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Predictors of retention and mortality among patients on methadone maintenance therapy
No full textBackground: Methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) was started as a pilot project in Malaysia in 2005, and many individuals have benefited from it. Aim: This study aimed to examine the retention rate among patients enrolled in a tertiary hospital MMT programme in Malaysia, as well as factors predicting retention and mortality among these patients. Methods: A total of 164 patients were enrolled in a MMT programme implemented at a tertiary centre in Malaysia between 2005 to 2013. During enrolment, sociodemographic data, blood investigations and urine toxicology were recorded, along with Opiate Treatment Index (OTI) and World Health Organisation Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF scores. Data, including the most recent follow-up date of patients and their daily methadone dose, were obtained retrospectively, in 2015. Retention rate was ascertained on the basis of living patients who stayed in the MMT programme up to 2015. Factors predicting retention rate and mortality were ascertained using Cox’s proportional hazards regression analysis. Results:. The retention rate for MMT at its implementation 10 years ago was 70.1%. Methadone dose ≥ 80 mg/day significantly predicted better retention, while HIV risk-taking behaviour significantly predicted poorer retention in MMT. Mortality was found to be significantly lower among patients of Malay ethnicity and higher among patients who had been found to have HIV and other medical illnesses. Conclusions: MMT retention rate at a tertiary centre in Malaysia was high, but more effort is required to enhance retention among patients with HIV risk-taking behaviour, while also attempting to improve the health of patients with HIV and other medical illnesses
Performance studies of ZnO and multi walled carbon nanotubes-based counter electrodes with gel polymer electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cell
Get PDFCounter electrode (CE) is one of the major component which determine the energy conversion efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Here in, five types of CEs using two different materials were fabricated. Three types are zinc oxide (ZnO) based while other two are multi-walled carbon nanotubes based CEs. The thickness and resistance per cm2 of each CE were measured. The gel polymer electrolyte based on polyacrylonitrile polymer, sodium iodide salt, 1-Hexyl-3-methyl-imidazolium iodide ionic liquid was also prepared. The conductivity studies revealed that the highest ionic conductivity of gel polymer electrolyte was 6.72 mS cm−1 upon incorporation of 100 wt% 1-Hexyl-3-methyl-imidazolium iodide ionic liquid. This gel polymer electrolyte was sandwiched between commercial TiO2 photo-anode and different types of CE to fabricate the DSSCs. The J-V characteristic curves of the DSSCs were obtained and the DSSC characterization parameters were determined. The efficiencies achieved using ZnO and MWCNT-based CEs were ranging from 0.46% to 7.07%. The results demonstrate that ZnO and multi-walled carbon nanotubes are good candidates of CEs for DSSC application
The role of OM EDEN in building the EurOMA community
No full textPurpose: Doctoral education (DE) is central to the development and application of operations management (OM) thinking. The European Doctoral Educational Network (EDEN) seminar on research methodology in OM is a structured initiative developed in 1999 by European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) and European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM). This intensive five-day seminar has run annually since and, to date, has engaged 486 students. The purpose of this paper is to ask: what role has the OM EDEN seminar played in the formation and academic career development of doctoral researchers, and how has it contributed to the development of EurOMA as a community of practice? Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed a retrospective case on the design, launch and growth of the OM EDEN seminar employing two data gathering methods (collecting secondary and archival data, and a survey of four selected seminar participants) and a social network analysis. Findings: The EDEN seminar is an effective educational intervention in developing doctoral researchers and their subsequent academic careers. The seminar has also contributed to EurOMA as a community of practice, bringing faculty together to teach, write and publish leading edge contributions in research methods for OM. Research limitations/implications: The case is focused on the OM EDEN seminar only, within which the survey is limited to four of the early participants. While another set of participants might respond differently in detail, the authors’ expectation is that participant perception of the role of the seminar would not change. The paper provides an exemplar for European academic associations to guide how they might explore the formation and academic career development of doctoral candidates within a community of practice. Practical implications: The seminar merits the ongoing support of EurOMA and EIASM, not just in educating doctoral students but also in bringing faculty together to publish leading edge contributions to the OM domain. Social implications: The paper draws on the areas of student formation, academic career development and communities of practice to illustrate the role played by the OM EDEN seminar. Originality/value: This paper is the first description, analysis and reflection on the role played by the OM EDEN seminar
The psychometric validation of the principal practices questionnaire based on item response theory / Corinne Jacqueline Perera, Bambang Sumintono, Jiang Na
Get PDFThis paper examines the psychometric properties of the Principal Practices Questionnaire (PPQ) for use in school leadership research. The PPQ has been developed as a diagnostic instrument to measure the various dimensions of transformational leadership based on the Rasch Measurement Model. With the growing awareness and importance given to psychometrics, particularly on interval measurement, this paper discusses the development of the PPQ and its psychometric properties based upon the framework of Item Response Theory (IRT). The PPQ was designed to determine the extent to which principals exhibit transformational leadership practices. The PPQ was validated using 290 secondary school teachers to elicit teacher's perceptions about their principals’ leadership practices. The sample comprised practising teachers from six high performing Malaysian public schools. In this study Rasch Model was used to determine the validity of the 30 questionnaire items based on the estimates of item difficulty and psychometrics attribute criteria. The results of this study showed that the PPQ may be supported by evidence as a valid research instrument because of its psychometric properties and internal consistencies. Having shown evidence of high reliability and statistical validity, the PPQ may therefore be use
General and erosive tooth wear of 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia: prevalence and association with dental caries / Noorhazayti Ab Halim, Rashidah Esa and Hooi Pin Chew
Get PDFBackground: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of general tooth wear (GTW), i.e. tooth wear irrespective of etiology and erosive tooth wear (ETW), i.e. tooth wear predominantly due to erosion; and also to investigate the relationship between ETW and dental caries experience in 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia. Methods: A multi-staged cluster sampling method was employed. A total of 598 16-year-old adolescents participated in this study. Participants' demographic profile was assessed through a self-administered questionnaire. Clinical examinations were carried out under standardized conditions by a single examiner. The level of GTW was recorded using the modified Smith and Knight's Tooth Wear Index (TWI) whilst ETW were recorded using the Basic Erosive Wear Examination (BEWE) index. This index was developed to record clinical findings and assist in the decision-making process for the management of erosive tooth wear. Dental caries was recorded using the D3MFT index whereby D-3 denotes obvious dental decay into dentine detected visually. Results: The prevalence of GTW, ETW and dental caries, i.e. percentage of individuals found to have at least one lesion, was 99.8%, 45.0% and 27.8% respectively. Two thirds of affected teeth with GTW were observed to have a TWI score of 1 whereas almost all of the affected teeth with ETW had a BEWE score of 2. The mean D3MFT was 0.62 (95% CI 0.50, 0.73) with Decayed (D) teeth being the largest component, mean D3T was 0.36 (95% CI 0.30, 0.43). There was no significant association between socio-demographic factors and prevalence of ETW. Logistic regression analysis also showed no significant relationship between the prevalence of ETW and D3MFT (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Almost all adolescents examined had GTW but they were mainly early lesions. However, nearly half were found to have ETW of moderate severity (BEWE score 2). No significant relationship between the occurrence of erosive tooth wear and caries was observed in this population
General and erosive tooth wear of 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia: prevalence and association with dental caries
Get PDFBackground: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of general tooth wear (GTW), i.e. tooth wear irrespective of etiology and erosive tooth wear (ETW), i.e. tooth wear predominantly due to erosion; and also to investigate the relationship between ETW and dental caries experience in 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia. Methods: A multi-staged cluster sampling method was employed. A total of 598 16-year-old adolescents participated in this study. Participants' demographic profile was assessed through a self-administered questionnaire. Clinical examinations were carried out under standardized conditions by a single examiner. The level of GTW was recorded using the modified Smith and Knight's Tooth Wear Index (TWI) whilst ETW were recorded using the Basic Erosive Wear Examination (BEWE) index. This index was developed to record clinical findings and assist in the decision-making process for the management of erosive tooth wear. Dental caries was recorded using the D3MFT index whereby D-3 denotes obvious dental decay into dentine detected visually. Results: The prevalence of GTW, ETW and dental caries, i.e. percentage of individuals found to have at least one lesion, was 99.8%, 45.0% and 27.8% respectively. Two thirds of affected teeth with GTW were observed to have a TWI score of 1 whereas almost all of the affected teeth with ETW had a BEWE score of 2. The mean D3MFT was 0.62 (95% CI 0.50, 0.73) with Decayed (D) teeth being the largest component, mean D3T was 0.36 (95% CI 0.30, 0.43). There was no significant association between socio-demographic factors and prevalence of ETW. Logistic regression analysis also showed no significant relationship between the prevalence of ETW and D3MFT (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Almost all adolescents examined had GTW but they were mainly early lesions. However, nearly half were found to have ETW of moderate severity (BEWE score 2). No significant relationship between the occurrence of erosive tooth wear and caries was observed in this population
Separation and identification of bioactive peptides from stem of Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers
Get PDFEnzyme hydrolysates (trypsin, papain, pepsin, a-chymotrypsin, and pepsin-pancreatin) of Tinospora cordifolia stem proteins were analyzed for antioxidant efficacy by measuring (1) 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH center dot) radical scavenging activity, (2) 2,20-azinobis(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline- 6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS(+)) radical scavenging capacity, and (3) Fe2+ chelation. Trypsin hydrolysate showed the strongest DPPH center dot scavenging, while alpha-chymotrypsin hydrolysate exhibited the highest ABTS(+) scavenging and Fe2+ chelation. Undigested protein strongly inhibited the gastrointestinal enzymes, trypsin (50% inhibition at enzyme/substrate ratio = 1: 6.9) and a-chymotrypsin (50% inhibition at enzyme/substrate ratio = 1: 1.82), indicating the prolonged antioxidant effect after ingestion. Furthermore, gel filtration purified peptide fractions of papain hydrolysates exhibited a significantly higher ABTS(+) and superoxide radical scavenging as compared to non-purified digests. Active fraction 9 showing the highest radical scavenging ability was further purified and confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS followed by MS/MS with probable dominant peptide sequences identified are VLYSTPVKM-WEPGR, VITVVATAGSETMR, and HIGININSR. The obtained results revealed that free radical scavenging capacity of papain hydrolysates might be related to its consistently low molecular weight hydrophobic peptides
Seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira IgG and IgM among the urban poor communities in Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur
Get PDFMalaysia has undergone cumulative growth of urbanization from 43.2% (1989) to 71% (2010) resulting in and urban population boom from 27% (1970) to 71% (2010) 18 and a downward trend in the incidence of urban poverty over the past three decades from 16.5% in 1970 to 3.8% in 2009. However, urban poor communities till exist in pockets of the cities.
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic bacteria from the genus Leptospira. Human infection is known to be associated with poor waste management, in additional to recreational, occupational, or domestic activities. Infection is primarily acquired through contact with soilor water contaminated with the urine of carrier animals primarily rodents
Preliminary study on insecticide susceptibility status of The Black fly, Simulium (Simulium) Vanluni (Diptera: Simuliidae) in Malaysia
Get PDFSusceptibility status of Simulium (Simulium) vanluni (Diptera: Simuliidae) adults obtained from Pahang, Malaysia was evaluated against 11 adulticides representing four major insecticide classes: organochlorines (DDT and dieldrin), organophosphates (malathion and fenitrothion), carbamates (bendiocarb and propoxtlr) and pyrethroids (etofenprox, deltamethrin, Iambdacyhalothrin, permethrin and cyfluthrin). The adult bioassay was conducted according to WHO standard protocol to determine the insecticide susceptibility.
Mortality at 24 h post treatment was used as indicator for susceptibility status. Simulium vanluni populations in Pahang exhibited different levels of resistance against II adulticides with mortality ranged from 60.00 to 100.00%. Simulium vanluni was susceptible to propoxur, cyfluthrin and bendiocarb with 100% mortality, but resistant to other adulticides with bendicarb > deltamethrin > lambdacyhalothrin > pennethrin > etofenprox > DDT > malathion > fenitrothion > dieldrin. Regular surveys should be conducted to monitor the susceptibility status of this insect vector to prevent further development of resistance
Public policy for grassroots innovations initiatives: lessons learned from Malaysia
Get PDFPromoting and upscaling grassroots innovations require a specific public policy framework that appreciate the fundamental values of niche-specific innovations. These values are locally socio-cultural embedded and evolve over the different stages of innovation. In this respect. the nature of grassroots
innovations is seemed evolves from organic- to mechanical-form; and !Tom self-satisfaction to market oriented. This paper argues that level-specific policy instruments need to be carefully formulated to facilitate the smooth transition of the various stages of grassroots innovations without jeopardising its' real values. The uniqueness of grassroots innovations particularly at the early stage should be upheld as it is the essence of the spirit of poor as providers in grassroots innovations movement. The four case studies on Malaysian grassroots innovators who have experienced the various stages of innovation otter important lessons on how agents managing grassroots innovations should target in making the intervention successful