281 research outputs found
Sense Making of the Congruence of Comprehension between Two Listeners of the Speech on "Budi Sejahtera Leadership"
No full textYusof Ismail
Dzuljastri Abdul Razak
Suhaimi Mhd Sarif
Receiving information from indirect sources is common in daily lives. This may be due to the time constraint, giving priority to one’s current engagement, physical distance, mandatory non-face-to-face communication, and other factors. In fact, most of an individual’s time is spent on processing indirect information whether one deals with his office work or family matters. This chapter shows the extent of congruence that is identified by a co-author based on the description of the other two co-authors who attended the talk on the topic of “Budi,” “Sejahtera,” and “Leadership.” The lead author created and sent an attachment that contains a combination of dichotomous and open-ended questions related to the three-terminology theme to the other co-authors for their independent views. He analyzed their textual opinions and produced his analysis of the converging and diverging themes based on the opinions provided. This case study helps people become aware of the varying amount and depth of information acquired by listeners to a public lecture, moreover via online platform rather than among the audience of a lecture in a hall. In this case, only two listeners are involved, making content analysis easy.
Keywords: Budi, Communication, Comprehension, Information, Islam, Listening, Malay, Sejahtera
Personalised Therapy Based on Immunopathogenesis to Improve Outcome of At-Risk and Established Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
No full textBackground: Pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is thought to be closely related to B-cell dysfunction, and accordingly this is the usual target for therapies. However, non-B-cell mechanisms such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interferons may also be important in the onset as well as established disease.
Objectives: (i) To assess biomarkers of progression from At-Risk (ANA-positive but limited symptoms) to connective tissue disease (AI-CTD); (ii) to identify predictors of non-response and serious infections with rituximab; and (iii) to assess new therapies to overcome rituximab deficiency with respect to anti-rituximab antibodies and B-cell-independent inflammation in discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE).
Methods: Prospective observational studies were conducted in (i) At-Risk of AI-CTD and (ii) SLE patients treated with rituximab. Patients with anti-rituximab antibodies were treated with alternative humanised anti-CD20 agents. (iii) A single arm, phase II open label trial of intra-dermal injection of etanercept for remission induction in DLE (TARGET-DLE) was undertaken.
Results: (i) Higher IFN-Score-B and a family history of autoimmune rheumatic diseases at baseline were predictive of progression from At-Risk to AI-CTD. (ii) B-cell depletion at 6 weeks post-rituximab was predictive of major response to rituximab and was not associated with increased serious infection post-therapy in SLE. During repeat rituximab cycles, 12% of SLE patients lost depletion, which was attributed to anti-rituximab antibodies. These patients were switched to humanised agents, and all depleted and responded. (iii) For TARGET-DLE, the primary and most of the key secondary endpoints were met. Therapy was tolerable without inducing systemic autoimmunity.
Conclusion: In this thesis, a personalised approach to treatment based on immunopathogenesis in At-Risk and established SLE led to better outcomes for patients. The predictive values of the biomarkers presented may allow stratification of patients for disease progression. While results from the use of novel therapies presented support further development in multi-centre trials
Corrigendum: Embedded remote group environment through modification in MACBETH - an application of contractor’s selection in construction
No full textAli Raza Khoso, Aminah Md Yusof, Zhen-Song Chen, Xian-Jia Wang, Mirosław J. Skibniewski, Nafees Ahmed Memon, authors of the article “Embedded remote group environment through modification in MACBETH – an application of contractor’s selection in construction”, published in Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 27(8), 595–616, https://doi.org/10.3846/jcem.2021.15763 inform that several errors occur in affiliations. The correct affiliation of the first author Ali Raza Khoso should be 1) Department of Structure and Materials, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia and 2) Department of Civil Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan. The correct affiliation of the second author Aminah Md Yusof should be 1) Department of Structure and Materials, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
The authors regret this error and would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused
Occlusal considerations and multidisciplinary approach in the rehabilitation of generalised tooth surface loss / Eleena Mohd Yusof
No full textTooth wear is prevalent in the society and often-time affects an individual’s daily life. This case demonstrates the management of non-carious tooth surface loss with loss of occlusal vertical dimension using multidisciplinary approach involving periodontics, endodontics and prosthodontics. The tooth surface loss was graded moderate to severe anteriorly and affecting the patient’s overall appearance and selfconfidence. Rehabilitation of this case involves restoring the anterior teeth at an increased occlusal vertical dimension, using reorganised approach and allowing relative axial tooth movement posteriorly. Clinical Relevance: The author believes the understanding of available conservative treatment options, occlusion concepts, proper material handling and satisfactory communication with other disciplines and the laboratory aid a clinician in achieving the best treatment outcome and better patient satisfaction
Challenges in the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus
No full textSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a lifelong, complex, multi-system, autoimmune condition which can occur at any age, most commonly in female adults in their reproductive years. Diagnosis is often delayed, with reported time from symptom onset to diagnosis as long as 6 years. Delayed diagnosis can result in irreversible organ damage, acute hospital admission, poor health-related outcomes and increased risk of mortality. SLE is a clinical diagnosis that requires a combination of clinical and immunological features attributable to lupus. Classification criteria have undergone several revisions and can be used to guide diagnosis. This article will review challenges in making a timely diagnosis of SLE, including heterogeneity of clinical and immunological features, disease mimickers, problems with diagnostic tests, and difficulties faced by general physicians and rheumatologists, with the aim to update knowledge among general physicians on clinical presentations and when to refer suspected patients to specialists
Ultrasound to identify systemic lupus erythematosus patients with musculoskeletal symptoms who respond best to therapy: the US Evaluation For mUsculoskeletal Lupus longitudinal multicentre study
No full textObjectives:
To determine whether SLE patients with inflammatory joint symptoms and US synovitis/tenosyovitis achieve better clinical responses to glucocorticoids compared with patients with normal scans. Secondary objectives included identification of clinical features predicting US synovitis/tenosynovitis.
Methods:
In a longitudinal multicentre study, SLE patients with physician-diagnosed inflammatory joint pain received intramuscular methylprednisolone 120 mg once. Clinical assessments, patient-reported outcomes and bilateral hand/wrist USs were collected at 0, 2 and 6 weeks. The primary outcome (determined via internal pilot) was the early morning stiffness visual analogue scale (EMS-VAS) at 2 weeks, adjusted for baseline, comparing patients with positive (greyscale ≥2 and/or power Doppler ≥1) and negative US. Post hoc analyses excluded FM.
Results:
Of 133 patients, 78 had a positive US. Only 53 (68%) of these had one or more swollen joint. Of 66 patients with one or more swollen joint, 20% had a negative US. A positive US was associated with joint swelling, symmetrical small joint distribution and serology. The primary endpoint was not met: in the full analysis set (N = 133) there was no difference in baseline-adjusted EMS-VAS at week 2 [−7.7 mm (95% CI −19.0, 3.5); P = 0.178]. After excluding 32 patients with FM, response was significantly better in patients with a positive US at baseline [baseline-adjusted EMS-VAS at 2 weeks −12.1 mm (95% CI −22.2, −0.1); P = 0.049]. This difference was greater when adjusted for treatment [−12.8 mm (95% CI −22, −3); P = 0.007]. BILAG and SLEDAI responses were higher in US-positive patients.
Conclusion:
In SLE patients without FM, those with a positive US had a better clinical response to therapy. Imaging-detected synovitis/tenosynovitis may be considered to decide on therapy and enrich clinical trials
Gamma (γ) irradiated and non-irradiated poly (L-lactide) carboxymethyl starch composite film
No full textTextual narrative and visual imagery themes portrayal in Isis's Rumiyah magazine issue 1 / Rabiatul Kamsina Md Yusof and Mokhtar Muhammad
No full textISIS is one of the top extremist radical terrorist group in today’s era. Their extreme action of jihad and radical Islamic fundamentalist ideology attract many believers to follow their path. The number of their followers shows a significant increasing of number recruited from many countries has threatened the global community. The results of this study would provide insights into the propaganda tools use by ISIS as their strategic psychological warfare to attract potential followers through their online digital magazine, titled ‘Rumiyah’. This study observed and analysed the common textual narratives and visual imagery theme use by ISIS in their first Rumiyah issue. The content analysis of descriptive qualitative approach were used to analyse the data. The research is divided in two parts of analysis which is, Textual Narrative Analysis and Visual Imagery Analysis. The coding theme was used as a guideline in collecting the data. In textual narrative analysis, the result shows that ISIS use 66 times Quran verses, with total 29 different Surah. Besides, 3 new basic theme were developed and 40 sub-themes were identified. In the other side, under visual imagery analysis, the result shows that the total 33 different types of images from Rumiyah has atleast one themes match with the basic theme. The result also shows that all common themes used by the author has a negative tonality and tend to have a favourable toneorientation towards ISIS. Thus, this study shows that content in Rumiyah online magazine is dangerous to be read alone because it will affect one’s own faith towards Islamic religion. This magazine use a strategic psychological warfare of propaganda element by manipulating the textual narrative and visual imagery content to disseminate their ideology, inflict fear, influence their targeted audience and to recruits potential followers
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