The Effect of Students’ Learning Style on Their Writing Achievement

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to know whether there is a significant difference in students writing Achievement among students with visual, audio, and kinesthetic learning styles. The study was carried out in a population of 120 students of grade XI at MAN 3 Bahrul Ulum Jombang. The researcher was used incidental sampling, incidental sampling is used to classify students' preference in learning particular differentiate from students’ learning style learners and as many as 90 students as sample. The questionnaire was prepared to collect the data concerning with the students' major learning preference and the test which designed in the form of writing an essay was used to measure students' writing skill. To achieve the aim of the study, the data were analyzed by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with help of SPSS 20.0. The researcher found that result of hypothesis testing F-testValue was (0.578) and the significant value is (0.563). Because the significant value is greater than 0.05 the mean was declared not significantly different. It means that students learning style on their writing achievement did not differ between the visual learners, the auditory learners, and the kinesthetic learners. Based on the result of this study, the researcher discovered that there is no significant difference in writing achievement among students with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Keywords: comparison, effect, learning styles, writing achievement 

Comparison of low-molecular-weight organic acids and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to enhance phytoextraction of heavy metals by maize

We compared acetic, ascorbic, and oxalic acids with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to enhance phytoextraction of nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) by maize. Except ascorbic acid, acids significantly (P < 0.05) decreased shoot dry weight with maximum (5.60 g pot-1) recorded with ascorbic acid and minimum with oxalic acid (4.06 g pot-1). Maximum ammonium bicarbonate-diethylenetriaminepenta acetic acid (AB-DTPA)-extractable nickel (19.94 mg kg-1) was recorded with EDTA and it was minimum (10.57 mg kg-1) with oxalic acid. The EDTA significantly (P < 0.05) increased AB-DTPA-extractable lead while other acids decreased it. Except acetic acid, other acids significantly (P < 0.05) increased Ni and Zn concentration in shoots with maximum Ni (9.22 mg kg-1) and Zn (37.40 mg kg-1) with EDTA

Hajj health examination for pilgrims with asthma in Malaysia:An ethnographic study

BACKGROUND: Asthma was one of the top causes of hospitalization and unscheduled medical attendances due to acute exacerbations and its complications. In Malaysia, all pilgrims must undergo a mandatory health examination and certified fit to perform pilgrimage. We studied the current organisational and clinical routines of Hajj health examination in Malaysia with a focus on the delivery of care for pilgrims with asthma. METHODS: We conducted non-participant observation to obtain ethnographic understanding of Hajj health examination activities for 2019. Observations were guided by a checklist and recorded as notes that were analysed thematically. The study was conducted at 11 public (from each region in Malaysia, namely, North, South, East, West of Peninsular Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak of East Malaysia) and two private primary care clinics. RESULTS: We observed considerable variation in the implementation and practice of Hajj health examinations among the 11 public clinics but no marked variation among the private clinics. The short time span of between three to four months was inadequate for disease control measures and had put pressure on health care providers. They mostly viewed the Hajj health examination as merely a certification of fitness to perform the pilgrimage, though respiratory health assessment was often inadequate. The opportunity to optimise the health of pilgrims with asthma by providing the appropriate medications, asthma action plan and asthma education including the preventive measures was disregarded. The preliminary health screening, which aimed to optimise pilgrims’ health before the actual Hajj health examination was not appreciated by either pilgrims or health care providers. CONCLUSIONS: There is great potential to reform the current system of Hajj health certification in order to optimise its potential benefits for pilgrims with asthma. A systematic approach to restructuring the delivery of Hajj health examination could address the time constraints, clinical competency of primary health care providers and resources limitations

Comparative effect of activated carbon, pressmud and poultry manure on immobilization and concentration of metals in maize (Zea mays) grown on contaminated soil

Metal contamination of the soils is a widespread problem and immobilization of metals with organic amendments is one of the different remediation technologies. We investigated the effect of activated carbon, poultry manure and pressmud on immobilization of nickel, manganese, copper, zinc, iron and lead in the contaminated soil, plant growth and metal concentrations in maize shoots. The amendments were applied to the soil at the rate of 4% on dry weight basis. Amendments significantly (P < 0.001) affected shoot dry weight and concentrations of all metals in maize shoots as compared to the control. The maximum shoot dry weight (4.54 g pot-1) was recorded with pressmud, while it was minimum with the control (2.22 g pot-1). Maize shoots contained the minimum nickel (3.54 mg kg-1) with activated carbon and the minimum concentrations of manganese (11.02 mg kg-1), zinc (48.06 mg kg-1) and iron (104.66 mg kg-1) were recorded with pressmud. Maize shoots contained the minimum concentrations of copper (25.41 mg kg-1) and lead (53.40 mg kg-1) with poultry manure and control, respectively. Amendments significantly (P < 0.001) decreased ammonium bicarbonate-diethylene triamine penta acetic acid (AB-DTPA) extractable concentrations of metals except lead. Activated carbon treated pots had minimum AB-DTPA extractable concentrations of all the metals except iron and lead. Activated carbon was most effective in immobilization of Ni, Mn, Zn and Cu decreasing AB-DTPA extractable Ni in the soil, while Fe and Pb was increased due to application of other amendments

Sociocultural influences on asthma self-management in a multicultural society:a qualitative study amongst Malaysian adults

Abstract Background Supported self‐management improves asthma outcomes, but implementation requires adaptation to the local context. Barriers reported in Western cultures may not resonate in other cultural contexts. We explored the views, experiences and beliefs that influenced self‐management among adults with asthma in multicultural Malaysia. Methods Adults with asthma were purposively recruited from an urban primary healthcare clinic for in‐depth interviews. Audio‐recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results We interviewed 24 adults. Four themes emerged: (1) Participants believed in the ‘hot and cold’ concept of illness either as an inherent hot/cold body constitution or the ambient temperature. Hence, participants tried to ‘neutralize’ body constitution or to ‘warm up’ the cold temperature that was believed to trigger acute attacks. (2) Participants managed asthma based on past experiences and personal health beliefs as they lacked formal information about asthma and its treatment. (3) Poor communication and variable advice from healthcare practitioners on how to manage their asthma contributed to poor self‐management skills. (4) Embarrassment about using inhalers in public and advice from family and friends resulted in a focus on nonpharmacological approaches to asthma self‐management practice. Conclusions Asthma self‐management practices were learnt experientially and were strongly influenced by sociocultural beliefs and advice from family and friends. Effective self‐management needs to be tailored to cultural norms, personalized to the individuals' preferences and clinical needs, adapted to their level of health literacy and underpinned by patient–practitioner partnerships. Patient and Public Contributions Patients contributed to data. Members of the public were involved in the discussion of the results

Differential effect of nitrogen forms on physiological parameters and micronutrient concentration in maize (Zea mays L.)

Nitrogen is an essential macro nutrient for the plant growth. Plants can absorb nitrogen in cationic (NH4 +) and anionic (NO3 -) forms that can influence the physiological parameters, absorption of micronutrients and can cause the nutritional imbalance in plants. This study investigated the effects of urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate and calcium nitrate on growth, physiological parameters and absorption of micronutrients by maize. Nitrogen forms significantly affected shoot and root dry weights, leaf stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, photosynthetic rate and concentrations of zinc, manganese and copper in maize shoots and roots. Urea fed plants had maximum shoot dry weight (56.76 g pot-1) and root dry weight (5.50 g pot-1) while nitrate fed plants had minimum shoot (51.74 g pot-1)and root dry weights (4.42 g pot-1). Ammonium fed plants had significantly (P < 0.05) higher stomatal conductance (0.21 mmol m-2s-1), transpiration rate (5.58 mmol m-2s-1) and photosynthetic rate (20.95 mg CO2 m-2s-1) compared to the plants fed with other forms of nitrogen. Ammonium fed plants had significantly (P < 0.05) higher concentrations of zinc (53.79 mg kg-1), manganese (51.72 mg kg-1) and copper (7.19 mg kg-1) in shoots and similar trend was observed in roots. It was concluded that urea fed plants produced maximum shoot and root dry matter and ammonium fed plants contained maximum concentration of micronutrients in shoots and roots

Feasibility of supported self-management with a pictorial action plan to improve asthma control

Supported self-management reduces asthma-related morbidity and mortality. This paper is on a feasibility study, and observing the change in clinical and cost outcomes of pictorial action plan use is part of assessing feasibility as it will help us decide on outcome measures for a fully powered RCT. We conducted a pre–post feasibility study among adults with physician-diagnosed asthma on inhaled corticosteroids at a public primary-care clinic in Malaysia. We adapted an existing pictorial asthma action plan. The primary outcome was asthma control, assessed at 1, 3 and 6 months. Secondary outcomes included reliever use, controller medication adherence, asthma exacerbations, emergency visits, hospitalisations, days lost from work/daily activities and action plan use. We estimated potential cost savings on asthma-related care following plan use. About 84% (n = 59/70) completed the 6-months follow-up. The proportion achieving good asthma control increased from 18 (30.4%) at baseline to 38 (64.4%) at 6-month follow-up. The proportion of at least one acute exacerbation (3 months: % difference −19.7; 95% CI −34.7 to −3.1; 6 months: % difference −20.3; 95% CI −5.8 to −3.2), one or more emergency visit (1 month: % difference −28.6; 95% CI −41.2 to −15.5; 3 months: % difference −18.0; 95% CI −32.2 to −3.0; 6 months: % difference −20.3; 95% CI −34.9 to −4.6), and one or more asthma admission (1 month: % difference −14.3; 95% CI −25.2 to −5.3; 6 months: % difference −11.9; 95% CI −23.2 to −1.8) improved over time. Estimated savings for the 59 patients at 6-months follow-up and for each patient over the 6 months were RM 15,866.22 (USD3755.36) and RM268.92 (USD63.65), respectively. Supported self-management with a pictorial asthma action plan was associated with an improvement in asthma control and potential cost savings in Malaysian primary-care patients. Trial registration number: ISRCTN87128530; prospectively registered: September 5, 2019, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN87128530

Optimal power dispatch of hybrid PV/diesel systems using heuristic bio-inspired algorithms

Generally due to the strategic equatorial region, Malaysia is advancing into solar energy as a replacement of alternative source for an electrical energy production to meet the escalation load demand. Thus, the integrated hybrid system like PVGenset set system are developed to generate power to meet load demand where it can be fitted into its local geography and others according to specification. However, this does not guarantee the hybrid system to generate power optimally as weather conditions (solar insolation, temperature and others) changes periodically and influence the power generation and the power dispatch to the load. Therefore, the hybrid system does not operate at the optimal state and without a proper dispatching controller it may lead to over stress one or the other hybrid system component causes frequent wear and tear with higher maintenance cost to the system. In order to curb this situation, the hybrid system requires a specific approach along with a controller to search and to dispatch the hybrid PV-Genset system generated power at the best potential optimal state. A Bio-Heuristic approach can be applied to determine the optimal power generation while a dispatch controller dispatches the electric hybrid power system to the load demand. The aim of this research is to implement the selected bio-heuristic approach such as Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) while Fuzzy Logic is used as a dispatch controller for a small scale hybrid PV-Genset system. The simulation of the hybrid PV-Gertset system modelling is simulated using two types of tropical weather conditions (sunny and rainy). From this research, simulation results are obtained and series of analysis is conducted using MATLAB/SlMULINK. Through the analysis, results have shown the contribution of each hybrid system component operates at the optimum level while power is dispatch to the load based on the hybrid system capability