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Study on the relationship between working conditions and self-perceived psychological symptoms of the workforce in Malaysia / Nur Ismah Izzati Ismail
Get PDFThere is limited research as to if working conditions such as decision latitude (e.g.,
skill discretion and decision authority), psychological job demands, job insecurity and
social support (e.g., supervisor support and co-worker support) are perpetrators of
perceived psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety and stress in the
workforce, thus the need for further empirical investigation. The objective of this study
is to examine the relationship between the current working conditions and self-perceived
psychological symptoms of the workforce (sewerage service sector) in Malaysia. The
results have been obtained via – i) descriptive analysis – where the respondents’ sociodemographic
profiles, respondents’ perceived working conditions through Job Content
Questionnaire descriptive analysis and respondents’ self-perceived psychological
symptoms through Depression Anxiety Stress Scales descriptive analysis have been
described amicably; ii) Pearson Correlation test and, iii) Regression test used in assessing
the relationships between JPP’s working conditions as well as their staffs’ psychological
symptoms. Therefore, this study has shown statistically significant inverse relationship
between the two (2) variables, wherein a significant regression equation was found for all three (3) psychological symptoms against working conditions accordingly; around 38% of the variance on depression; around 23.1% of the variance on anxiety; and around 34.6% of the variance on stress. It can be interpreted from the results found from regression analysis that job skill discretion is the most paramount significant predictor of
all the psychological symptoms of workers in this study, as it cuts across the DASS scale of depression, anxiety and stress, negatively predicting them respectively
Investigation on the performance of tetraglyme based solid copolymer electrolytes for solid state electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) / Sharmilah Sinasamy
No full textSolid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have been the focus of intensive research due to their large demand in applications such as electrochemical capacitors, fuel cells, solar cells and batteries. They have shown many advantages such as wider electrochemical potential window, good thermal stability, low volatility and easy handling. Due to these advantages, SPEs have great potential in energy storage applications. Usually, SPEs suffer from poor conductivity, which hinders its performance for energy storage applications. In order to enhance the conductivity of the SPEs, the host polymer incorporated with salt to provide ions for conductivity, ionic liquid to enhance the conductivity and fillers to increase the thermal and electrical stability. Herein, Poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluropropene) PVDF-HFP used as a host polymer with LiCIO4 salt to provide ions and tetraglyme as an additive. SPEs prepared by facile solution casting technique and its performances were evaluated for electric double layer supercapacitor (EDLC). The effects of tetraglyme (Diethylene glycol dimethyl ether) on the enhancement of ionic conductivity and on the performance of EDLC was investigated. Conductivity studies revealed that, tetraglyme significantly improvised the ionic conductivity of the SPEs by assisting ion mobility in the host polymer and has shown high ionic conductivity at room temperature. The highest ionic conductivity value of 1.34 x 10-3 Scm-1 is achieved upon addition of 20 wt. % tetraglyme (STG20). Temperature-dependant ionic conductivity studies confirmed that SPE system follows Arrhenius thermal activation model. The crystallinity and complexation of the SPEs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. XRD results confirmed the complexation of LiCIO4 salts with the host polymer. FTIR spectra presented that tetraglyme and LiCIO4 salt successfully incorporated with the host polymer. The electrochemical performance of prepared SPEs evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It was found that SPE incorporated with tetraglyme displayed excellent performance for EDLC compared to the SPE without tetraglyme. From the electrochemical studies, STG 20 achieved the maximum specific capacitance of 14.06 F/g, which is larger than STG 30 (sample with 30 wt. % tetraglyme) (4.87 F/g) and ST30 (0.11 F/g) at 100 mA/g
Developing and evaluating strategies to implement an insulin patient decision aid in an academic primary care clinic in Malaysia / Tong Wen Ting
No full textPatient decision aids (PDAs) are decision-making tools to facilitate shared decision-making; however, their routine use in clinical consultations is still lacking. This study
aims to develop and evaluate strategies to effectively implement a locally developed
insulin PDA in an academic primary care clinic in Malaysia. This implementation study
began with a qualitative exploration to identify PDA implementation barriers in
Malaysian public healthcare settings (Phase 1). In Phase 2, an implementation
intervention was systematically developed for the insulin PDA in an academic primary
care clinic. This involved stakeholders using a multi-voting technique to prioritise Phase
1 barriers. Next, strategies were identified to overcome the prioritised barriers based on
evidence, pragmatic suggestions from clinic stakeholders, and implementation
taxonomies. The intervention was finalised through a clinic stakeholders meeting. In
Phase 3, a mixed-methods evaluation was conducted to assess implementation outcomes
guided by the ‘Reach’, ‘Adoption’, ‘Implementation’, and ‘Maintenance’ dimensions of
the RE-AIM framework. In Phase 1, unique and prominent barriers to the insulin PDA
implementation were found in the Malaysian healthcare settings such as role boundary,
the lack of continuity of care, the lack of SDM culture, language barrier, and patient
literacy level. In Phase 2, 13 barriers were prioritised and they were related to healthcare
providers’ (HCP) roles, patient’s characteristics and attitudes, and follow-up difficulties.
Eleven strategies including training, feedback, PDA availability, and systematic
documentation were integrated into an implementation intervention to address the
barriers. The outcomes showed that for ‘Reach’, 88.9% of the doctors received PDA
training and this was attributed to their self-motivation, mandated changes, and timing of
the PDA workshop. The PDA reached 387 patients and was facilitated by the doctors who
delivered the PDA to them and their own desire to know more about insulin. Barriers to
reaching patients were their attitudes towards their health, and lack of interest to initiate
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insulin. Doctors’ adoption of the PDA was high (83.3%) and was attributed to their
positive experience with the PDA use, its usefulness, and the training workshop
effectiveness. Barriers to adoption were patients’ non-use of the PDA, availability of
doctors in the clinic, and the lack of effectiveness of the strategy ‘Provide feedback’.
Patients’ adoption was moderate where only 65.7% read the given PDA. Among the
reasons for not reading the PDA were a lackadaisical attitude towards their health, and
perceived adequate knowledge about diabetes and insulin. The degree of
‘Implementation’ of the PDA varied for different tasks and was challenging for reasons
such as the perception of unnecessary steps, the clinic’s appointment system, and nurses’
attitudes. Finally, for ‘Maintenance’, 80% of the doctors were willing to continue using
the PDA due to its benefits. In conclusion, this study outlines a systematic process of
developing PDA implementation intervention. When implementing PDAs, it is crucial to
consider the healthcare culture and system. Focusing on implementation efforts such as
training to improve providers’ knowledge and skills, organisational leaders’ support and
utilising a documentation system to facilitate follow-ups can lead to a higher reach and
adoption of PDAs.
Keywords: Implementation, Implementation research, Patient decision aids, Shared
decision making, Type 2 diabetes mellitu
Illness perception and social support among cardiac patients attending rehabilitation programme and their experiences / Sukhbeer Kaur Darsin Singh
No full textCardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) have emerged as the
leading causes of death in Malaysia. In developed countries, heart disease is the leading
cause of death in men and women in Europe, CHD accounts for an estimated 1.95 million
deaths each year. In Europe, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO 2012),
it is recorded that 42 percent of deaths were caused by CVD and 41 percent was by CHD
which was 2,655,364 people has died. Secondary prevention through cardiac
rehabilitation (CR) is a key component of the ongoing care of these patients, immediately
following discharge from hospitals. Despite being an important secondary prevention
programme the individual participation and utilization towards this programme remain
low. The primary objective of the present study was to determine the illness perception
(BIPQ), social support (ESSI), and the factors associated with the demographic and
clinical history of the participants that have attended cardiac rehabilitation programme.
The secondary objective was to explore the attendees� experiences attending this
programme. Mixed-methods research using the embedded design was conducted to
address the research objectives. A quantitative approach utilizing the longitudinal survey
was employed and was supported by the qualitative study. A convenience sample of four
hundred and fifty participants was conveniently selected. Brief Illness Perception
Questionnaire (BIPQ) and the ENRICHD Social Support Instrument (ESSI) were tested
for reliability and used to collect data. BIPQ and ESSI were used at the baseline before
the cardiac rehabilitation programme (CRP) at Phase I during hospitalization on basic
information on diet, physiology of the disease and, general exercise) before the 4
th (T1)
and 8th sessions (T2) of CRP Phase II (exercise intervention). Descriptive statistics
included frequency distribution, mean standard deviation was employed to summarize
the data, Chi-Square was used to determine any association while inferential statistics;
Repeated measures of ANOVA and Logistic Regression were applied to analyse the data.
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Meanwhile, thematic analysis was employed to analyze qualitative data of the semi?structured transcripts. Fifteen participants were recruited purposively for a semi?structured in-depth interview to explore their perceptions towards CRP. The quantitative
findings for illness perception (BIPQ) were statistically significant among cardiac
participants but there were no significant changes for social support (ESSI) scores during
their attendance at the CRP intervention at the 4th and 8th session CRP. The predictors for
BIPQ at the 8th session of CRP were; had a previous cardiac history of AMI (OR=2.380,
95%CI 1.46, 5.49), had angioplasty with stent (OR=3.857, 95%CI 1.55, 9.61). The
predictors for ESSI at the 8th session were; a previous cardiac history of AMI (OR=3.050,
95%CI 1.71, 5.43), with the previous history of open-heart surgery (OR=2.442, 95%CI
1.36, 4.40). The qualitative findings resulted in three themes emerging including benefits,
barriers, and reminders from staff. Nine subthemes emerged from the main themes
including knowledge, motivation, socialization, timing, facilities, financial, reminders by
the hospital, family support, and spouse encouragement. In conclusion, illness perception
scores changed during the attendance of the cardiac participants to CRP at the 4th and 8th
sessions but no changes were found for social support. Previous cardiac history of AMI
and having open heart surgery done were the predictors for illness perception and social
support and themes on knowledge, barriers and reminders from the hospital were the
emerged themes from the qualitative aspect. Therefore, participants perceived their
illness beliefs positively during their attendance for CRP and, themes obtained supported
the quantitative findings. Therefore, the participants appreciated the cardiac rehabilitation
programme and thus nurses should encourage and motivate participants to attend CRP.
Keywords: illness perception, social support, cardiac rehabilitation programme, cardiac
patient
Exploration of new bismuth and lead-based metal-organic frameworks featuring free o and n donors: Synthesis, structures and properties / Mesoun A. A. Al Nubi Al Sudani
No full textThis work describes the syntheses, characterizations and the properties of two new metal organic frameworks (MOFs) based on bismuth and lead cations with two different ligand linkers: 2,3-pyrazine dicarboxylic acid (H2Pzdc) and benzene 1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid (H3BTC). Bi-Pzdc MOFs have been synthesized by employing simple dissolution-slow evaporation method using mixture of water/DMF with different stoichiometric molar ratios and recruiting imidazole (Im) or imidazolium iodide (ImZm) as modulator agents. Pb-BTC MOFs synthesis have been conducted by employing simple and optimized solution layering approach using different mixture of water/1,4-Dioxane; water/DMF; and water/MeOH using same stoichiometric molar ratios and adopting Aniline (Ani) or Im as auxiliary ligands. The physical and chemical features of these MOFs have been characterized by using optical microscope, UV light black box, Scanning Electron Microscope coupled with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy SEM/EDX, Single Crystal and Powder X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD and PXRD), Thermo-gravimetric Analysis (TGA), elemental analysis (CHN), solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SS-NMR), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR), Ultra Violet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry (solid and liquid state), solid state photoluminescence (PL), BET surface area analysis and proton conductivity measurements. SCXRD and PXRD measurements reveal that the new, water stable Bi-MOFs: (compounds 1 to 12), which all exhibit same structure; Bi(Pzdc)(HPzdc)(H2O); (H2pzdc= C6H3N2O4), crystallize in P21/n space group (a =14.1738(7) Å, b =21.682(1) Å, c =14.7988(8) Å, =109.2103(8)°) and built from 2D slabs interlinked by Pzdc ligands into 3D MOF with 10.5 Å× 8.9 Å aperture size. A presence of hydrogen-bonded along the crystallographic c-direction, within the 2D slabs, possibly lead to the observed proton conductivity. Interestingly, its visible and photoluminescence colors depend on water content. Three new, closely resembled Pb-based organic frameworks are also reported in here along with their structural characterizations, photoluminescence, and dyes adsorption properties. Their SCXRD and PXRD measurements confirmed that Compounds 13 and 14 offered same formula, Pb(HBTC)(1,4-dioxane)0.5, and crystallize in the C2/c space group (a =17.239(2) Å, b =7.0225(8) Å, c =19.911(2) Å, =104.74(1)); Compounds 15 and 17 display same formula as well, Pb2(HBTC)2(H2O)5, and crystallize in the P-1 space group (a = 7.3989(4) Å, b =8.2196(4) Å, c =10.1437(5) Å, α =94.336(4)°, =104.943(4), γ =108.270(3)°); while Compound 18 with the formula, Pb(HBTC)(DMF), crystallizes in the P21/n space group (a = 10.5004 (3) Å, b = 7.1398 (3) Å, c = 17.1285 (5) Å, =102.160(2)); (H3BTC= C9H6O6). All three lead compounds are built from slightly different 1D structures interconnected into 3D MOFs by BTC ligands forming different pore sizes which are governed by the solvent used during synthesis. Among them, only compound 17 showcases an interesting, near white-light emission, single-component phosphor with CIE coordinate of (0.33, 0.36), while compound 14 adsorbs methylene blue and methyl red dyes
Influence of lightweight expanded perlite and vermiculite on the properties of ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash-based mortar / Tie Tzer Sheng
No full textThe production of cement is highly energy-intensive and contributes to 7% of total worldwide CO2 emission which can cause the environmental problem and threaten to the earth’s atmosphere. Adopting supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) can help to reduce the dependency on cement in moving towards the use of sustainable construction materials. Increasing calls for more efficient construction materials also encourages the use of lightweight materials. Hence, this research is carried out to investigate the influence of lightweight aggregate, namely expanded perlite (EP) and expanded vermiculite (EV), in terms of the key and functional properties of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and fly ash-blended mortar. As mechanical strength is not the prime consideration in mortar, high volume of the lightweight aggregate (>50%) as sand replacement was promoted. Likewise, SCM such as GGBS and fly ash is also utilized as substantial amount of partial cement replacement (>30%) for the sustainability of the mortar. The framework of this research was categorized into two phases, where Phase I focuses on the determining the combination of materials (SCM and lightweight aggregate) to obtain suitable mix based on targeted density (1400kg/m3 to 1600kg/m3) and 28 days strength (≥ 5.17MPa). The mortars mixed with 50% lightweight fine aggregate (EP or EV) with or without the use of 30% SCM (GGBS or fly ash) could achieve the targeted density and strength. Based on this, the mortars are categorized as Mortar Type N with Density Class D1.6, while the mortars mixed with 50% EP as sand replacement can be
categorized as soft mortar due to higher flow diameter (≥200mm) than EV mortar. Response surface methodology (RSM) was also found to be useful to provide the mathematical prediction equation for density and strength and optimize the mix design of the lightweight mortar. The mortars which achieved targeted density and strength were then selected for further investigation in Phase II. In Phase II, the key properties (flow, water retention, density, compressive strength and water sorptivity) and functional properties (sound absorption and solar reflectance) of the selected mortars were evaluated. All selected mortars mixed with the lightweight aggregates (50% EP or EV) with or without 30% SCM showed high water retention (≥91%), while mortars with EP showed the highest flow diameter. In overall, among the investigated mortars, the lightweight mortar mixed by 30% GGBS as cement replacement with 50% EP as sand replacement presented the best combination as it had adequate fresh properties (flow = 232mm and water retention = 92%), achieved the targeted density (1460kg/m3) and strength (5.8MPa), lowest sorptivity (0.947mm.min-0.5), exhibited good sound absorption coefficient (α = 0.26 and NRC = 0.17) and high solar reflectance index (SRI = 0.63). Compared to conventional mortar, the mix is good for echo sound or noise absorption and imparts addition features such as solar heat or solar light reflection when applied as building material
Comparative evaluation of enamel surface roughness after minimally invasive treatment of white spot lesions: An in vitro study / I'udzuri Md Jazam
No full textObjective: To investigate the surface roughness of resin infiltrated proximal white
spot lesions (WSLs) with ICON® subjected to a pH cycling challenge and compare its
surface roughness with WSLs treated with that of Duraphat®. Materials and Methods:
Sixty extracted sound premolars were used in this in vitro study. Optical coherence
tomography (OCT) was used for baseline enamel readings and randomly divided into four
groups having fifteen specimens in each. Groups were assigned as: Sound (negative
control), Demineralised (positive control), ICON®, and Duraphat®. All specimens except
for the Sound group were subjected to an initial demineralisation in a solution containing
2.2mM calcium chloride, 2.2mM potassium meta-phosphate, and 50mM acetate buffer at
a pH of 4.5 for 7 days and enamel changes were confirmed using OCT. The Sound and
Demineralised groups acted as control while the other two groups were applied resin
infiltration (ICON®) and fluoride varnish (Duraphat®). All the specimens were measured
using a non-contact profilometer (3D Alicona) for baseline surface roughness (Ra) prior
to being subjected to a pH cycling regime for 7 days. Ra analysis was after pH cycling
was conducted and mean differences recorded. Results: Data were analysed with oneway
analysis of variance (ANOVA), and repeated measure ANOVA using SPSS (ver. 23)
at a=0.05. The Ra at baseline revealed significant differences across the group except for
the comparison of ICON® (0.314μm±0.004) to sound enamel (0.313μm±0.028). After pH
cycling the enamel surfaces treated with ICON® (0.422μm±0.004) were significantly
smoother than those treated with Duraphat® (0.583μm±0.003). After 7 days of acidic
challenge, ICON® exhibited the least change in Ra value (0.108μm). Conclusions: Within
the limitations of the study, the results showed that WSLs treated with ICON® showed
approximately the same surface roughness as sound enamel, suggesting suitability for the
treatment of WSL
Investigation of selected antibiotic residues in marine aquaculture wastewater / Thiang Ee Lean
No full textThe occurrence and distribution of sulfonamides, macrolides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, trimethoprim, lincomycin, carbadox and four resistance genes in bacteria (tet(M), sul1, sul2 and sul3) in surface waters collected from seven main aquaculture production states in Peninsular Malaysia were investigated. Among the analytes, tetracyclines, sulfonamides and fluoroquinolones were detected at 83%, 72% and 69% frequency, respectively. Twenty-three antibiotics were present in aquaculture farms at the concentration ranging from LOQ to 957685.1 ng/L and revealed a wide distribution of antibiotics in Malaysian aquaculture farms. Moreover, the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria for tet(M), sul1 and sul2 were detected in more than 90% of the sites, indicating their ubiquitous occurrence in Malaysian aquaculture farm. According to the calculated Risk Quotient, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin norfloxacin and lincomycin exceeded the value of 1, and posed a high ecological risk to the relevant aquatic microorganism in Kelantan, Perak Pahang and Johor Further assessment is needed to monitor the antibiotic residues in aquaculture systems to mitigate environmental antibiotic resistance and potential transmission to humans through the food chain
Lanthanoids and transition metals saturable absorber film for short pulse fiber laser generation at 1.0 and 1.55 micron Region / Mohamad Faizal Baharom
No full textAs pulsed laser technology has found expanding application in material processing, telecommunications, medical diagnostics and numerous other areas, the desire for inexpensive and robust laser sources has grown. Until recently, various passive saturable absorbers (SAs) have been introduced in developing Q-switched and mode-locked fiber lasers. However, tremendous research effort has been devoted to searching new alternative SA materials which accompany with high operation performance and simple SA fabrication method. This thesis proposed and demonstrated novel SA devices based on lanthanoid and metal oxides for developing various Q-switched and mode-locked fiber lasers operating at ~1 and 1.5 μm regions. New passive SAs based on three different materials: vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), lutetium oxide (Lu2O3) and nickel oxide (NiO) have been successfully fabricated and characterized in this work. V2O5 and NiO materials were embedded into polyethylene glycol (PEG) while Lu2O3 was embedded into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to compose a film absorber, which was then sandwiched between two fiber ferrule connectors with a fiber adapter to form a fiber compatible SA. The V2O5, Lu2O3 and NiO based SA has a modulation depth of 7 %, 10 % and 9%, respectively. Various Q-switched and mode-locked fiber lasers have been successfully demonstrated in both 1- and 1.5- micron regimes by using the newly developed SAs in both 1- and 1.5-micron regimes. For instance, a Q-switched YDFL operating at 1067.8 nm was demonstrated using the Lu2O3 SA. The laser generates a stable pulses train with a pump power range from 116 mW to 151 mW with the maximum repetition rate of 46.68 kHz, the shortest pulse width of 4.6 μs and the highest pulse energy of 128 nJ. A soliton mode-locked Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) operating at 1561.4 nm with a pulse width as short as 710 fs was also successfully realized using the NiO based SA by optimizing the cavity design to operate at anomalous cavity dispersion of -0.282 ps2
Rare-earth oxide materials for q-switched and mode-locked pulse generations / Nur Farhanah Zulkipli
Get PDFLaser devices are an integral part of the technological background of our modern society. Laser light cuts metals and plastics, transmits data over the fiber-optical cabling of internet, reads DVD disks and bar codes, etc. Many applications, such as breakdown spectroscopy, refractive eye surgery, and various time-resolved methods, rely on optical power that is delivered in short or ultrashort pulses. The bite of laser light on the matter is also greatly enhanced by pulsing. Q-switching is a method of producing pulsed laser light by periodically suppressing the optical feedback of a laser resonator. Mode_locking is a technique to produce a shorter pulse width by inducing a fixed-phase relationship between the longitudinal modes of the laser's resonant cavity. Both Q_switched and mode-locked pulses can be realized by a passive technique using a saturable absorber (SA) device. This thesis aims to develop new SA devices based on rare earth oxide (REO) materials. Six new REO materials; Neodymium Oxide (Nd2O3), Samarium Oxide (Sm2O3), Europium Oxide (Eu2O3), Gadolinium Oxide (Gd2O3), Scandium Oxide (Sc2O3) and Yttrium Oxide (Y2O3) have been successfully used to develop new SAs to function as pulse initiator in 1.55 µm region. The newly developed Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Sc2O3 and Y2O3 films have a modulation depth of 2.8 %, 33 %, 20 %, 10 %, 16 % and 38 %, respectively and thus suitable for use in Q-switching and mode-locking. For instance, a stable Q-switched operation was achieved by incorporating Eu2O3 film inside an Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) cavity. As the pumping power was increased from 84.0 mW to 125.0 mW, the repetition frequency increased from 60.1 kHz to 68.6 kHz and pulse width reduced from 4.5 µs to 3.6 µs respectively. The Q-switched EDFL was operating at the center wavelength of 1568 nm had a 162 nJ maximum pulse energy and 10.24% slope efficiency. Adding a 100 m SMF in the ring cavity initiated a self-starting mode-locked EDFL and the pulses remained stable within a range of 104.6 to 145.8 mW pump power. At the threshold pump power of 104.6 mW, the mode-locked EDFL operated at a central wavelength of 1565 nm with a repetition rate of 1.8 MHz and pulse width of 3.51 ps. It is found that Y2O3 SA based Q-switched EDFL produced the highest pulse energy of 177.77 nJ at repetition rate of 99.22 kHz when the pump power is fixed at 175.87 mW. In a mode_locked laser, the use of Sc2O3 SA provides the highest pulse energy and peak power of 30.65 nJ and 8.81 kW, respectively. The results show that the prepared REOs can be deployed as a SA for both Q-switching and mode-locking generations