Web-based learning environment based on students’ needs

Traditional learning needs to be improved since it does not involve active learning among students. Therefore, in the twenty-first century, the development of internet technology in the learning environment has become the main needs of each student. One of the learning environments to meet the needs of the teaching and learning process is a web-based learning environment. This study aims to identify the characteristics of a webbased learning environment that supports students’ learning needs. The study involved 542 students from fifteen faculties in a public higher education institution in Malaysia. A quantitative method was used to collect the data via a questionnaire survey by randomly. The findings indicate that the characteristics of a web-based learning environment that support students’ needs in the process of learning are online discussion forum, lecture notes, assignments, portfolio, and chat. In conclusion, the students overwhelmingly agreed that online discussion forum is the highest requirement because the tool can provide a space for students and teachers to share knowledge and experiences related to teaching and learning

Food Safety Knowledge and Practice Among Community in Sg. Pelek, Sepang, Selangor Darul Ehsan

Food safety is a basic requirement of food quality. It is an increasingly important public health issue to prevent and control food borne illnesses. A cross-sectional study was designed to determine level of knowledge and practice on food safety, to determine the association between knowledge and practice, and also to identify the association between socio-demographic factors and practice score of the population studied. This study was conducted among adult population in Taman Bahagia, Sungai Pelek, Sepang, Selangor Darul Ehsan. Data were collected using an interviewed structured questionnaire. A stratified random sampling was performed to obtain houses, followed by simple random sampling to select sample in the house. A total of 115 data sets were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Analysis showed that 35% of respondents have poor level of knowledge on food safety, whereas 27% of the respondents have poor level of practices on food safety. Multiple linear regression revealed that there are a significant association between education level (p<0.001), Adj b=2.57 (95% CI: 1.15, 3.99) and gender (p=0.048), Adj b=1.15 (95% CI: 0.01, 2.29) with practice score on food safety. Therefore, health promotion and education on the importance of practicing food safety at home should be focused to prevent further unwanted health effects

Exact String-like Solutions of the Gauged Nonlinear O(3) Model

We show that the least energy conditions in the gauged nonlinear sigma model with Chern-Simons term lead to exact soliton-like solutions which have the same features as domain walls. We will derive and discuss the corresponding solutions, and compute the total energy, charge, and spin of the resulting system.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Can raisins ameliorate the hypercholesterolaemia-induced cardiac affection?

Raisins were investigated for their protective role on cardiac muscle both biochemically and histopathologically in high cholesterol diet (HCD)-fed rats. Wister male rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10): control, raisin-fed, HCD-fed and HCD-raisin fed group. Animals were anaesthetized after 13 weeks. Hearts were dissected and processed for histopathological examination. Raisins administration with HCD significantly decreased the animals’ blood glucose, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides, and low density lipoprotein levels; while increased their high density lipoprotein levels compared with rats fed HCD alone. They also decreased cardiomyocytes’ degeneration, cellular infiltration, haemorrhages and blood vessels affection. Raisins reduced fibrosis by decreasing the immuno-expression of alpha smooth muscle actin marker, whereas they significantly increased the immuno-expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. Raisins showed a cardioprotective effect and were able to alleviate the biochemical and the histopathological changes induced by the HCD. Consumption of raisins or their pharmaceutical product should be recommended specially for those eating a high-fat diet

Psychological, social, and welfare interventions for torture survivors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Torture and other forms of ill treatment have been reported in at least 141 countries, exposing a global crisis. Survivors face multiple physical, psychological, and social difficulties. Psychological consequences for survivors are varied, and evidence on treatment is mixed. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the benefits and harms of psychological, social, and welfare interventions for torture survivors. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We updated a 2014 review with published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) for adult survivors of torture comparing any psychological, social, or welfare intervention against treatment as usual or active control from 1 January 2014 through 22 June 2019. Primary outcome was post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms or caseness, and secondary outcomes were depression symptoms, functioning, quality of life, and adverse effects, after treatment and at follow-up of at least 3 months. Standardised mean differences (SMDs) and odds ratios were estimated using meta-analysis with random effects. The Cochrane tool was used to derive risk of bias. Fifteen RCTs were included, with data from 1,373 participants (589 females and 784 males) in 10 countries (7 trials in Europe, 5 in Asia, and 3 in Africa). No trials of social or welfare interventions were found. Compared to mostly inactive (waiting list) controls, psychological interventions reduced PTSD symptoms by the end of treatment (SMD -0.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.52 to -0.09, p = 0.005), but PTSD symptoms at follow-up were not significantly reduced (SMD -0.34, 95% CI -0.74 to 0.06, p = 0.09). No significant improvement was found for PTSD caseness at the end of treatment, and there was possible worsening at follow-up from one study (n = 28). Interventions showed no benefits for depression symptoms at end of treatment (SMD -0.23, 95% CI -0.50 to 0.03, p = 0.09) or follow-up (SMD -0.23, 95% CI -0.70 to 0.24, p = 0.34). A significant improvement in functioning for psychological interventions compared to control was found at end of treatment (SMD -0.38, 95% CI -0.58 to -0.18, p = 0.0002) but not at follow-up from only one study. No significant improvement emerged for quality of life at end of treatment (SMD 0.38, 95% CI -0.28 to 1.05, p = 0.26) with no data available at follow-up. The main study limitations were the difficulty in this field of being certain of capturing all eligible studies, the lack of modelling of maintenance of treatment gains, and the low precision of most SMDs making findings liable to change with the addition of further studies as they are published. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show evidence that psychological interventions improve PTSD symptoms and functioning at the end of treatment, but it is unknown whether this is maintained at follow-up, with a possible worsening of PTSD caseness at follow-up from one study. Further interventions in this population should address broader psychological needs beyond PTSD while taking into account the effect of multiple daily stressors. Additional studies, including social and welfare interventions, will improve precision of estimates of effect, particularly over the longer term

Degradation Of Methylene Blue Using CuO Prepared Using Conventional Solid State Method

The degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye onto copper oxide (CuO) synthesized using solid state method was investigated in a batch adsorption process. Copper Oxide (CuO) was successfully synthesized using solid state synthesis which involves heat treatment with temperatures ranging from 400 oC to 600 oC. The optimum preparation temperature was 600 oC resulting in 8.5% MB removal. XRD analysis shows that the crystal system of CuO is a monoclinic system and therefore all the diffraction peaks has been indexed using the CuO monoclinic phase. The obtained parameters were a = 4.6860 Å, b = 3.4280 Å, c = 5.1330 Å with a volume cell of 81.84 Å3. SEM analysis indicates that a standard particle size for CuO is 37.0μm and that it has irregular surface. The effect of initial dye concentration (100 ppm-600 ppm), contact time (24-48 hours) and solution temperature (30 ⁰C) were also evaluated. Highest removal percentage of MB was observed in MB concentration of 600 ppm. A longer contact time of 48 hours was shown to be more effective than 24 hours. The adsorption of MB onto CuO has higher efficiency at larger concentration difference, longer contact time and higher temperature used during synthesizing CuO

Critical gap analysis of merging sections at Kuala Lumpur middle ring road

At merging sections, drivers normally slow down and sometimes need to stop while seeking a suitable gap before merging with the mainstream. Thus, there will always be several observed rejected gaps and an accepted gap which can be used to determine the smallest average gap, so-called critical gap. This study was carried out to determine critical gap values at selected merging sections at the Jalan Tun Razak and the DUKE Expressway uses the Maximum Likelihood method. Data were collected by using videotaping method and the gap acceptance data were extracted for analysis. A gap acceptance event at highway merging sections in this study was redefined due to unavailability of stopping vehicles at the ramp junction. Therefore, the gap data were estimated starting from a ramp’s vehicle passing the end of gore marking to where it merges with the mainstream. The analysis of the critical gap takes into consideration accepted gaps greater than 5 seconds to avoid forced entry due to lead impedance of successive vehicles on mainstream. The critical gap values obtained in this study, according to vehicle classification were ranged between 4.5 to 5.0 seconds, which are slightly smaller if compared to critical gap values for particularly left turn from minor movement at priority junction of the Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87 and the United States Highway Capacity Manual 2000. The findings shall help to study driving behavior of local drivers, especially at priority control facilities such as merging sections

An Electronically Reconfigurable Patch Antenna Design for Polarization Diversity with Fixed Resonant Frequency

In this paper, an electronically polarization reconfigurable circular patch antenna with fixed resonant frequency operating at Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) frequency band (2.4-2.48 GHz) is presented. The structure of the proposed design consists of a circular patch as a radiating element fed by coaxial probe, cooperated with four equal-length slits etched on the edge along x-axis and y-axis. A total of four switches was used and embedded across the slits at specific locations, thus controlled the length of the slits. By activating and deactivating the switches (ON and OFF) across the slits, the current on the patch is changed, thus modifying the electric field and polarization of the antenna. Consequently, the polarization excited by the proposed antenna can be switched into three types, either linear polarization, left-hand circular polarization or right-hand circular polarization. This paper proposes a simple approach that able to switch the polarizations and excited at the same operating frequency. Simulated and measured results of ideal case (using copper strip switches) and real case (using PIN diode switches) are compared and presented to demonstrate the performance of the antenna