Euphotic Depth Zone Variation in Peninsular Malaysia Maritime

This study is conducted in Peninsular Malaysia maritime to investigate the euphotic zone depth (Zeu) variation and the possible suspended matter that may contribute to the variation. The Zeu data were acquired from the MODIS Aqua satellite from November 2002 to September 2013. The result shows that the Zeu along the Malaysia maritime are highly seasonal-dependent. The lowest Zeu values are observed during the northeast monsoon season (NEMS) in the east coast Peninsular Malaysia and during the southwest monsoon season (SWMS) for the west coast area. Chlorophyll- a (Chl-a) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) are found to be the contributing factors for the coastal line and open water area. While, sediment only contributes to the area located along the coastal line where lower Zeu values are observed

A Comparison between Ratio and Gradient Technique in Discriminating Cirrus Clouds from Tropospheric Aerosols over Water in MODIS Data

This study aims to compare between ratio technique (RT) and gradient technique (GT) to distinguish cirrus cloud from tropospheric aerosol over water in MODIS data. Both techniques make use of 1.375 µm and 1.240 µm band and are applied to five different scenes. The outcomes from both techniques are compared using an error matrix in which revealing that the GT has a very high agreement with RT in distinguishing cirrus cloud from tropospheric aerosol in MODIS data

Effectiveness of teleworking using internet facilities (E-Teleworking)

Teleworking offers alternatives for people to work without concerning their geographical boundary or time zone. Work can be performed anywhere and anytime without restriction.Teleworking tends to be the trend in the world of business.However, in spite of its popularity, Malaysia is still lagging behind in its implementation.Telecommunication technology is the key factor in contributing to the successful implementation of teleworking.In order to carry out the task of teleworking,a variety of telecommunication facilities are available.However, nowadays, only one approach is considered effective that is using the Internet facilities (e-teleworking).The main objective of the research is to evaluate the effectiveness of e-teleworking. In depth literature review had been done in recognizing the traits of teleworking that can be implemented using Internet facilities.A prototype of e-teleworking had been developed as a tool in the evaluation phase. The findings had proven that Internet facilities are indeed one of the most effective alternatives in performing teleworking

Intensive care in severe malaria: report from the task force on tropical diseases by the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine

Severe malaria is common in tropical countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South and Central America. It may also occur in travelers returning from endemic areas. Plasmodium falciparum accounts for most cases, although P vivax is increasingly found to cause severe malaria in Asia. Cerebral malaria is common in children in Africa, manifests as coma and seizures, and has a high morbidity and mortality. In other regions, adults may also develop cerebral malaria but neurological sequelae in survivors are rare. Acute kidney injury, liver dysfunction, thrombocytopenia, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are also common in severe malaria. Metabolic abnormalities include hypoglycemia, hyponatremia and lactic acidosis. Bacterial infection may coexist in patients presenting with shock or ARDS and this along with a high parasite load has a high mortality. Intravenous artesunate has replaced quinine as the antimalarial agent of choice. Critical care management as per severe sepsis is also applicable to severe malaria. Aggressive fluid boluses may not be appropriate in children. Blood transfusions may be required and treatment of seizures and raised intracranial pressure is important in cerebral malaria in children. Mortality in severe disease ranges from 8 to 30% despite treatment

Sepsis in tropical regions: Report from the task force on tropical diseases by the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine

Sepsis and septic shock in the tropics are caused by a wide array of organisms. These infections are encountered mainly in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) where a lack of infrastructure and medical facilities contribute to the high morbidity and mortality. Published sepsis guidelines are based on studies primarily performed in high income countries and as such recommendations may or may not be relevant to practice in the tropics. Failure to adhere to guidelines, particularly among non-intensive care specialists even in high-income countries, is an area of concern for sepsis management. Additionally, inappropriate use of antimicrobials has led to significant antimicrobial resistance. Access to rapid, low-cost, and accurate diagnostic tests is critical in countries where tropical diseases are prevalent to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment. Implementation of performance improvement programs may improve outcomes for patients with sepsis and the addition of resuscitation and treatment bundles may further reduce mortality. Associated co-morbidities such as malnutrition and HIV influence outcomes and must be considered

Determination of permissible alcohol and vinegar in Shariah and scientific perspectives

The halal food production industry is gaining greater attention among Muslim and non-Muslim majority countries, particularly due to the increase of global market demand. One of the critical areas in issuing halal certified food is the determination of allowable alcohol content in food and drinks. The level of alcohol content has not standardized in several standards and fatwa of Islamic scholars. In Islam, the alcohol in several fruit products is produced through fermentation process such as takhammur (wine making) and takhallul (vinegar making). The fermentation process gives an impact to the status of the food products either permissible or prohibited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss on the determination of permissible alcohol and vinegar by fermentation process content in selected food products from Shariah and science perspectives. In doing so, the views of authentic of Islamic Law in this issue are supported by lab work approached. As a result, in the first phase there are three types of by products from takhammur, while two types of takhallul. All the products can be determine of the alcohol content and give an implication of the status either permissible (halal) or prohibited (haram). Hence, in juice considered as halal due to lower of alcohol content. While cider or alcoholic beverage is haram due to above alcohol level permitted which is above of the 1%. Besides, cider vinegar or vinegar is halal by the interpretation of hadith of permissible conversion from alcoholic to vinegar itself

Trends in paediatric speech audiometry: a scoping review

Speech tests are essential assessment tools of auditory abilities for both adults and children. A scoping review was conducted with the aim to explore possible changes in materials and methods of paediatric speech tests between 1980 and 2019. Thirty-eight articles were selected, and the extractions of information were made related to the name of the paediatric speech test, country of origin, year of publication, language used in the speech test, the target age range for the speech test, and the procedural parameters. Exploration of the articles provided insights into current trends of paediatric speech test applications that should be taken into careful consideration when developing a new speech test for children

Integrating ILS in dissolving palm fruit cellulose

Ionic liquids (ILs) are introduced to improve the production of palm oil in industry in order to extract more thus lowering the oil losses. The main objective of this study is to investigate the potential of sulfate-based ILs in dissolving palm fruit cellulose. The interpretation study was done in lab scale by dissolving cellulose (that directly extracted from palm fruit) in ILs and percentage of cellulose dissolved is calculated based on weight percentage dissolved. The highest average percentage dissolving of cellulose was 10.67 wt% with condition concentration of sulfate-based ILs is 9000 ppm and the mixing time was two hours. In a nutshell, the higher concentration of ILs and more mixing time will achieve higher percentage of cellulose dissolved

Potential of oil palm trunk starch as flocculant for contaminant of emerging compound removal

In this preliminary study, a natural flocculant is developed from an oil palm trunk. The flocculant further tested for its ability in turbidity and COD removal with additional of atrazine in wastewater and demineralised water matrix. At the optimum dosage of 20mg/L, the developed cationic OPT starch able to remove around 95% turbidity and 85% COD. In addition, the cationic OPT starch also show the ability to remove spiked atrazine from both water matrixes to the maximum range of 55-85%. In conclusion, the developed oil-palm based flocculant show great potential for real-world application with added cost-effective benefits

Effect of GeCl4/SiCl4 flow ratio on germanium incorporation in MCVD process

Germanium and Silica co-deposition in MCVD process is studied with varying the flow ratio of GeCl4/SiCl4 at high temperature without phosphorus. The range of ratio is from 0.1 to 0.6 with temperature deposition 2100°C. The incorporation of germanium in silica matrix is deduced from the EPMA SEM-EDX. The experimental result is compared to theory such as thickness deposited layer and mole fraction of germanium in silica