Cost effectiveness analysis of using different monitoring modalities in treating severe traumatic brain injury (CESTBI) in neuro-ICU, HUSM, Kelantan

Introduction: There are two schools of thought in practicing neurotrauma monitoring for patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI); the application of the baseline neuro-monitoring (BNM) and the use of multiple modalities neurotrauma monitoring (M3) which is very expensive. The answer of which of the two monitoring systems is more eflicient and worth doing should be sought. Objective: To determine the cost effectiveness analysis between BNM and M3 monitoring modalities in the management of severe TBI. Methodology: Sixty-two patients with severe TBI admitted to Neuro-ICU, USM who fulfilled the predetermined criteria were selected using systematic random sampling. The macro and micro costing were performed on each of patient. Barthel Index was used to measure physical performance as an outcome six months after discharge. The analyses used were the Independent t- test, ANCOVA, and Repeated Measure ANOVA. Results: The mean total equipment cost of M3 was significantly higher at p = 0.049 (mean difference of RM23.74) after controlling other variables. The mean difference in Barthel Index after six months was significance between the two groups (p = 0.031), patients that were treated with M3 had higher score 163.7 (SD 30.03)J compared to those who were treated with BNM 146.83 (SD 30.36)]. However, the cost-effectiveness ratio of using M3 was significantly lowered (p=O.031) with a mean of RM476.29 was needed to increase a unit improvement in mean Barthel Index compared to RM629.12 if we used BNM. Conclusion: Although M3 is more costly, the outcome of patients treated with M3 was better than that of BNM. Therefore we can conclude that the used of multiple neuro-monitoring was more cost effective than the use of only baseline neuro-monitoring in treating severe traumatic brain injury

Acetosolv Pulping Modeling of Oil Palm Frond Fibers

Oil palm frond fibers were pulped using acetosolv pulping in laboratory scale batch digester. A central composite desigh was used to investigate the process and to study the effect of its variables on pulp quality and yield. A second order polynomial regression model, using three in dependent process variables, was found to be appropriate for describing acetosolv pulping oil palm fibers. The overall pulping conditions, which maximize yield while subject to a restriction of kappa number 19.93 were estimated at pulping time of 130 mins, a pulping temperature of 153 oC, AcOH of 85 % and HCl of 0.25

Characterization and modeling of a new magnetorheological damper with meandering type valve using neuro-fuzzy

This paper presents the characterization and hysteresis modeling of magnetorheological (MR) damper with meandering type valve. The meandering type MR valve, which employs the combination of multiple annular and radial flow passages, has been introduced as the new type of high performance MR valve with higher achievable pressure drop and controllable performance range than similar counterparts in its class. Since the performance of a damper is highly determined by the valve performance, the utilization of the meandering type MR valve in an MR damper could potentially improve the damper performance. The damping force characterization of the MR damper is conducted by measuring the damping force as a response to the variety of harmonic excitations. The hysteresis behavior of the damper is identified by plotting the damping force relationship to the excitation displacement and velocity. For the hysteresis modeling purpose, some parts of the data are taken as the training data source for the optimization parameters in the neuro-fuzzy model. The performance of the trained neuro-fuzzy model is assessed by validating the model output with the remaining measurement data and benchmarking the results with the output of the parametric hysteresis model. The validation results show that the neuro-fuzzy model is demonstrating good agreement with the measurement results indicated by the average relative error of only around 7%. The model also shows robustness with no tendency of growing error when the input values are changed

RESPONSE OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS ON THE GROWTH OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF IN VITRO CULTURES OF Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) BENTH FOR PATCHOULI ALCOHOL PRODUCTION

Patchouli Alcohol (PA) is one of the major active constituents in Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth plant (P. cablin). The geographical, seasonal and environmental variations contribute to the fluctuation in oil content and quality. The plant cell culture technique has emerged as a substitute method for the production of essential oil. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) on the growth and production of PA in vitro plantlets, callus as well as cell suspension cultures of P. cablin. Plantlets of P. cablin were successfully obtained by inoculating leaf explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium augmented with α-Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA; 0.1 mg/L) and 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP; 0.5 mg/L) as shooting hormones. Meanwhile, NAA (0.5 mg/L) was combined with activated charcoal (5 g/L) for rooting hormones. The effects of different types of auxin [Picloram, 2, 4- Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) and NAA] were investigated in order to determine the most suitable callus induction and maintenance medium. The best callus induction response was obtained on MS medium supplemented with 3 mg/L picloram in which, a healthy and friable callus was acquired in 21 days of culture. Callus was successfully maintained in MS medium added with a reduced concentration of picloram (1 mg/L). The results on the effect of PGRs in the cell suspension cultures of P. cablin indicated that picloram (1 mg/L) was the best growth hormone in initiating P. cablin cell suspension cultures in the dark condition. A higher dry cell weight (0.50 ± 0.03 g/20 mL) was produced in 15 days compared to the other PGRs used. Quantification of PA using gas chromatography with flame ionization detector confirmed that maximum yield of PA was obtained from the leaves of P. cablin plantlets (61.12 ± 1.39 mg/L), callus cultures (37.39 ± 1.19 mg/L) and cell suspension cultures (34.39 ± 1.26 mg/L). This study shows that picloram was the most suitable PGR for the growth of callus and cell suspension cultures as well as the production of PA

Influences of the operating variables of acetosolv pulping on pulp properties of oil palm frond fibres

The effect of acetosolv pulping variables viz. pulping time, temperature, catalyst (HCl) and acetic acid on oil palm frond fibres was investigated. The following conditions were found to be optimum to pulp frond fibres: 140 ºC, 0.5% HCl, 75% acetic acid, and 1/10 solid/liquor ratio. Under these conditions we could obtain these properties: Kappa number 13-16, zero-span tensile breaking length – 83 km, sheet density – 0.57 g cm-3, tensile index – 48 N m g-1, tear index – 5.4 mN m2 g-1, brightness – 16% ISO and opacity – 98%. Higher values of these operating parameters would degrade the fibre characteristics such as zero-span tensile breaking length, tensile index, and sheet density

Tocotrienol-rich fraction supplementation modulates antioxidant enzymes activity and reduces DNA damage in APPswe/PS1dE9 Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by deterioration of the brain functions that result in impairment of memory, cognition and behavioural functions. Oxidative stress is well known to be one of the causative factors for AD. Thus this disease is potentially modulated by natural antioxidants such as vitamin E. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) supplementation on antioxidant enzymes and DNA damage using APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mouse model of AD. Animals were supplemented with TRF (200 mg/kg) or alpha-tocopherol (αT) (200 mg/kg) for six months starting from nine months old. We found that superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in AD mouse was decreased by supplementation of TRF and αT as compared with AD control mouse with no significant differences in glutathione peroxidise (GPx) activity in all groups. TRF supplementation significantly increased catalase (CAT) activity. The level of DNA damage of AD mouse shows significant decrease with supplementation of TRF and αT. In conclusion, TRF was able to modulate antioxidant enzymes activity and decreased the level of DNA damage of AD transgenic mouse model

A comparative work on the magnetic field-dependent properties of plate-like and spherical iron particle-based magnetorheological grease

In this study, a new magnetorheological (MR) grease was made featuring plate-like carbonyl iron (CI) particles, and its magnetic field-dependent rheological properties were experimentally characterized. The plate-like CI particles were prepared through high-energy ball milling of spherical CI particles. Then, three different ratios of the CI particles in the MR grease, varying from 30 to 70 wt% were mixed by dispersing the plate-like CI particles into the grease medium with a mechanical stirrer. The magnetic field-dependent rheological properties of the plate-like CI particle-based MR grease were then investigated using a rheometer by changing the magnetic field intensity from 0 to 0.7 T at room temperature. The measurement was undertaken at two different modes, namely, a continuous shear mode and oscillation mode. It was shown that both the apparent viscosity and storage modulus of the MR grease were heavily dependent on the magnetic field intensity as well as the CI particle fraction. In addition, the differences in the yield stress and the MR effect between the proposed MR grease featuring the plate-like CI particles and the existing MR grease with the spherical CI particles were investigated and discussed in detail

Evaluation of architecture student classroom communication at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Classroom communication is a very important and complex aspect in teaching and learning. Its complexity is attributed to a host of factors that include participants, messages, encoding, decoding, and channels. Not much is currently known concerning classroom communication in the context of architecture education in Malaysian universities. This paper evaluates classroom communication of students undertaking architecture degree programs at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Four factors of student classroom communication were investigated to understand student abilities and issues in classroom communication. Forty-four students undertook the self administered survey. The majority of the students exhibited good non-verbal communication practices, and scored favourably in the aspect of adapting the way they communicate to others. However, students seemed to have some difficulty to express ideas in class presentations. Additionally, some students appeared to be handicapped in actively participating and leading class discussions. Last but not least, a number of students were not comfortable in using English in the classroom, but not to the extent of hindering them in participating in classroom discussions. Further studies are needed to uncover classroom communication issues in student learning among architecture students at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

The production of crude palm oil in Malaysia

Palm oil production contributes significantly to the Malaysian economy. Malaysia currently holds the position as the world's second-largest palm oil producer after Indonesia. This study intends to empirically test the Cobb- Douglas (C-D) production function for the palm oil production sector in Malaysia with the validity of C-D's assumptions. The significance of factors such as capital, labour and utilisation rate in the production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is also tested in the study. The data on the productivity of the Palm Oil (PO) mills are collected from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The methods of Least Square (LS) and robustness check are carried out in the estimation of the production function. The results show a positive and significant relationship between the production of CPO and labour, capital, and the utilisation rate. This study suggests that increases in capital, labour employment and the utilisation rate will boost the production of CPO in Malaysia