The Economic Burden of Candidemia and Invasive Candidiasis: A Systematic Review

Background: Candidemia or invasive candidiasis (IC) is an increasingly common fungal infection and has been associated with high mortality, particularly among the immunocompromised and critically ill. Although several studies have been conducted to estimate the cost of managing candidemia and IC, quality assessment on the methodological aspects of these cost studies was not performed. To date, no systematic review focusing on the economic burden of candidemia and IC has ever been conducted. Objectives: The aim of this study was to systematically review the available evidence on the economic burden of candidemia and IC worldwide. Methods: Databases (ie, PubMed, Scopus, EconLit, HEORO, and Ovid/Embase) were searched through June 2018. Two researchers independently assessed the quality of the eligible studies. Costs reported in the included studies were converted to 2016 USD using Campbell and Cochrane Economics Methods Group-the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information (CCEMG–EPPI)-Centre Cost Converter software. Results: Eight articles were included in this systematic review. The mean total cost per patient with candidemia and IC ranged from $48 487 to$157 574, whereas the mean cost per hospitalization associated with candidemia and IC was from $10 216 to$37 715. All studies were from developed Western countries and reported only direct costs of candidemia and IC. Hospitalization was the main cost driver, contributing to more than half of the total costs. Conclusion: Quality cost studies on candidemia and IC based on standardized methods to provide informed decision making among healthcare authorities in implementing appropriate strategies is anticipated, in particular in developing countries. © 2019 ISPOR--The professional society for health economics and outcomes researc

Usability Elements in Digital Textbook Development: A Systematic Review

The growth of digital technology triggers a new wave to the development of new media alternative including digital textbook. A variety of digital textbook formats and the content is easily transportable cross media can lead to complexity of user expectations. Considering usability elements is one of the critical successful factors to ensure the digital textbook meets the user expectation. Despite, overwhelming research and standards pertaining usability, there is still a lack of efforts to systematically review the concept of usability elements in the digital textbook development context. The research seeks at addressing this gap by evaluating the current literature on the notion of usability components regarded in digital textbook development. A systematic analysis of the Scopus and Web of Science databases acknowledged 17 related studies from 213 journal articles, guided by the evaluation method of the PRISMA Statement (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis). Further review of these articles resulted 17 usability factors have been identified. These usability factors further produced a total of 49 usability properties. The review provides a better understanding of usability factors and criteria that need to be considered in the development of digital textbook and shows that usability elements is crucial for improving the digital textbook quality. In addition, this research provides a basis for the future research in usability elements of digital textbook. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Impact of bypass diode forward voltage on maximum power of a photovoltaic system under partial shading conditions

The maximum power of a photovoltaic system can reduce significantly under partial shading conditions. Bypass diodes can be used in photovoltaic systems to bypass the shaded photovoltaic modules during partial shading. The bypass diode possesses a forward voltage that introduces a voltage drop in the photovoltaic system upon activation. Therefore, the maximum power of a photovoltaic system can reduce further during partial shading due to the forward voltage of the bypass diode. This paper presents an investigation into the effect of bypass diode forward voltage on the maximum power of a photovoltaic system under partial shading conditions. The results indicated that the forward voltage of the bypass diode did not necessarily decrease the maximum power of the photovoltaic system. This depends on whether the maximum power is delivered at a lower or higher voltage. When the maximum power is delivered at a higher voltage, it is insusceptible to the forward voltage. Conversely, when the maximum power is delivered at a lower voltage, it is susceptible to the forward voltage. In the worst-case scenario, the forward voltage of the bypass diode reduced the maximum power of the photovoltaic system by 16.48%, which was already subject to partial shading loss. © 2019 Elsevier Lt

“The Malay Garden” is “The Malaysian Garden (MGC)”: The Reality and Challenges of Establishing a National Identity

The Malaysian Garden Concept (MGC) is an initiative by the National Landscape Department (NLD) to develop a garden concept that will one day achieve its fame, as the garden concepts are well known today. A comparative study was to determine the level of MGC criteria applies to public parks built by the NLD. The selected case studies were from a public park built after the MGC guidelines established in 2009 (n = 6). 5 MGC experts were interviewed in this study to confirm the issues raised. For the record, planning to create these guidelines took a long time and involved various parties associated with the profession of Landscape Architect. The methodology of the study using observation and interview techniques (selected through criterion sampling method). From the research conducted, researchers have found that the level of compliance with the MGC guidelines is worrisome, and possibly no effort to uphold this concept by the responsible party. There are 3 criteria that hard to be implemented by most of these public parks are Architectural structure & local elements; Culture & Heritage; and High Intrinsic Value. This research has shown that it is not easy to apply a "heritage & culture" principles in landscape design, especially to a multiracial and multicultural country like Malaysia. © 2020, Hampstead Psychological Associates. All rights reserved

Satisfaction evaluation model of high-level athletes management system in universities of Sichuan Province of China [Model evaluasi kepuasan sistem manajemen atlet tingkat tinggi di universitas Provinsi Sichuan Cina]

The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire to measure satisfaction levels of Sichuan Province high-level athletes with their management systems using field investigation and mathematical statistics. Through the process of sorting and analyzing existing literature and in combination with the results of expert interviews, an ‘initial questionnaire’ consisting of 58 items and 6 dimensions was formed. As first steps, content validity and face validity of the questionnaire were tested. Then, SPSS 24 and Smart PLS 3 were used to carry out exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) respectively. After the unqualified items were deleted, a formal questionnaire comprising 49 items and 6 dimensions was ultimately formed. Reliability and validity tests demonstrated that the questionnaire had good internal consistency reliability and structural validity. By analyzing the structural model, it is found that the model has good prediction accuracy and prediction relevance, and the model fit is also good. Therefore, the evaluation model constructed in this study could be used as a tool for surveying satisfaction levels of Sichuan Province high-level athletes with their university management systems. © 2020, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta State University). All rights reserved

Sentiment analysis approach towards public opinion on sensitive issues via social media: A way of crisis management control

Online media is one of the tools of public opinion formation where social media users immediately express their thoughts and perception towards an issue. The process of public opinion formation is described from the start of one's perception, and it depends on the cultural background, past experiences and values. These factors determined one's supporting or opposing an issue. The main objective of this study is to determine the correlations between sensitive issues with negative sentiment builds up among the public. This quantitative content analysis study investigated the influence and relevance of information sources on the distribution of public opinion. There were 4 parameters measured as independent variables, mainly independent sources, conventional sources to the dependent variable, public opinion. The monitoring bodies and regulators utilise the research results in handling sensitive issues in Malaysia. © 2020 Primrose Hall Publishing Group

Non-monophyly and cryptic lineages between two morphoforms of Megalurothrips usitatus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in Peninsular Malaysia: Insights from morphological and molecular data

The DNA barcode data revealed two lineages of M. usitatus. Lineage I, consisted of the typical M. usitatus morphoform ‘a’ from the field collected and laboratory reared specimens, and the reference sequences from the GenBank whereas Lineage II consisted of both M. usitatus morphoforms ‘a’ and ‘b’ from the field collected specimens. The interspecific distances between both lineages ranged from 8.78 to 9.63%, suggesting the presence of cryptic and non-monophyly lineages between two morphoforms of M. usitatus in Peninsular Malaysia. © 2020 Korean Society of Applied Entomolog

Isolation and functional characterization of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate synthase gene from glyphosate-tolerant Pseudomonas nitroreducens strains FY43 and FY47

5-Enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) is the primary target for the broad-spectrum herbicide, glyphosate. Improvement of EPSPS gene for high level of glyphosate tolerance is important to generate glyphosate-tolerant crops. In this study, we report the isolation and characterization of EPSPS genes of glyphosate-tolerant Pseudomonas nitroreducens strains FY43 and FY47. Both P. nitroreducens strains FY43 and FY47, which showed glyphosate tolerance up to 8.768% (518.4 mM, 32 × higher than field application), were isolated from soil samples collected from oil palm plantation with a long history of glyphosate application. The glyphosate tolerance property of EPSPS genes of strains FY43 and FY47 was functionally characterized by expressing the genes in Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3). Error-prone PCR was performed to mutagenize native EPSPS gene of strains FY43 and FY47. Ten mutagenized EPSPS with amino acid changes (R21C, N265S, A329T, P71L, T258A, L184F, G292C, G292S, L35F and A242V) were generated through error-prone PCR. Both native and mutated EPSPS genes of strains FY43 and FY47 were introduced into Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3) and transformants were selected on basal salt medium supplemented with 8.768% (518.4 mM) glyphosate. Mutants with mutations (R21C, N265S, A329T, P71L, T258A, L35F, A242V, L184F and G292C) showed sensitivity to 8.768% glyphosate, whereas glyphosate tolerance for mutant with G292S mutation was not affected by the mutation. © 2020, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology

Impact of non-surgical periodontal therapy on serum Resistin and periodontal pathogen in periodontitis patients with obesity

Background Non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) known as gold standard treatment in managing periodontitis. The aim of this study was to investigate the response of NSPT in periodontitis subjects who were obese. Clinical parameters of periodontitis, changes in serum resistin and periodontal pathogens in subgingival plaque were compared before and after NSPT in periodontitis subjects who were obese and with normal weight. Methods A total of 48 periodontitis subjects (obese, n = 18; normal weight, n = 30) were recruited (hereafter will be referred as participants) to participate into a prospective, before and after clinical trial. Obesity status is defined by body mass index (BMI) criteria (obese: >= 30 kg/ m(2); normal weight < 25 kg/m(2)). Visible Plaque Index (VPI), Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI), Probing Pocket Depth (PPD) and Clinical Attachment Loss (CAL) were recorded; and serum and plaque were collected at baseline and following 12 weeks post-NSPT. Serum resistin level was analyzed using enzyme-linked immune-sorbant assay (ELISA), while detection of periodontal pathogens in dental plaque were carried out using real time PCR (qPCR). Results Following NSPT, means VPI and GBI showed significant improvement between obese and normal weight groups (p < 0.05), but no difference in means PPD and CAL was observed between groups. Obesity remained as a predictor for VPI and GBI after adjusting for smoking habit. No significant difference was observed in serum resistin level and mean counts for P. gingivalis, T. forsythia, and P. intermedia between obese and normal weight groups following NSPT. Conclusions Regardless of obesity status, NSPT has a significant impact on VPI and GBI in periodontitis subjects. However, the impact of NSPT towards serum resistin and periodontal pathogens was non-significant in those with periodontitis

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of University Students towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This study was performed to determine the awareness level of University of Malaya students towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A set of survey questionnaires based on knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) was distributed among all the students of University of Malaya and 382 responses were obtained to analyze the awareness level (95% confidence level with ±5% margin of error). Data analysis was performed SPSS Statistics version 20. Descriptive statistics showed that the respondents have high knowledge with a positive attitude towards SDGs. Spearman’s rho coefficient correlation was applied to determine the relationships between variables (knowledge with practice and attitude with practice). The results revealed a weak negative correlation between the knowledge and practice towards SDGs (r = -.264, N = 382, p = .00). However, there is a strong positive correlation between the attitude and practice towards SDGs (r = .440, n = 382, p =. 00)