19672 research outputs found
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Preliminary study assessing remineralisation of early caries on posterior teeth using SoproLife®
No full textPurpose: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of minimal intervention via fluoride therapy in management of early caries lesion with the aid of SoproLife®. Materials and methods: A total of 40 patients were recruited, (mean age = 23 years) and were assigned to low and moderate caries risk groups (n = 20). Eighty occlusal surfaces of posterior teeth were examined for early caries lesion visually and using SoproLife® at baseline and at a recall visit six months later. At baseline visit, patients were given oral hygiene education, fluoridated toothpaste for homecare and topical fluoride application. SoproLife® images acquired were analysed using Image J software version 1.50. Difference in the mean value of intensity of the red wavelength spectrum between baseline and recall visits, (ΔI), were analysed for both risk groups. ΔI for upper and lower first molar teeth were also analysed. Results: Results show no statistical difference for ΔI between low and moderate risk groups (p = 0.13). There is no statistical difference in ΔI within the low caries risk group (p = 0.42) but there is significant difference in the moderate risk group (p = 0.02). No statistically significant difference in ΔI value between upper first molars (UFM) (p = 0.80) and lower first molars (LFM) (p = 0.07) were detected. There was also no statistically significant difference in ΔI value within the upper and lower first molars (UFM: p = 0.31, LFM: p = 0.27). Conclusion: SoproLife® generated images did not show significant differences in remineralisation of early caries between low and moderate caries risk patients and between the upper first and lower first permanent molars in these patients. © 2019 The Author
Food security and socio-economic aspects of agricultural input subsidies
No full textThis study is the first attempt at promoting agricultural input subsidy policies in a computable general equilibrium framework on two main dimensions of food security (i.e. food availability and access to food), poverty and income distribution in Malaysia for all ethnic groups. This study investigates the short-run impacts of two subsidy removal policy and one subsidy expansion policy using 2010 input–output table. Results show that both subsidy removal policies negatively influence agricultural sectors and economic growth of Malaysia while the expansion policy influence them positively. The removal policies also decrease food availability and access to food and, consequently, increase poverty at the national level and the poverty level of Malay household, while the expansion policy increases food availability and access to food and alleviate the poverty level of Malay household. The complete removal policy without paddy/rice subsidies increases rice production and raises food availability and access to food commodities (or food security) in the country resulting in a lesser increase in poverty compared to the complete removal policy. © 2019, © 2019 The Association for Social Economics
The Meaning of Quality in Online/Blended Courses to American and Malaysian Administrators, Faculty, and Students
No full textThis article compares two studies, investigating administrator, faculty, and student perceptions of quality in online/blended courses conducted in two different contexts, namely (1) two midsize public universities in the United States, and (2) a college in a public university in Malaysia. The research question explored in both studies was: What is the meaning of “quality” in an online/blended course to administrators, faculty, and students? Survey data from the three constituents in both contexts were obtained. Qualitative data analysis revealed the top 7-8 quality features of each context as ranked by number of references. The results revealed similarities and differences in the rankings of the quality features between constituents and between contexts. Similarities suggested that different constituents had different priorities with regards to quality features while differences appeared to be based on where each institution was on their distance education trajectory. These findings should be considered and reflected on in online course design, teaching strategies, and student support. Copyright © 2019, IGI Global
Removal of methylene blue dye by solvothermally reduced graphene oxide: a metal-free adsorption and photodegradation method
No full textIn this work, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was fabricated at different reduction temperatures via an environmentally friendly solvothermal approach. The rGO formed at 160 °C clearly showed the partial restoration of the sp2 hybridization brought about by the elimination of oxygenated functionalities from the surface. Owing to the augmented surface area and the band gap reduction, rGO-160 exhibited the best adsorption (29.26%) and photocatalytic activity (32.68%) towards the removal of MB dye. The effects of catalyst loading, initial concentration of dye, light intensity, and initial pH of solution were evaluated. It was demonstrated that rGO-160 could achieve a higher adsorptive removal (87.39%) and photocatalytic degradation (98.57%) of MB dye when 60 mg of catalyst, 50 ppm of dye at pH 11, and 60 W m-2 of UV-C light source were used. The MB photodegradation activity of rGO-160 displayed no obvious decrease after five successive cycles. This study provides a potential metal-free adsorbent-cum-photocatalyst for the decontamination of dyes from wastewater. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry
Short-term clinical outcome of orthosis alone vs combination of orthosis, nerve, and tendon gliding exercises and ultrasound therapy for treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome
No full textStudy Design: Prospective randomized study. Introduction: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has been described as the most common compression neuropathy. Many modalities exist for conservative treatment. Efficacy of each modality has been described in the literature. However, the effectiveness of combination of these modalities is not well established. The purpose of this study is to assess the short-term clinical outcome of conservative treatment for CTS comparing orthosis alone with combination of orthosis, nerve/tendon gliding exercises, and ultrasound therapy. Methods: Forty-one patients who presented to Upper Limb Reconstructive and Microsurgery Clinic, University Malaya Medical Centre with CTS and positive electrodiagnostic study were recruited. Fifteen patients had bilateral CTS. Fifty-six wrists were equally randomized to orthosis alone and a combined therapy of orthosis, nerve/tendon gliding exercise, and ultrasound therapy. All patients were required to complete the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire during the first visit and 2 months after treatment. Results: Both the orthosis and combined therapy groups showed a significant improvement in symptoms and function after treatment. The mean difference of symptoms in the orthosis group was 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.23-0.83 (P = .001) and in the combined therapy group was 0.48; 95% CI: 0.24-0.72 (P < .001). Mean difference of function in the orthosis group was 0.59; 95% CI: 0.28-0.91 (P = .001) and combined group was 0.69; 95% CI: 0.49-0.89 (P < .001). However, there was no significant difference in symptom severity and functional status scores between the groups. Discussion: Our findings support other findings where orthosis and exercises improved symptom severity and functional status scores, however, there was no significant difference between orthosis alone and combined treatment. Conclusion: Patients who underwent conservative management for CTS showed improvement in symptoms and function. However, the combination of orthosis, nerve/tendon gliding exercises, and ultrasound therapy did not offer additional benefit compared to orthosis alone. © 2018 Hanley & Belfu
Supporting preschool children's early writing with self-regulated learning strategies
No full textResearch suggests that early writing is crucial in the development of young children’s literacy skills and links to their conventional literacy outcomes in elementary school and beyond. In order to enhance the will and the skills to express thoughts explicitly and effectively in early writing among preschool children, self-regulated learning (SRL) was suggested. This experimental study involved seventy-five preschool children, aged from five to six years old in Malaysia, aimed to investigate the effectiveness of SRL strategies on early writing performance. In this study, quantitative data collection was engaged and supported with qualitative data through interviews to obtain a deep insight of the findings results. Two-way repeated measure ANCOVA was employed and confirmed the effectiveness SRL intervention performance in early writing. In regression analyses, strategy such as planning and goal setting was confirmed as strong predictor for early writing performance. Data from the interview revealed that various SRL strategies were engaged by out-performing children from the experimental group and contributed to their early writing performance. The findings of this research provide a useful insight into early writing instructions in Malaysian context
Effect of functional groups in acid constituent of deep eutectic solvent for extraction of reactive lignin
No full textIn this study, acidic deep eutectic solvents (DES) synthesized from various organic carboxylic acid hydrogen bond donors were applied to lignocellulosic oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) pretreatment. The influence of functional group types on acid and their molar ratios with hydrogen bond acceptor on lignin extraction were evaluated. The result showed presence of hydroxyl group and short alkyl chain enhanced biomass fractionation and lignin extraction. Choline chloride:lactic acid (CC-LA) with the ratio of 1:15 and choline chloride:formic acid (CC-FA) with 1:2 ratio extracted more than 60 wt% of lignin. CC-LA DES-extracted lignin (DEEL) exhibited comparable reactivity with technical and commercial lignin based on its phenolic hydroxyl content (3.33–3.72 mmol/glignin). Also, the DES-pretreated EFB comprised of enriched glucan content after biopolymer fractionation. Both DES-pretreated EFB and DEEL can be potential feedstock for subsequent conversion processes. This study presented DES as an effective and facile pretreatment method for reactive lignin extraction. © 201
Anticancer Effect of Hypophyllanthin, Niranthin and Lintetralin From Phyllanthus amarus on HeLa Cells And NIH/3T3 Cells
No full textPhyllanthus amarus which is locally known as Dukung Anak was one of the herb used in traditional medicine and research of P. amarus in Malaysia was not widely reported. This present research has isolated three chemical compounds and its anticancer effect of this species has been determined. Three lignans namely hypophyllanthin was afforded from hexane crude while niranthin and lintetralin were afforded from ethanol crude. Anticancer test against HeLa cells and NIH/3T3 cells by MTT assays was tested for its anticancer effect. The result shows that hypophyllanthin was considered to possess an active anticancer effect on HeLa cells than NIH/3T3 cells compared to niranthin and lintetralin. © BEIESP
Tracking-error control via the relaxing port-Hamiltonian formulation: Application to level control and batch polymerization reactor
No full textIn this paper, a tracking-error-based control design without feedback passivation stage is developed for the stabilization of physical and chemical nonlinear processes. To achieve control objectives, the system dynamics is first formulated under appropriate conditions as a relaxing (pseudo) port-Hamiltonian (PH) representation with some quadratic storage function, in which the positive semi-definite property of damping matrix may not be taken necessarily into account. Then, a reference trajectory expressed by a certain structure passing through a desired set-point (or containing an optimal profile) is suitably chosen. By adding a relevant damping injection, asymptotic and global convergence of error dynamics is guaranteed. Two case studies including the level control of a four-tank process of continuous time type and the optimal tracking of a batch polymerization reactor of discontinuous time type due to the nature of the process operation are used to illustrate the application and the effectiveness of the approach. Besides the control performance comparison with the conventional passivity-based control method and the robustness evaluation against disturbance and/or noise are included. © 2019 Elsevier Lt
Human Development Index as a Predictor of Life Satisfaction
No full textSince 1990, the Human Development Index (HDI) has been used by the United Nations to rank countries into four tiers of human development. Using data from the 2010 Human Development Report, this study has analyzed the mean life satisfaction of citizens from 144 countries that are at different levels of HDI. Simple regression analysis shows that HDI alone accounts for 63% of the variation in the mean life satisfaction across the countries. A strong positive correlation has been shown to exist between life satisfaction and HDI. However, countries with about the same level of HDI can have vastly different life satisfaction. Results from the Multiple Regression Analysis indicate that part of the variations in life satisfaction in countries with similar HDI is attributed to the personal dimensions of well-being-that being the percentage of the population that is satisfied with jobs, health, and standard of living, and to a lesser extent elements of happiness such as having a purposeful life and social support, and being treated with respect. In conclusion, while HDI is an important predictor of life satisfaction, there are many other socio-political and cultural factors as well, such as an individuals' traits and outlook in life throughout the world, also influence life satisfaction, to various degrees. © 2019 Journal of Population and Social Studies