brunei Darussalam (NBD). NBD telah memperkenalkan konsep dan falsafah yang Islamik untuk negaranya seperti Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB) dan Negara Zikir. Konsep dan falsafah ini memperlihatkan bahawa NBD berusaha membangunkan aspek politik, ekonomi dan sosial menggunakan pendekatan Islam. Pembangunan NBD juga mengambil berat tentang aspek pengurusan kualiti. Maka timbul persoalan, apakah kaedah pengurusan kualiti yang dijalankan oleh IPBI di NBD ini? Bagaimanakah kaedah kepimpinan dan perancangan strategik yang dilaksanakan oleh IPBI di NBD? Untuk tujuan kajian ini, terdapat tiga objektif. Pertama, mengenal pasti kaedah pengurusan kualiti khususnya kaedah kepimpinan dan perancangan strategik yang dilaksanakan di IPBI terpilih NBD; kedua, menganalisis kaedah kepimpinan dan perancangan strategik dalam pengurusan kualiti di IPBI terpilih NBD; dan ketiga, merumuskan kaedah kepimpinan dan perancangan strategik di IPBI terpilih NBD.
- ItemNanostructured materials as catalysts for the production of gasoline from used palm oil and crude palm oil:(2007)The objective of this research was to develop an efficient cracking catalyst with good hydrothermal stability, reusability, low deactivation rate and minimum side products with high selectivity towards gasoline fraction yield. In this research, the catalytic process for the production of gasoline from crude palm oil (CPO) and used palm oil (UPO) was studied at atmospheric pressure, temperature of 723 K, weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 2.5 h-1 and crude/used palm oil to catalyst ratio of 8 in a fixed bed micro-reactor. Six different types of composite catalysts namely; HZSM-5/alumina (CZA), HBeta/ silica-alumina (CBS), Al-MCM-41/alumina (CMA), Al-MCM-41/silica-alumina (CMS), Al-SBA-15/alumina (CSA) and Al-SBA-15/silica-alumina (CSS) were synthesized and tested as cracking catalysts. The composite CZA and CBS were characterized for their surface area, adsorption-desorption isotherm, pore size distribution, crystallinity, acidity and surface morphology. The composites CMA, CSA, CMS and CSS were characterized for their crystallinity, acidity and surface morphology. HZSM-5 gave 98.5 wt% UPO conversion with 45.2 wt% yield of gasoline fraction and 25.9 wt% gaseous products. Composite CZA35 gave 97 wt% UPO conversion, 47 wt% yield of gasoline fraction and 19.7 wt% gaseous products as compared to HZSM-5. The alumina coating increased the average pore size (APS) of the mesopores and reduced the acidity of composite catalyst. Steam treated HZSM-5 and CZA35 showed comparable activity as the fresh catalysts. St-ZSM5 gave 93.5 wt% UPO conversion with 46 wt% yield of gasoline fraction and UPO conversion was 92.3 wt% with 46.3 wt% yield of gasoline fraction over St-CZA35. The reduction in the surface area of St-CZA35 was lower as compared to St-ZSM5. The aromatics (BTX) present in the organic liquid product (OLP) were reduced from 33.9 wt% obtained with fresh CZA35 to 17.9 wt% over St-CZA35. Composite CBS25 gave comparable gasoline fraction yield with 62.9 wt% CPO conversion as compared to 74.5 wt% CPO conversion over H-Beta. Its activity was improved after steam treatment with increase in CPO conversion to 74.7 wt% with gasoline fraction yield of 31.8 wt%. H-Beta activity dropped after steam treatment with drop in conversion from 74.5 wt% to 65.5 wt% and gasoline fraction yield from 26 wt% to 23.8 wt%. The coating of silica-alumina helped to increase the cracking activity and hydrothermal stability of the composite due to change in the surface morphology. The coating of alumina improved Al-MCM-41 hydrothermal stability. St-CMA25 gave 62 wt% CPO conversion with 19.7 wt% gasoline fraction yield, higher than that obtained over St-AlMCM-41 (60.5 wt% conversion with 13.1 wt% gasoline fraction yield). The composites CSA, CMS and CSS gave low cracking activity due to changes in the surface morphology as observed from SEM analysis. Comparing the performances of all synthesized composites, CZA35 was found to be best cracking catalyst. The deactivation of catalysts was studied by obtaining time on stream data with palm oil to catalyst ratio in the range of 8 to 16. Composites with alumina, CZA and CMA showed lower deactivation as compared to HZSM-5 and Al-MCM-41 catalysts. The deactivation data were fitted using suitable activity model and deactivation parameters were obtained.