Role of predictive mortality calculator in antenatal assessment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is one of the most common major congenital anomalies. In utero visceral organ herniation into the thoracic cavity can result in lung hypoplasia and pulmonary hypertension may ensue. Post-natal mortality rates in isolated CDH remain high reaching up to 80% in severe cases. Several prenatal predictors of morbidity and mortality have been proposed. Reliable predictive markers can aid clinicians in providing effective family counselling, prediction of survival, and propose therapeutic options. Decreased total fetal lung volume (TFLV) via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been reported to be significantly associated with mortality. We report on 2 cases of CDH, with fetal MRI performed at third trimester, focusing on the TFLV and observed-to-expected TFLV. We would like to highlight the importance of predictive mortality calculator which provides statistical data for healthcare providers in counselling families and aids in risk-stratification

The estimation of medical cost for Ischemic heart disease

The number one killer in Malaysia reported to be the Ischemic Heart Disease. To make matters worse, the medical cost for treating this disease has also increases. Therefore, it is important for us to be informed of what are odds of getting ischemic heart disease and the expected cost needed for treating heart disease so that we can plan for future savings. This paper calculates the probability of getting heart disease based on age, gender and ethnic. We then estimate the expected medical cost of different procedure for treating ischemic heart disease varying age group. A comparison between different age group, the probability of suffering form from heart disease rises as age increases and the rate is the highest for those in age 50 to 59. While probability of male getting heart disease is higher as compared to female. Further, Malay was the most diagnosed with heart disease as compared to Chinese and Indian. The expected cost for Ischemic heart disease also varies by age and procedure where those in the age of 50 to 59 need to save the most for medical treatment

Implementation of project based learning for civil engineering students at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Implementation of Project Based Learning (PtBL) in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as part of Outcome Based Education (OBE) framework have faced various challenges (i.e revamp on the undergraduate co-curricullum, required high commitments from academicians & faculty and facilities to cater PtBL activities). This paper discusses the effectiveness of PtBL teaching method in an effort to develop the students’ soft skills in tandem with the technical or professional competencies; and problems, challenges and potential improvement in the course. The Survey Camp course which is offered at year one of a four years civil engineering degree programme in the Faculty of Civil Engineering (FKA), UTM was chosen for this study. It is a ten days fieldwork in which the students will carry out an engineering survey project from field to finish in groups of five to six students supervised by the academic staff. Assessment of the technical aspects was based on the students ability to meet the minimum engineering surveying’s standard whereas the assesment of soft skills was conducted during various sessions of the survey projects. Survey questionaires were given at the beginning and the end of the course as part of evaluation of the course effectiveness. The research has found that the technical aspects were achievable though with lesser degree for the engineering design. However, on the soft skills, students demonstrated an overall improvement of competency but it was difficult to determine the levels for the average students while the best and poor performers were easily observed

Implementation of project based learning for first year civil engineering student at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Implementation of Project Based Learning (PtBL) in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as part of Outcome Based Education (OBE) framework have faced various challenges (i.e revamp on the undergraduate co-curricullum, required high commitments from academicians & faculty and facilities to cater PtBL activities). This paper discusses the effectiveness of PtBL teaching method in an effort to develop the students’ soft skills in tandem with the technical or professional competencies; and problems, challenges and potential improvement in the course. The Survey Camp course which is offered at year one of a four years civil engineering degree programme in the Faculty of Civil Engineering (FKA), UTM was chosen for this study. It is a ten days fieldwork in which the students will carry out an engineering survey project from field to finish in groups of five to six students supervised by the academic staff. Assessment of the technical aspects was based on the students ability to meet the minimum engineering surveying’s standard whereas the assesment of soft skills was conducted during various sessions of the survey projects. Survey questionaires were given at the beginning and the end of the course as part of evaluation of the course effectiveness. The research has found that the technical aspects were achievable though with lesser degree for the engineering design. However, on the soft skills, students demonstrated an overall improvement of competency but it was difficult to determine the levels for the average students while the best and poor performers were easily observed