False positive blood culture from automated microbial detection system in severe malaria – a case report

Automated microbial detection system (AMDs) are design to detect early growth of bacterial and fungal. We herein report a rare case of false positive blood culture by AMDs in Plasmodium falciparum infection. A 41-year-old previously healthy lady, with recent history of travelling to Lagos, Nigeria had presented to the casualty with history of fever and lethargy for three days. There was no malaria prophylaxis taken prior to the travelling history. Peripheral blood smear confirmed the presence of young trophozoite of Plasmodium falciparum with parasitemia of 7%. Concurrent blood culture sent was positive, however all subcultures were negative for any growth. She was treated with intravenous artesunate however succumbed to death on the day of admission due to severe falciparum infection complicated with multiorgan failure and shock. The aim of this report is to highlight, the circumstances that can trigger the false positive AMDs detection and the possible underlying mechanism

Features of Microscopic Horizontal Transition of Cellular Automaton based Pedestrian Movement in Normal and Panic Situation

Pedestrian movement in normal and panic situation has become the most outstanding research in this recent era for predictive aftermath outcome. The pedestrian movement usually will be in the self-organizing state that involves the microscopic movement based on the basic Cellular Automata (CA) model. However, during the simulation of pedestrian movement, there are several features that should be highlighted that will affect the movement speed and time. Hence, this preliminary research paper introduced the horizontal transition of microscopic movement with some features that create the closeness to the human behavior for the pedestrian simulation. This preliminary research introduced a simple case study on the closed area floor design and implemented some of the features discussed. The result showed that the behavior of the pedestrian is affected by their environment situation and the movement time of the pedestrian is determined by the number of obstacles in the grid cells of the spatial layout for collision avoidance

A fatal case of rhinocerebral mucormycosis

Rhinocerebral mucormycosis is a potentially fatal and progressive angioinvasive fungal infection. It is classically described in patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and hematological malignancies. This report describes a case of progressive rhinocerebral mucormycosis in a patient with poorly controlled diabetes who was on prolonged prednisolone therapy for autoimmune kidney disease. The patient, who was a female, presented to hospital with headache, orbital pain and nasal bridge swelling. Black eschar on nasal mucosae was present on admission. Later, she was started on intravenous fluconazole for the diagnosis of fungal sinusitis. Subsequently, she developed intra-cerebral haemorrhage complicated with transtentorial herniation. Diagnosis of rhinocerebral mucormycosis was later observed by a laboratory finding and the treatment was changed to intravenous amphotericin B. However, the patient succumbed to her illness on the 6th day of hospitalisation. This report discusses the risk factors associated with rhinocerebral mucormycosis as well as the underlying pathogenesis. This report will also highlight the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment for mucormycosis to improve prognosis in patients

Straggler handling approaches in mapreduce framework: a comparative study

The proliferation of information technology produces a huge amount of data called big data that cannot be processed by traditional database systems. These Various types of data come from different sources. However, stragglers are a major bottleneck in big data processing, and hence the early detection and accurate identification of stragglers can have important impacts on the performance of big data processing. This work aims to assess five stragglers identification methods: Hadoop native scheduler, LATE Scheduler, Mantri, MonTool, and Dolly. The performance of these techniques was evaluated based on three benchmarked methods: Sort, Grep and WordCount. The results show that the LATE Scheduler performs the best and it would be efficient to obtain better results for stragglers identification

A Preliminary Study of the Influence of Social Media Engagement on Information Seeking Behavior among the Secondary School Students

The aim of conducting this research is to examine the influence of social media engagement on information-seeking behavior. There is lack of concern about generalizability and implementation towards emphasizing the effects of social media engagement on information-seeking behavior in Malaysia. A close-ended questionnaire was distributed to the students to conduct the data collection for this research. The data was collected from students and was analyzed using SPSS version 26. Findings show that two hypotheses were accepted; Novelty and Perceived Usability have a positive and significant relationship between information-seeking behavior, while Focus Attention and aesthetics were found insignificant for information-seeking behavior. Keywords: Social media, information-seeking behavior, Social media engagement,  aesthetic, education eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by E-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC  BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behavior Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioral Researchers on Asians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behavior Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

[ ISLAMIC VALUES FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT ACTORS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: A PRELIMINARY STUDY] NILAI-NILAI ISLAM UNTUK PELAKU PENGURUSAN PROJEK DI INDUSTRI PEMBINAAN: SUATU TINJAUN AWAL

Bahagian Pendidikan Islam, Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor appreciates and recognizes the service of Guru Pendidikan Islam (GPI). This recognition is seen from teacher's competency and commitment aspects in delivering duties as educators. Therefore, this study revolves around researching features in GPI knowledge competency concept in Sekolah Rendah Agama Integrasi (SRAI) negeri Selangor. Objective of this study; to explore the knowledge competency of GPI SRAI. This study uses a study case design with findings are discussed descriptively. Qualitative data obtained from semi structural interviews in class teacher’s teaching observation and document analysis. NVivo10 was used to identify teacher’s competency theme and factors by analysing data in continuous comparison technique. As many as five GPI has been chosen as interviewee. Overall, the study found that the knowledge competency factors in the content aspect of GPI’s lesson are subjects, syllabus, appreciation of practice and interest. The pattern of the findings of this study produced GPI’s competency models namely GPI Knowledge Competency Model (GPIKCM). This study can be used as a guide to all parties, especially to the State Islamic Education Division, District Islamic Education Unit, schools and teachers. Bahagian Pendidikan Islam, Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor menghargai dan mengiktiraf perkhidmatan Guru Pendidikan Islam (GPI). Pengiktirafan ini dilihat daripada aspek kompetensi dan komitmen guru dalam melaksanakan amanah sebagai pendidik. Oleh yang demikian, kajian ini bertujuan mendalami konsep kompetensi guru pendidikan Islam di Sekolah Rendah Agama Integrasi (SRAI) negeri Selangor. Manakala objektif khusus kajian ini adalah bagi meneroka kompetensi pengetahuan dari aspek isi kandungan pelajaran yang diajar oleh GPI SRAI. Kajian ini menggunakan reka bentuk kajian kes yang dibincangkan dapatannya secara deskriptif. Data kualitatif diperoleh melalui temu bual semi berstruktur, pemerhatian pengajaran dan analisis dokumen. Data ini dianalisis dengan teknik perbandingan berterusan menggunakan perisian Nvivo10 bagi mengeluarkan tema kompetensi pengetahuan isi kandungan pelajaran GPI. Seramai lima GPI dipilih sebagai peserta temu bual kajian ini. Secara keseluruhannya, kajian mendapati faktor kompetensi pengetahuan dalam aspek isi kandungan pelajaran GPI terdiri daripada aspek subjek, sukatan pelajaran, penghayatan amalan dan minat. Pola dapatan kajian ini menghasilkan kerangka model kompetensi GPI iaitu Model Kompetensi Pengetahuan GPI (MKPGPI). Kajian ini boleh dijadikan panduan kepada semua pihak khususnya kepada Bahagian Pendidikan Islam Negeri, Unit Pendidikan Islam Daerah, sekolah dan guru-guru. &nbsp

In what way does music improve learning in medical education? a systematic review

Introduction: Music has been widely used in teaching and learning due to its observed positive effects. This review aimed to identify the beneficial impacts of music utilization in medical education. Methods: Using four established databases; Scopus, ScienceDirect, JSTOR and PubMed, exhaustive searched of related articles were performed for articles published between January 2010 and January 2020 using combination of keywords. Screening of titles and abstracts were conducted, with removal of duplicates. Results: Five full text articles were finally reviewed, of which one cross-sectional, three intervention and a qualitative studies. Consensus between authors had successfully identified three themes, which were positive effect of music on the well-being and performance of the medical students, as well as improved patient-doctor communication skills. Conclusion: The findings of the review confirmed the positive effects of music utilization on the well-being and performance of medical students, as well as on patient-doctor communication skills

Laboratory diagnostics in COVID-19: what we know so far

COVID-19 took the world by storm in early 2020 which rapidly escalated to a pandemic of unprecedented proportions. Containment of the outbreak requires a robust public health system of surveillance, contact tracing and laboratory preparedness. Technological advancement in molecular diagnosticshas helped identify patients in the initial stages of the outbreak. RT-PCR remains the gold standard in COVID-19 testing. However, as the pandemic continues, there is need for rapid and point of care tests (POCT) for mass screening and rapid decision making. Current serological tests and POCT have high sensitivity but need to be interpreted with caution. This review aims to discuss current laboratory tests available for the diagnosis of COVID-19

Surviving the terror of the deep: a vibrio vulnificus case report

Vibrio vulnificus is one of the most virulent pathogenic Vibrio species commonly implicated in gastroenteritis, soft tissue infection and septicemia related to seafood consumption or seawater contact. We describe a patient who survives a combination of all three common manifestations of V. vulnificus infection. A 40-year-old male patient, who is a known Chronic Hepatitis B with liver cirrhosis and oesophageal varices, presented with intermittent fever, lower limb pain and redness and diarrhea for the past three weeks. He had a history of consuming raw oysters seven days prior to admission. Blood culture showed grew oxidase-positive non-sucrose fermenting Gram-negative bacillus, subsequently identified as Vibrio vulnificus. The patient was treated with intravenous ceftazidime and oral doxycycline for seven days duration. He was discharged well on day ten of admission. This fortunately mild presentation was probably due to a low infective dose of V. vulnificus exposure

Heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (HVISA) at a tertiary hospital in Malaysia

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus remains a global problem. The emergence of reduced susceptibility to Vancomycin in MRSA strains, leads to treatment failure and prolonged hospital stay. Therefore, we aimed to determine the strains with reduced susceptibility among MRSA clinical isolates. S. aureus isolates were collected from identified clinical samples. Antibiotic susceptibility was tested using the Kirby-Bauer method. MRSA strains were confirmed using PCR for mecA gene and subjected to the Epsilometer test (Etest®) for determination of Vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Isolates with intermediate or reduced susceptibility were subjected to broth microdilution (BMD) and further confirmed by population analysis-area under curve (PAP-AUC) testing. Disc diffusion tests showed that all isolates (n = 105; 100%) were susceptible to Rifampicin, followed by Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole. Meanwhile, a high resistance rate was demonstrated against Penicillin (n = 93; 88.6%). Among all isolates, only 26.0% (n = 27) were MRSA. According to the Vancomycin MIC value by Etest®, only two strains (A3, A106) had intermediate susceptibility, and one strain (A30) had reduced susceptibility to Vancomycin (MIC 3 μg/mL). No susceptibility to Vancomycin was identified among strains using the BMD method. According to the PAP-AUC method, it was confirmed that strain A3 was a heterogeneous VISA strain. Vancomycin Etest®, is a reliable screening test for VISA detection. Vancomycin BMD result was not in agreement with the Vancomycin Etest® result. PAP-AUC, the gold standard test used to detect Vancomycin resistance, should be conducted whenever possible for further confirmation and epidemiological record