Chemasia Engineering Sdn. Bhd.

Mr. Chen Yew Seong 75 years old, is facing one of the most remarkable decision of h is career profession. His ambition to public listed the company ChemAsia Engineering Sdn. Bhd. (CAE) a water treatment company, was shake n when Krofta offer to buy 75% of the company's share accounting to USD900,000. Mr. Chen targeted high sales turnover in the near future by using government projected growth rate which is 8%, but deep in his heart it is not realistic. On top of that, he is facing financial problem to support h is water treatment projects. Strategic audit was carried out for CAE, it analyze the company current situation that included performance and strategic posture, external and internal environment scanning by using S.W.O.T. Study on international strategic alliances includes benefits, pitfalls, scope, and the management of alliances. Several alternatives h as been proposed and selection criteria a re used to judge the appropriate solution. The recommended strategy was to sell 49% of CAE share to Krofta. This option enable CAE to solve it's problem while it remain the authority power in th

Effects of dietary vitamins on obesity-related metabolic parameters

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Genetic factors, some underlying medical conditions, and obesity are risk factors of T2DM. Unlike other risk factors which are non-modifiable, obesity is preventable and usually treatable, and is largely contributed by lifestyle factors. Management of these lifestyle factors may curb the development of T2DM and reduces T2DM prevalence. Dietary vitamins have been recommended as a lifestyle modification intervention to support obesity treatment. Vitamins correlate negatively with body weight, body mass index and body composition. Some of the vitamins may also have anti-adipogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. However, results from pre-clinical and clinical studies of the effects of vitamins on obesity are inconsistent. A clear understanding of the effects of vitamins on obesity will help determine dietary intervention that is truly effective in preventing and treating obesity as well as obesity-related complications including T2DM. This article reviews existing evidences of the effects of vitamin supplementation on obesity and obesity-related metabolic status

e-Readiness among learners in Malaysia: An insight into fresh school leavers

This paper aims to study the level of e-readiness among school leavers studying full-time. The higher education in Malaysian is facing a changing the delivering trend due to the effects of globalization, and the speed of change in the growth of communication. A book by Scott The Globalization of Higher Education has highlighted the radical processes of globalisation as implicating higher education as the creator, interpreter and sufferer of such trends (Scott, 1998). Over the years, there is an increasing number of higher educational institutions have embraced e-learning, however, with a lesser number of higher education providers in Malaysia particularly private education providers as well as colleges provides e-learning to their learners. Why is it so? There are still doubts and hesitation on the e-approach especially for young school leavers who undergo their studies full-time. There are various dimensions of e-readiness have yet to be explored such as learner readiness, management readiness, personnel readiness, content readiness, technical readiness, environmental readiness, cultural readiness and financial readiness. We wish to study on young learners’ readiness on elearning only for this paper. This study will be conducted in various public and private higher education providers whereby its respondents are young learners. The outcome of this study will be useful for education providers to draw and provide suitable learning pedagogy to their learners as well as potential learners in order to engage in an effective teaching and learning process to their learners

Multidetector CT improving surgical outcomes in breast cancer (MISO-BC) : a randomised controlled trial

Background: Early diagnosis of malignant axillary nodes in breast cancer guides the extent of axillary surgery: patients with known axillary malignancy receive a more extensive single operation at the same time as surgery to their breast. A multicentre randomised controlled trial assessed whether a Computed Tomography (CT) scan of the axilla could more accurately diagnose malignant axillary lymph node involvement in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer when compared to usual care. Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer (identified via screening and symptomatic pathways) at two NHS Trusts in the North East of England were recruited and randomised in equal numbers. Both groups received routine diagnostic and surgical care. In addition, one group received a CT scan of their axilla on the same side as the breast cancer. The primary endpoint was the need to undergo a second axillary surgical procedure. Findings: The trial recruited 297 patients of whom 291 contributed to findings. The proportion of patients undergoing a second operation was similar (CT vs UC: 19.4% vs. 19.7%; CT-UC: −0.3%, 95%CI: = −9.5% to 8.9%, χ2 [1]: p = 1.00). Patients in the two groups were similar before treatment, had similar types and grade of cancer, experienced similar patterns of post-operative complications and reported similar experiences of care. Interpretation: CT scan-guided care did not result in a change in the number of patients requiring a second operation; similar numbers of patients needed further axillary surgery in both groups. New diagnostic imaging technologies regularly enter NHS centres. It is important these are evaluated rigorously before becoming routine care

Cross-discipline teaching and learning of cardiology through an augmented reality application

Undergraduate health sciences and health professional degree programmes introduce students to common heart diseases and associated treatments, including atrial fibrillation (AF). Our students, second-year biomedical science and pharmacy students, through formal and informal feedback on their learning experience with cardiology, noted AF as the most difficult to comprehend. The learning challenges include electrophysiology and pharmacology aspects of AF. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the potential use of augmented reality (AR) to enhance students’ engagement and understanding of AF. Based upon students’ feedback, and guided by the learning outcomes of our degree programmes, we developed an AR application (App) to teach AF, covering general as well as discipline-specific learning content. The development was done through an iterative process, grounded in the constructivist learning theories. A survey consisting of 13 Likert-scale questions and an open-ended question formulated around user interface principles was conducted to gather students’ feedback of the App. Thirteen per cent of pharmacy students ( This study shows that AR technology has enhanced students’ engagement as well as perception of understanding of AF, specifically in the areas that students find difficult. This authentic learning tool has successfully addressed some of the learning challenges raised by students of both disciplines. Students’ positive feedback suggests that a carefully designed AR App, guided by learning theories, is a suitable and viable option to improve students’ understanding of complex subjects, apart from making learning immersive and engaging

Heterologous expression of cytotoxic sesquiterpenoids from the medicinal mushroom Lignosus rhinocerotis in yeast

Background: Genome mining facilitated by heterologous systems is an emerging approach to access the chemical diversity encoded in basidiomycete genomes. In this study, three sesquiterpene synthase genes, GME3634, GME3638, and GME9210, which were highly expressed in the sclerotium of the medicinal mushroom Lignosus rhinocerotis, were cloned and heterologously expressed in a yeast system. Results: Metabolite profile analysis of the yeast culture extracts by GC-MS showed the production of several sesquiterpene alcohols (C 15 H 26 O), including cadinols and germacrene D-4-ol as major products. Other detected sesquiterpenes include selina-6-en-4-ol, ß-elemene, ß-cubebene, and cedrene. Two purified major compounds namely (+)-torreyol and a-cadinol synthesised by GME3638 and GME3634 respectively, are stereoisomers and their chemical structures were confirmed by 1 H and 13 C NMR. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that GME3638 and GME3634 are a pair of orthologues, and are grouped together with terpene synthases that synthesise cadinenes and related sesquiterpenes. (+)-Torreyol and a-cadinol were tested against a panel of human cancer cell lines and the latter was found to exhibit selective potent cytotoxicity in breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF7) with IC 50 value of 3.5 ± 0.58 µg/ml while a-cadinol is less active (IC 50 = 18.0 ± 3.27 µg/ml). Conclusions: This demonstrates that yeast-based genome mining, guided by transcriptomics, is a promising approach for uncovering bioactive compounds from medicinal mushrooms