Composition and source identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mangrove sediments of Peninsular Malaysia : indication of anthropogenic input.

This is a comprehensive study of the composition, origin and sources of specific polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments of mangrove estuary in the western part of Peninsular Malaysia. Mangrove sediments were analyzed for 17 PAHs by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Total PAH concentrations in the sediments ranged from 20 to 112 ng/g on a dry-weight basis. High molecular weight PAHs were abundant in the sediments. Parent PAH ratios revealed that pyrogenic input has important contribution to the sedimentary PAHs. Ratios of alkylated PAHs indicate that the sedimentary PAHs were influenced by petrogenic PAHs, which implies that petrogenic input has contribution to the sedimentary PAHs but that it is not a major factor in distribution of PAHs within the estuary. Combustion-derived PAHs show a positive and very strong correlation with total PAHs (R 2 = 0.926, p < 0.05). Total methylphenanthrenes show very weak correlation with total PAHs (R 2 = 0.0928, p < 0.05). The PAH concentrations were found to increase with distance from the upstream of the estuary to the coastal area of the Straits of Malacca. For the assessment of sediment contamination using biological thresholds, none of the individual studied PAH compounds exceeded the values of the effect range low–effect range median guideline and the threshold effects level–probable effects level guideline. This study demonstrates that the sediments of the mangrove ecosystem facing the Straits of Malacca and Sumatra are influenced by anthropogenic PAH inputs as a result of human activities such as biomass burning, vehicle emissions and boating activities

Brand Equity, Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty: Malaysian Banking Sector

Services cannot be seen, felt, tasted or touched in the same manner in which goods can be sensed. Therefore, the key to success in services marketing is to ‘tangibilizing the intangible’ by using an extrinsic cue like a brand. Moreover, brands that are high in brand equity are organization powerful assets. They can lead to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. This study is to explore customer perceptions on brand equity dimensions among consumers of bank services in Malaysia. The results show brand meaning is an important factor to create brand equity that will lead to customer satisfaction and loyalty

Synthesis of Ge1-xSnx Alloy Thin Films by Rapid Thermal Annealing of Sputtered Ge/Sn/Ge Layers on Si Substrates.

In this work, nanocrystalline Ge1-xSnx alloy formation from a rapid thermal annealed Ge/Sn/Ge multilayer has been presented. The multilayer was magnetron sputtered onto the Silicon substrate. This was followed by annealing the layers by rapid thermal annealing, at temperatures of 300 °C, 350 °C, 400 °C, and 450 °C, for 10 s. Then, the effect of thermal annealing on the morphological, structural, and optical characteristics of the synthesized Ge1-xSnx alloys were investigated. The nanocrystalline Ge1-xSnx formation was revealed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) measurements, which showed the orientation of (111). Raman results showed that phonon intensities of the Ge-Ge vibrations were improved with an increase in the annealing temperature. The results evidently showed that raising the annealing temperature led to improvements in the crystalline quality of the layers. It was demonstrated that Ge-Sn solid-phase mixing had occurred at a low temperature of 400 °C, which led to the creation of a Ge1-xSnx alloy. In addition, spectral photo-responsivity of a fabricated Ge1-xSnx metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector exhibited its extending wavelength into the near-infrared region (820 nm)

Relationship between blood lead concentration and nutritional status among Malay primary school children in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify the relationship between blood lead concentration and nutritional status among primary school children in Kuala Lumpur. A total of 225 Malay students, 113 male and 112 female, aged 6.3 to 9.8 were selected through a stratified random sampling method. The random blood samples were collected and blood lead concentration was measured by a Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The nutrient intake was determined by the 24-hour Dietary Recall method and Food Frequency Questionnaire. An anthropometric assessment was reported according to growth indices (z-scores of weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height). The mean blood lead concentration was low (3.4 ± 1.91 ug/dL) and was significantly different between gender. Only 14.7% of the respondents fulfilled the daily energy requirement. The protein and iron intakes were adequate for a majority of the children. However, 34.7% of the total children showed inadequate intake of calcium. The energy, protein, fat and carbohydrate intakes were significantly different by gender, that is, males had better intake than females. Majority of respondents had normal mean z-score of growth indices. Ten percent of the respondents were underweight, 2.8% wasted and 5.4% stunted. Multiple linear regression showed inverse significant relationships between blood lead concentration with children's age (β= -0.647, p<0.001) and per capita income (β=-0.001, p=0.018). There were inverse significant relationships between blood lead concentration with children's age (β=-0.877, p=0.001) and calcium intake (β= -0.011,p=0.014) and positive significant relationship with weight-for-height (β=0.326, p=0.041) among those with inadequate calcium intake. Among children with inadequate energy intake, children's age (β= -0.621, p< 0.001), per capita income (β= -0.001,p=0.025) and protein intake (β= -0.019, p=0.027) were inversely and significantly related with blood lead concentration. In conclusion, nutritional status might affect the children's absorption of lead and further investigation is required for confirmation

Concomitant malaria among visceral leishmaniasis in-patients from Gedarif and Sennar States, Sudan: a retrospective case-control study

In areas where visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and malaria are co-endemic, co-infections are common. Clinical implications range from potential diagnostic delay to increased disease-related morbidity, as compared to VL patients. Nevertheless, public awareness of the disease remains limited. In VL-endemic areas with unstable and seasonal malaria, vulnerability to the disease persists through all age-groups, suggesting that in these populations, malaria may easily co-occur with VL, with potentially severe clinical effects

Oligogenic inheritance in severe adult obesity

Background/objective The genetic architecture of extreme non-syndromic obesity in adults remains to be elucidated. A range of genes are known to cause monogenic obesity, but even when pathogenic mutations are present, there may be variable penetrance. Methods Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was carried out on a 15-year-old male proband of Pakistani ancestry who had severe obesity. This was followed by family segregation analysis, using Sanger sequencing. We also undertook re-analysis of WES data from 91 unrelated adults with severe obesity (86% white European ancestry) from the Personalised Medicine for Morbid Obesity (PMMO) cohort, recruited from the UK National Health Service. Results We identified an oligogenic mode of inheritance of obesity in the proband’s family—this provided the impetus to reanalyze existing sequence data in a separate dataset. Analysis of PMMO participant data revealed two further patients who carried more than one rare, predicted-deleterious mutation in a known monogenic obesity gene. In all three cases, the genes involved had known autosomal dominant inheritance, with incomplete penetrance. Conclusion Oligogenic inheritance may explain some of the variable penetrance in Mendelian forms of obesity. We caution clinicians and researchers to avoid confining sequence analysis to individual genes and, in particular, not to stop looking when the first potentially-causative mutation is found

Clinical and Neurophysiological Evidence of Mononeuritis Multiplex During the COVID-19 Era

Infection with the novel coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) results in a variety of clinical symptoms, including various neurological abnormalities. Peripheral nervous system symptoms, such as peripheral neuropathies, were often recorded in the medical literature, primarily as Guillain-Barré syndrome. Mononeuropathy multiplex is a multifocal axonal neuropathy commonly associated with vasculitis or connective tissue disease. Recent evidence about its associations with severe COVID-19 infection and intensive care unit hospitalization is being considered. A 58-year-old man with clinical and electrophysiological confirmation of mononeuropathy multiplex was reported during the peri-COVID-19 illness. He was treated with steroids and achieved a satisfactory response. Therefore, clinical and neurophysiological evaluation is recommended for any patient presenting with neurological manifestations following COVID-19 infection

Environmental, social, and governance and earnings management research: current trends and future research

Purpose: The study aims to identify and discuss how the literature on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Earnings management (EM) has evolved, indicating key streams, keywords, authors, journals, countries, publication and citation trends, and thematic evolution. The study also constructs agendas for future research on ESG and EM. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the bibliometric review and content analysis approach on a corpus of 50 documents from Scopus until early 2024. Findings: The study identifies distinct clusters based on bibliographic coupling: (1) ESG and EM in developed countries; (2) Institutional drivers in ESG-EM relationship; (3) ESG and EM in emerging countries; and (4) ESG integration in corporate practices. The research presents several key findings, including the most influential articles, top productive and impactful journals, and publication and citation trends. Additionally, we conduct network analysis encompassing author keyword co-occurrences and co-citation networks of journals. Furthermore, the present work explores bibliographic coupling among countries and documents. Finally, it proposes a framework for future research based on the research gaps identified in this review. Research limitations/implications: This study assists practitioners, policymakers, and academics, including researchers and journal editors, in comprehensively understanding the relationship between ESG and EM and appropriately evaluating ESG performance and earnings quality. Originality/value: The study contributes to the extant accounting literature by systematically exploring prior studies on the relationship between ESG and EM. It also constructs a future agenda for ESG and EM literature

Emerging Axonal Variants of Guillain Barré Syndrome “ AMAN and AMSAN “ as a Part of COVID-19 Sequalae

Background: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated peripheral nerve disease. Its frequency was noticed to have increased during the COVID-19 period. Based on electrophysiological studies, the most common type of this disease is the demyelinating type. However, axonal types have also been seen. Methods: A large, analytical, cross-sectional study involving 2523 patients over a one-year period was conducted in Basrah, southern Iraq, to evaluate the neurophysiological changes for peripheral neuropathies following COVID-19 infection using nerve conduction studies and needle electromyography. The current study aims to evaluate the prevalence, clinical, and neurophysiological characteristics of patients with axonal variants of GBS. Results and conclusions: The study found that the axonal variants of GBS represent about 10% of the total reported GBS in the governorate, and they are developed in about 1 in 1000 patients attending the neurology and neurophysiology clinics who had a history of COVID-19 infectio

Psychometric properties of the malay-language quality of life enjoyment and satisfaction scale: A confirmatory study on malaysian children

Data Availability Statement: The data is available upon request from the authors.Copyright © 2021 by the authors. The objective of this study was to validate the translated Malay version of the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q-M) scale among Malaysian primary school children using the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The Q-LES-Q-M measures the level of enjoyment and satisfaction experienced with relation to physical health, feelings, homework, and leisure. The participants were 607 Malay students, 240 (39.5%) boys and 367 (60.5%) girls, with an age range from 10 to 11 years old. The original version of the Q-LES-Q was translated into the Malay language by forward to backward translation procedures with consideration for the local culture and suitable vocabulary for primary school students. The participants then completed the Q-LES-Q-M. CFA was performed using Mplus 8 software. Using CFA, the initial model did not result in a good data fit. Further analysis of the CFA suggested some changes to the model to improve the fit indices. Model modification included the deletion of three problematic items and co-varying some error items. This resulted in improved fit indices and 40 items remained in the final model. The final model showed good reliability based on two indicators of composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach’s alpha (CA). The factors with their CR and CA were physical activity (CR = 0.857, CA = 0.854), feelings (CR = 0.808, CA = 0.813), homework (CR = 0.837, CA = 0.837) and leisure (CR = 0.742, CA = 0.737). The final measurement consists of 40 items. The retained items were deemed suitable for Malay primary school children. The revised Q-LES-Q-M with 40 items is suitable for measuring the levels of children’s involvement in determining the enjoyment and satisfaction of learning and physical activity.The research was partially supported by the Exercise Medicine Research Grant (EMRG/19004)