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A corpus-based sentiment analysis of COVID-19 vaccination news reports / Siti Nur Aina Mohd Hashim
No full textCOVID-19 is the world's most critical global health emergency at present and administering an effective vaccination program is crucial in keeping the pandemic under control. However, the mainstream views on COVID-19 vaccinations are rather divided. By using a corpus-based approach, this study intends to investigate how sentiments regarding COVID-19 vaccination are reflected in linguistic elements and how such sentiments change over time in a local online newspaper in Malaysia. Adopting a mixed method approach, this study employs NVivo and Wmatrix and the selected news articles will be carried out by descriptive analysis to gain insights into elements that constitute sentiments of COVID-19 vaccines. Furthermore, the linguistic elements are examined using discursive news value analysis (DNVA) in pursuance of the transition in sentiments between 2020 and 2022. Based on NVivo and Wmatrix results, the sentiment is negative as the words pertaining to vaccinations consist of more words with negative connotations compared to positive ones. The findings identified three themes in 2020 and eight themes in each of 2021 and 2022. The transition in vaccination sentiments was portrayed as positive from 2020 to negative in 2021 and neutral in 2022 as indicated by the amounts of themes. The limitation of this study is that the researcher only focuses on a limited time frame (the month of March in 2020, 2021 and 2022) and only indicates the sentiment at that certain period. This study is significant in providing insights into the public’s attitudes, underlying concerns and acceptance of the vaccines, which can be utilized to inform and improve vaccination policies
Validity and reliability of the adapted Malay version of the parenting and child toothbrushing assessment (M-PACTA) for children with attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder in a medical centre- A pilot study / Gowry Paramasivam
No full textAttention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) poses unique challenges for children
and their parents, impacting various aspects of daily life, including the establishment of
consistent oral hygiene practices. Given the complexity of managing ADHD-related
behaviours, effective assessment tools are needed to evaluate parental experiences and
child behaviours related to toothbrushing. This study aimed to assess the validity and
reliability of the M-PACTA in evaluating behaviours of children with ADHD, along with
parental strategies, knowledge, and attitudes regarding toothbrushing. The 77-item MPACTA
questionnaire was adapted to the context of children with ADHD through a twophase
process. Phase I focused on content and face validity, where five specialists from
various departments reviewed the questionnaire to ensure its relevance and clarity. This
was followed by cognitive debriefing with ten parents of children with ADHD to evaluate
the readability, formatting, and language clarity of the revised questionnaire. Phase II
encompassed comprehensive psychometric assessments, including detailed analyses of
construct validity and reliability. The study recruited 42 parents of children aged 6-12
years diagnosed with ADHD, who were receiving care at Departments of Paediatrics and
Psychiatry, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) from March to June 2024, using
universal sampling. Expert evaluation showed excellent content and face validity for
relevance and clarity, with CVI scores from 0.75 to 1.00 and Kappa values from 0.72 to
1.00, except for five items. One item was deleted due to low relevance, and four items
were modified for clarity based on experts' recommendations. Exploratory factor analysis
identified distinct factor structures for the four scales: Child Behaviour (two factors),
Parental Strategies (five factors), Parental Attitude (four factors), and Parental
Knowledge (two factors). Five items were dropped due to cross-loadings, negative
loadings, and no loadings. Reliability analysis showed moderate to strong internal
consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.616 to 0.938) and test-retest reliability (ICC values 0.657 to 0.957). The final questionnaire had 71 items, specifically tailored for ADHD children.
In conclusion, the adapted M-PACTA for children with ADHD demonstrated satisfactory
construct validity and reliability in assessing children's behaviours, parental strategies,
knowledge, and attitudes towards toothbrushing among children with ADHD at UMMC
Evaluation of submandibular gland involvement in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients / Preveena Balakrishnan
No full textBackground: The oncological necessity for the excision of the submandibular gland
(SMG) in neck dissection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) management remains
a debate. Although it is routinely excised in neck dissection, literature on the actual
indication for removal is limited. Aim: This study aims to analyse the frequency of SMG
involvement in OSCC patients and the impact of its removal on the survival status of
these patients. Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of SMG in OSCC patients and
to analyse the association between the involvement of SMG and the status of Ib lymph
node involvement. Next was to analyse the association between the overall survival (OS)
and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with OSCC and the involvement of SMG.
Methods: Retrospective data of patients diagnosed with OSCC between 2000 to 2020
and who underwent neck dissection were included and analysed. Descriptive studies were
used to analyse the prevalence. Pearson Chi-Square test was done to analyse the
association between SMG and level Ib lymph node. Kaplan-Meir and the log-rank test
were used for the survival analysis. Results: A total of 142 patients were included in this
study. The prevalence of SMG involvement was 3.52% (95% CI). There was no
statistically significant association between the SMG and level Ib lymph node status. The
5-year OS status in patients with SMG-positive and negative was 60% and 88.8%
respectively (p-value = 0.013). The 5-year DFS status for SMG-positive and negative was
80% and 95.8% (p-value < 0.001). The SMG status has a significant influence on the OS
and the DFS of patients with SMG involvement. Conclusions: The involvement of SMG
in OSCC cases is rare. The status of the level Ib lymph node does not significantly influence the SMG status. The status of SMG involvement in OSCC cases has significant
impact on the OS and DSF and is reason enough to explore the option of preserving the
SMG in selected cases. To learn more about the oncological safety and actual impact of
SMG preservation on quality of life, prospective research in the future is warranted
Had al-Kifayah mahasiswa pengajian tinggi di baitulmaal muamalat Indonesia / Nur Nafiah Hermanianto
No full textZakat for education is an alternative to ease the economical burden of higher education students. Therefore, this study has objective to propose the limit of ḥad al-kifāyah that is relevant specifically for the higher education students. In order to achieve the objective, paper study and field research are carried out. The results of the study show that all informants have a deficit expenditure from the amount of money given, but the amount of the deficit is various according to the place of residence during the study. Students who live in family houses are faced with a small deficit of expenditure compared to students who live in the following rental houses do not have to pay placement rent because they live with family. The results of this study provide recommendations for different ḥad al-kifāyah for students who live with their own family and students who live in rented houses. The proposed ḥad al-kifāyah consider several costs such as foods and drinks, education, transportation, healthcare and daily needs other than food which includes personal care and internet/communication cost. Additional consideration for students living in rented houses is residencial. The ḥad al-kifāyah value proposed in this study is a suggestion for student pocket money only. Meanwhile, student tuition fees continue to be paid to the university. As for the proposed amount of pocket money for students who live with their family, it is RM270 per month. While the proposed ḥad al-kifāyah value for students living in rented houses is RM405 per month. The method used to determine the proposed ḥad al-kifāyah value is the use of the median
Improvement of Pleurotus pulmonarius strain through backcrossing breeding method / Wong Yee Ting
No full textPleurotus pulmonarius (Fries) Quélet, commonly known as grey oyster mushroom, is one of the highly commercialised as edible oyster mushroom around the world. The growing market is demanding for new and improved P. pulmonarius hybrids with better yield and quality. The present study was carried out to generate backcrossed (BC1) hybrid of P. pulmonarius through backcrossing of F1 hybrid H4 with recurrent parent PL27 using conventional methods. The backcrossing was aimed to improve the productivity, yield quality and biological efficiency of hybrid with interested morphological traits from the parental strain of P. pulmonarius. A total of 14 fast-growing monokaryons from F1 hybrid H4 were backcrossed with 16 monokaryons isolated from recurrent parent PL27. As result, 67 BC1 hybrid combinations were compatible out of 188 crosses being carried out in this study, with a success rate of 35.6 %. Six BC1 hybrids were selected after evaluation of radial and linear growth study to conduct conventional cultivation method in polybags. Series of morphological measurements and analysis were conducted during cultivation. Four BC1 hybrid were selected for second cycle of cultivation to evaluate the stability of trait performance and heritability of BC1 hybrids. H4(46) X PL27(44) and H4(22) X PL27(43) were chosen as potential BC1 hybrids for successive backcrossing due to consistency in rapid growth potential, large basidiocarp size, high productivity, optimum biological efficiency, low contamination rate and high storage value
Combination of Ganoderma lucidum pellets and activated dolomite for decolourisation and cod removal of industrial textile wastewater in batch bioreactor / Afnan Ahmadi Zahuri
No full textThe revolutionary textile industry with the “fast fashion” trend is meeting the consumers’ demands in more affordable ways. Yet, this convenience arises at an extensive environmental cost, notably manifested through the issue of textile wastewater worldwide. Although Malaysia has established good technology in treating textile wastewater, the government and industry players are shifting towards more sustainable and greener efforts nowadays. In this study, utilising living Malaysian Ganoderma lucidum mycelial pellets and activated dolomite has explored the synergy between bioaccumulation and physisorption as an alternative for textile wastewater treatment. The adsorbents were produced and introduced into industrial textile wastewater to find the optimal treatment conditions. The morphology, adsorption characteristics, and antimicrobial activity of the adsorbents were studied. Both adsorbents are capable of removing colours and reducing chemical oxygen demand (COD) value by 77.8% and 75% within 48 hours, respectively. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to study the adsorption capability. Additionally, antimicrobial activities can be observed from mycelial pellets and activated dolomite. The synergetic treatment by Ganoderma lucidum mycelial pellets and activated dolomite has immense potential in future wastewater treatment technology to obtain cleaner water
Effects of burial depth on weedy rice seed longevity for sustainable weed management / Sharifah Nurnabilah Syed Bakar
No full textWeedy rice (Oryza spp.) poses a significant risk to rice production globally. Weedy rice has longer seed viability and dormancy compared to cultivated rice, allowing it to persist in the soil seedbank. However, the impact of burial depth and duration of burial on the viability of weedy rice seeds in Malaysia remains poorly understood. The purpose of this research was to examine the survival mechanisms of weedy rice seeds within the seedbank when subjected to various burial depth (5 cm and 25 cm), different durations of burial, and diverse weedy rice samples. Weedy rice seeds were collected from various locations in Peninsular Malaysia and their initial germination was assessed. These seeds were then buried at various depths and time intervals. The results showed that burial significantly reduced weedy rice seed germination, and seeds left on the soil surface had even lower viability. The germination rate declined progressively over time in the burial treatment. Interestingly, some weedy rice biotypes demonstrated the ability to survive in the seedbank for extended periods, up to five months, allowing them to persist and re-emerge in subsequent seasons. In contrast, non-dormant weedy rice seeds kept at room temperature exhibited consistent and high germination rates. The correlation analysis shows different patterns of seed longevity depending on the burial duration. These findings emphasize the importance of burial depth and time in shaping weedy rice seedbank dynamics, with potential implications for weed management strategies in rice agro-ecosystems
An exploratory study on the preference of the type of teacher for Master trainees in anaesthesiology at different training levels / Tan Wei Kai
No full textObjective
Postgraduate trainees in anaesthesiology require good clinical teachers to guide them on their path to become a safe anaesthetist. The purpose of this study is to have a comprehensive look at what constitutes a good clinical teacher in Anaesthesiology from the eyes of the trainees. We hypothesise that trainees from various training years may expect different characteristics from a clinical teacher to meet their learning needs.
Methodology
This study is carried out in two phases. In phase one, surveys in the form of questionnaires were conducted with all 158 registered students for Master of Anaesthesiology (Universiti Malaya), across different training years. The Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire (MCTQ) with its seven domains capturing various aspects of cognitive apprenticeship, is used as a template for the survey. Digital informed consent and participant data collection were performed via Google software. Respondents score each item on the questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale. In phase two, focus group discussions were conducted with four groups of five to eight students. The four groups are comprised of trainees from year one to year four respectively. Selection of participants is via convenience sampling and participation is voluntary. Interviews of the focus groups were recorded and transcribed and thematic analysis performed. Result A total of 158 invites were sent to all University Malaya master trainees in Anaesthesiology. One hundred and one respondents participated in the questionnaire survey, yielding a response rate of 63.92%. Items “Created a safe learning environment”, “Helped student understand which aspects he needed to improve” and “Showed student respect” receive high score of >4.5 from respondents. “General Learning Climate” and “Scaffolding” domains were highly rated by trainees across all four training years. The domain “exploration” was considered less important for exam-year trainees. In the focus group discussion, we found that “modelling”, “coaching” and “scaffolding”, and “articulation” are useful methods in anaesthesiology education, but senior trainees prefer teaching that is more clinical focused. Themes regarding the need of a positive learning environment appear multiple times during the focus group discussion, cementing its importance from the viewpoint of the trainees.
Conclusion
Creating a safe, non-toxic, learning environment for trainees to become gradually proficient in anaesthesiology is crucial from the master trainees’ perspective
Machine learning on electrophysiological encoding deficits in hearing speech perception / Abdul Rauf Abu Bakar
No full textHearing functionality is a crucial necessity for individuals to engage in social communication and interaction with others. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), also known as auditory neuronal abnormalities, occurs when there is any variation from the normal structure and physiological function of the inner auditory system. To objectively evaluate electroencephalography (EEG) signals, the researchers concentrated on exploiting these electrophysiological behavioural responses from the brain's evoked activity, known as cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP), to investigate the processes of speech identification and categorization of perceived auditory inputs due to the reported decline in speech perception among people with disabilities. The behavioural of CAEP responses in the time-frequency domain would leverage interaction between cognitive processes and auditory perception, including malfunction situations. With the emergence of machine learning techniques in the healthcare sector, promising features through data-driven architecture hold potential for accurate prediction of current data and future outcomes besides eliminating the need for conventionally trained healthcare professionals to intervene in clinical settings. This study aims to develop robust machine learning classifiers using brain-evoked activity at multimodal perceived auditory stimulus for auditory assessment. The processing of encoding deficits in people with hearing loss through the relationship of auditory stimulus, electrophysiological response, and spectral modality from multimodal auditory representations were addressed for discriminability prior to the learning stage by classifiers. The behavioural analysis from two separated source data (electrode-based data responses and wholedata-based responses) were submitted as features in developing five models systematically using Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN), Decision Tree (DT), Naïve Bayes (NB) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) with two validation strategies, i.e. K-Folds Cross-Validation (KFCV) and leave-one-participant-out cross-validation (LOPOCV). Subsequently, testing data of interest applied to evaluate the formulated performance metrics throughout the classification task between normal and disability at distinctive auditory stimulus. The results showed that both data-based responses produced satisfactory to excellent classification performance with accuracy ranging from 57% to 100% (averaged at 88.73%) and from 54% to 99.8% (averaged at 83.31%) respectively. It is indicated that KNN and SVM classifiers presented their robustness when achieving outstanding classification performance of higher than 97% and 93% respectively across all conditions, compared to other alternatives. DT would be the next best-performing model with accuracy higher than 82%. LDA reported as the most underperforming classifier. For instant at implementation of LOPOCV technique, which excludes participants who have not been previously used in the classifier's training data, results in a fall in accuracy ranging from 0.3% to 3.0% compared to KFCV. The classification accuracy reported to show discrepancies when discriminating voicing contrast stimulus compared to other types of auditory stimulus between 0.5% to 14%. This scenario underscores the remarkable capability of machine learning classification to effectively differentiate difficult stimulus presented at elevated levels of cognitive processing. Collectively, ongoing endeavours support crucial advancements in converting exceptional classification models into practical applications, using their distinct computational attributes. The proposed methodologies are crucial for clinicians when evaluating larger populations with varying degrees of hearing impairment to promptly diagnose and develop treatment plans via automatic operation
Pembinaan dan penilaian modul latihan sebutan Nabr dan Tanghīm berdasarkan dokumen standard kurikulum dan pentaksiran Bahasa Arab Tingkatan Satu / Ahmad Fared Mohd Din
No full textKajian ini bertujuan untuk membina dan menilai kebolehgunaan modul latihan sebutan nabr dan tanghīm berdasarkan Dokumen Standard Kurikulum dan Pentaksiran Bahasa Arab Tingkatan Satu. Tujuan modul ini dibina adalah untuk melatih pelajar tingkatan satu di sekolah menengah agama di negeri Pahang menyebut dan menggunakan perkataan serta ayat secara lisan dengan nabr dan tanghīm yang betul. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kajian kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Proses pembinaan modul berdasarkan model ADDIE, Model SIM dan Dokumen Standard Kurikulum dan Pentaksiran Bahasa Arab Tingkatan Satu. Pada fasa analisis, kaedah yang digunakan adalah ujian diagnostik kemahiran sebutan ke atas 140 orang sampel di dua buah sekolah menengah agama negeri di dalam daerah Pekan, Pahang, kaedah pemerhatian ke atas pengajaran 3 orang guru subjek bahasa Arab, sorotan literatur dan semakan dokumen. Dapatan fasa analisis kemudiannya digunakan dalam fasa reka bentuk sebagai kerangka dalam membangunkan modul. Prototaip modul yang telah dibina diberikan kepada enam orang pakar bidang untuk disahkan. Nilai kesahan modul adalah tinggi iaitu 86%. Seterusnya, fasa pelaksanaan modul dilaksanakan melalui perbengkelan penggunaan modul oleh guru pakar bahasa Arab seramai 45 orang. Modul diuji kebolehgunaannya di dalam fasa penilaian melalui soal selidik kebolehgunaan modul yang ditadbir ke atas guru pakar bahasa Arab setelah tamat sesi perbengkelan. Dapatan menunjukkan modul yang dibina mempunyai kebolehgunaan yang tinggi. Aspek keberkesanan dalam pengujian kebolehgunaan modul juga dinilai menggunakan kaedah ujian pra dan pasca ke atas 40 orang peserta kajian yang mengikuti sesi pembelajaran menggunakan modul. Dapatan ujian pra dan pasca sebutan nabr dan tanghīm menunjukkan bahawa terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan dari segi skor markah yang diperoleh peserta kajian sebelum dan selepas sesi latihan sebutan menggunakan modul. Data pemerhatian menunjukkan pelajar teruja, gembira dan berpuas hati dengan aktiviti-aktiviti latihan sebutan sebagaimana yang terdapat di dalam modul. Kesimpulannya, kajian ini telah dapat menghasilkan modul latihan sebutan nabr dan tanghīm yang mempunyai tahap kebolehgunaan yang tinggi dan menepati aspek keberkesanan, kecekapan dan kepuasan pengguna. Modul ini juga berpotensi digunakan untuk melatih pelajar dalam pelbagai peringkat pengajian