Impact of information sources on the knowledge of adolescents about hepatitis B

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of various sources of information on school going adolescents (belonging to higher social strata between ages 14-19 years) regarding Hepatitis B; its various types, importance, symptoms and cures.METHODS: A self-administered survey was conducted among the secondary school students (9-12 grades) of a private school for this purpose.RESULTS: A total of 160 students were approached from which 158 (98%) agreed to take part in the survey. Overall 98% students claimed to know something about Hepatitis B. But only 52% of all had comprehensive and correct knowledge about symptoms, causes and measures for prevention of Hepatitis B. Their major sources of knowledge were parents (57%) and television (56%) followed by newspapers and books (31%), doctors (30%) teachers and peers (29%).CONCLUSION: Only half of the adolescents had correct knowledge about Hepatitis B, which infers that an average person\u27s level of knowledge would have many misperceptions and myths. Television and parents are the most influential sources of imparting health education to adolescents. Thus it is imperative that these sources of knowledge strengthened to provide correct information to adolescents

Exploring Faculty Mindsets in Equity-Oriented Assessment

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant move to remote learning in 2020-2021 paved the way for deeper conversations about assessment practices in higher education. Over the last two years, there have been an increasing number of discussions about alternative assessments and about equity in assessment. This study examined the impact of a course (entitled “Equity in Assessment”) delivered by the authors on the participants’ understandings of equity and assessment. We used semi-structured interviews to collect data from the participants. Data collected from six interviews were systematically and thematically analysed in line with Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six stages of conducting thematic analyses. The data analysis resulted in three main emergent themes: flexibility, academic rigour, and wellness. The implications of the findings of this project are important for educational developers, institutional leadership, and researchers

THE ARTS OF SOCIAL REALITY (RE) CONSTRUCT INDIVIDUAL MINDSET OF POST-INDEPENDENCE COMMUNITY VIA HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY

Purpose of the study: The aim of this study is to analyse the meaning construction of the post-independence communities based on a historical documentary “Big Kitchen (1952)” which focuses on the literacy aspect of how an individual construe, implement and adapt technology in constructing meaning in line with the rapid development of the country. Methodology: A focus group discussion was conducted which involved twenty-one informants from an Institute of Higher Learning in Malaysia. The discussion focuses on how the post-independence communities collectively construct their institutional knowledge by linking these three main areas; literacy, meaning construction and technology based on the historical documentary which consequently reveals the social reality of the community. Main Findings: Findings revealed thatthere is a culture change (in Malaysia) due to migration, technological advancement, and rapid urbanization based on the meanings constructed by the post-independence communities. The combination of migration, technological development, and rapid urbanization have caused the informants to not be influenced by media materials that are shown but assess material based on the understanding and withholding long underlying themselves over the years. Applications of this study: Since the media and communication studies is an established academic discipline in today’s digital era, this study is beneficial in contributing to the development of mass media and communication field specifically in the area of media literacy/ broadcasting literacy as the study covers the art of scientific investigation of the media. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study justifies how media research and the technological shift in the media landscape affects the arts of social reality and the meaning construction of the post-independence communities in Malaysia via the “Big Kitchen (1952)” documentary. Findings revealed in this study contribute to the current debate of the current media issues, and to the development of mass media and communication field

Preparation, Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity Study of Some Transition Metal Complexes of 4-Flourophenyl -4-Nitrobenzylidene

A new Schiff base of 4- flourophenyl-4- nitrobenzyliden (L) ,was prepared and used to prepare a number of metal complexes with Cr (III) , Fe (III), Co(II) ,Ni (II) and Cu (II). These complexes were isolated and characterized by (FITR),UV-Vis spectroscopy and flame atomic absorption techniques in addition to magnetic susceptibility, and conductivity measurements. The study of the nature of the complexes formed in ethanol was done following the molar ratio method gave results, agreed with those obtained from isolated solid state studies. The antibacterial activity for the ligand and its metal complexes were examined against two selected microorganisms, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.The results indicated that the complexes show the enhanced activity in comparison to the free ligand; these were attributed to the synergetic effect between the metal ion and the ligand in addition to the difference in the structural varieties

Determination of the Position and the Area of any Spot Using Satellite Images

The position and the area of any spot can be determined in different modes and using satellite image is one of them. For this mode there are many applications like in determining the positions and the areas of the water pollution spots (the rivers, the streams, the marshes….etc.), the air pollution spots, for different agriculture lands ….etc. In this mode, the area of any spot on the satellite image can be determined by finding the planimetric (Grid) coordinates (x, y) for the periphery points of the spot using ERDAS Imagine Software Programme Ver. 9.2 if the satellite image is rectified , but if it isn’t a special method is used for the rectification of the satellite image then the positions and the areas can be determined

The evolution of Malaysian cartoon animation / Faryna Mohd Khalis...[et al.]

A cartoon can be defined as an unrealistic style of sketching and or funny figures that can make people laugh. Aside from entertainment purposes, cartoons are also used to send messages without a serious tone and indirectly telling something sarcastically. In April 2019, Malaysia was shocked by the headline that ‘Doraemon’ had been selected to represent the Japanese themed cartoon exhibition in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2020. Malaysian art activists, specifically those who has a cartoon animation background, were very upset and expressed their dissatisfaction with the news. Local legendary cartoonist Datuk Lat also showed his disappointment and made a stand that a local cartoon character should have been chosen to represent Malaysia. Therefore, this research aims to illustrate the development of Malaysian cartoons from when they first started in newspapers, until their existence today in the form of animation on digital platforms. In sequence, Malaysia produced cartoons in newspapers, magazines, blogs, television and cinema, whereby this is in parallel with the development of technology. From handdrawn art for ‘Usop Sontorian’ to digital animation for the film ‘Upin dan Ipin’, Malaysians should be more appreciative and proud of our local cartoons rather than those from other countries

Earliest triassic conodonts of Gua Panjang, Merapoh, Pahang and their bearing towards Permian-Triassic Mass extinction in Malaysia

A single sample from the logged section at eastern side of Gua Panjang limestone hill, southwest of Kampung Kubang Rasa Village, Merapoh, has yielded 5 very important conodont species. They are Hindeodus parvus erectus, Hindeodus parvus parvus, Hindeodus latidentatus latidentatus, Hindeodus latidentatus praeparvus, Hindeodus postparvus, Hindeodus eurypge and Isarcicella staeschi. These Early Triassic conodonts were obtained in a bioclastic dolostone sample, located 2.5 m above bioclastic grainstone which yielded Late Permian foraminifera. The conodonts found were given Conodont Alteration Index (CAI) scale of 5, consistent with the heating of Main Range granitoid during Indosinian Orogeny. Limestone harbouring basal Triassic conodonts in Gua Panjang is interpreted to be deposited in an open shallow marine shelf environment

DRANKULA: a McEliece-like rank metric based cryptosystem implementation

We present and analyze the performance of DRANKULA, a McEliece-like cryptosystem implementation using \textit{rank metric} instead of Hamming distance. Namely, we use the scheme proposed by Loidreau in PQCrypto 2017 using Gabidulin codes. We propose a set of carefully selected parameters and we address several non-trivial issues when porting this scheme into real-world systems as, for example, the generation of errors of a given rank. We provide the pseudo-code of the core algorithms of the cryptosystem. In addition, we also show code optimization when special instructions like Carry-less multiplications are available. Moreover, we argue how to have a practical and side-channel resistant version of the cryptosystem. We integrated the scheme in Open Quantum Safe and benchmarked it against the other schemes implemented there. Our results show that DRANKULA can be a practical alternative to other well-known quantum-safe schemes

A new process for the recovery of ammonia from ammoniated high-salinity brine

This paper describes a new method for the recovery of high-concentration ammonia from water in the form of ammonium chloride, ammonium hydroxide and ammonium carbonate. The method was applied to the Solvay process, in which sodium bicarbonate is produced through the reaction of ammoniated brine and CO2 gas. The Solvay effluent contains ammonia in the form of soluble ammonium chloride. The proposed method is based on the recovery of ammonia using a high-alkalinity reactant, calcium oxide (CaO), in a closed electrocoagulation cell operating at a specific current density. The recovered ammonia is collected as a gas within a closed cell containing deionized (DI) water at room temperature. Afterwards, the collected solution (DI water-NH3 gas) is concentrated through a separate process, and is then reused in the Solvay process and other applications. The electrocoagulation process is applied to the treatment cell using aluminum electrodes and a current density of 5-15 mA/cm2 . After 7 h of treatment using the electrocoagulation cell, a high reduction of the ammonia concentration-99%-was realized after ~9 h of the electrochemical treatment. The initial ammonia concentration in a Solvay effluent of 13,700 mg/L N was decreased to 190 mg/L N. Furthermore, an ammonia recovery of 77.1% in the form of ammonium hydroxide was achieved. Generally, this process, which starts at room temperature, can result in an energy reduction of 80%-from 7.8 to 2.3 kWh/kg NH3-compared to conventional processes, which entail heating the Solvay effluents to 160?C. The proposed system and method were found to be suitable for the recovery of ammonia from ammoniated water, and can be utilized for the treatment of landfill leachate, and municipal and industrial wastewater.Funding: This research was funded by United Arab Emirates University, grant number G00002622.Scopu

Nutritional Habits and Weight Status among Jazan University Students: Eating Patterns and Healthy lifestyle Assessment

Objectives The purposes of this study were to assess the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity and to evaluate the nutritional habits, and related factors among the Students of Jazan University. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out during the academic year 2014/2015 in Jazan University, Gizan, South West Saudi Arabia. A total of 436 students 19–25 y of age were examined. The questionnaires, including items on eating habits, lifestyle, and socio-demographic characteristics, were completed by the students. Data on weight, height were also collected.  The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Differences were considered statistically significant at P. value  < 0.05. Results The mean weight for males and females were 67.84 and 54.79 kg respectively, with significant differences between males and females (P. value <0.05). The mean BMI for all study participants was reported as 23.31 (kg/m²), also with significant difference between the males and females groups. About 45% of the students were of normal weight; the rate of obesity and underweight among students was very high (33.6% and 21.1% respectively), and their dietary habits were unhealthy. Regularity of meals was found only among (16.5% and 20.4%) males and females respectively. 83.3% of males and 95.1% of females reported eating snacks during the day. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that the prevalence of overweight and obesity were very high among the studied students. The study showed the need for health education programs on nutritional education in universities in order to increase awareness of students towards healthy eating and lifestyle. &nbsp