Production Smoothness Improvement Through Arena Application In The Food Manufacturing Industry

Improvement of manufacturing production is crucial to increase productivity. ARENA is a useful simulation application to imitate the real-time result for measuring productivity. The aim of this research is to execute production smoothness improvement through ARENA simulation application. This is a collection of production information of the selected food industry, as a real case study to construct simulation model in ARENA application. From the simulation, the current manufacturing system of the food industry will be analysed. Based on the issues found,a few improvements were suggested for the system. In order to prove the enforceability of the improved system, the simulation model of the improved system is to construct and analyse its real-time performance via ARENA simulation application. Finally, the most suitable improvement suggestion will be proposed for the food industry. In conclusion, this study had implemented the ARENA application to improve the smoothness of the manufacturing system

Cost-effectiveness analysis of continuous venovenous hemofiltration therapy in the treatment of sepsis in Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia: a comparison between high volume and standard dose hemofiltration

Background: A randomised clinical trial was carried out to study the cost-effectiveness of continuous venovenous hemofiltration using high volume and standard volume. Methods: Study was done through interviews involving patients or their relatives and document review on patients’ treatment and progress note during the hemofiltration therapy in the Intensive Care Unit, Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia. Study also involved secondary data analysis and a structured questionnaire survey to assess the treatment and medical cost incurred by the hospital during the continuous venovenous hemofiltration therapy. Results: The result of this study showed that the continuous venovenous hemofiltration given at high volume 4-6 litres/hour is more cost effective than standard volume of 2 litres/hour. The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score reduction in the high volume hemofiltration is 3.0 units over 24 hours. This reduction is higher than the standard volume hemofiltration which is only 0.5 unit over 24 hours. Conclusions: High volume hemofiltration is more cost effective than standard volume therapy, where only RM 5,552 compared to RM 23,512 is needed for every one unit of SOFA score reduction respectively

Growth Performance and Postharvest Quality of Grey Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus sajor caju) Subjected to Different Sound Intensity Treatments Prior to Fruiting Body Formation

Many people believe the emergence of mushroom on earth needs specific times where in wild it normally grows after a heavy rain falls. The effects of lightning and thunderstorm may suppress the mychorrizal structure to grow and eventually forming fruiting body. This study was aimed to determine the effects of different sound intensities on the growth performance, yield and postharvest quality of grey oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor caju). Five different sound intensities had been applied during spawning period which were 55 Db (control), 65 Db, 75 Db, 85 Db and 95 Db. The parameters studied were mycelium growth rate, days of mycelium filled up the bags, days of pinhead emergence, days of fruiting body formation, percentage biological efficiency, number of fruiting bodies, pileus diameter, color and texture. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the mycelium growth among different sound intensity treatments where 65 Db and 75 Db showed faster growth rate than other treatments. However, there was no significant difference observed in other growth parameters, yield and postharvest quality except in color L* value where mushroom with no sound treatment (control) showed lighter color. In conclusion, treatments with 65 Db and 75 Db could be considered as the best treatment to enhance the mycelium growth thus accelerate the mushroom cultivation process. This research could help   farmers to grow and  harvest their mushroom at specific time frame and fulfill customer’s demand. Keywords:  Pleurotus sajor caju, sound treatment, physical treatment, grey oyste

EMG activity of leg muscles with knee pain during islamic prayer (Salat)

Knee pain often disrupts the performance of Islamic prayer (Salat). Development of rehabilitation tool for Muslim population with knee pain has become an increasing demand. Electromyogrpahic (EMG) activity of knee muscles may be an assessment tool of such rehabilitation technology. In this study we investigate EMG activity of four leg muscles associated with knee for both healthy and subjects having knee complications. The muscles are from hamstring (biceps femoris long, semitendinosus) and thigh (vastus medialis, rectus femoris) region which influences standing and knee flexion during Salat. We considered five time-domain features of the EMG signal for comparison between healthy and subjects with knee pain. Our results suggest that, overall all four muscles are affected due to the knee pain and thus show abnormal activity in standing and knee flexion. It has also been found that, hamstring muscles were more affected than thigh muscles while performing knee flexion

Stress and its associated psychosocial factors among Malaysian gifted students

Introduction-The gifted students in Malaysia are housed together in a residential school which provides a competitive, yet stressful environment. The high expectations for academic achievement coupled with perpetual public expectations to be the “future elites” in the society could have made them vulnerable to stress and other psychological disturbances. Objectives-The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence and level of stress among Malaysian gifted students, to determine its correlation with depression and anxiety, and to evaluate its association with academic performance and other socio-demographic factors. Methods-A cross-sectional study was conducted on 227 Malaysian gifted students aged between 16-18 years old, based at PERMATApintar™/ASASIpintar, National University of Malaysia (UKM). Respondents were assessed through self-administered Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21(DASS-21) questionnaires. Data on socio- demographics, family characteristics and academic performance were also obtained and analysed. Results-Stress was detected in 117 (52.9%) respondents and the mean stress score was 15.6±7.5. Out of those with stress, 43% experienced moderate level of stress, followed by mild level of stress (40%) whilst the remainder 17% experienced severe or extremely severe level of stress. Male students had significantly higher mean stress scores compared to female students (15.7±8.3 vs. 15.5±6.7, p<0.05). Stress was noted to be positively and significantly correlated with depression (r=0.682, p<0.01) and anxiety (r=0.704, p<0.01). There was no significant association between mean stress scores and academic performance, race, parental marital status and total family income. Conclusion-Stress is highly prevalent and is positively correlated with depression and anxiety among these gifted students. The sources of stress need to be explored in a positive perspective. Early screening for detection of pathological stress is highly recommended and promptly managed by a multidisciplinary team

Energy Storage Behavior of Lithium-Ion Conducting poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA): Chitosan(CS)-Based Polymer Blend Electrolyte Membranes: Preparation, Equivalent Circuit Modeling, Ion Transport Parameters, and Dielectric Properties

Plasticized lithium-ion-based-conducting polymer blend electrolytes based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA):chitosan (CS) polymer was prepared using a solution cast technique. The conductivity of the polymer electrolyte system was found to be 8.457 &times; 10&minus;4 S/cm, a critical factor for electrochemical device applications. It is indicated that the number density (n), diffusion coefficient (D), and mobility (&mu;) of ions are increased with the concentration of glycerol. High values of dielectric constant and dielectric loss were observed at low frequency region. A correlation was found between the dielectric constant and DC conductivity. The achieved transference number of ions (tion) and electrons (te) for the highest conducting plasticized sample were determined to be 0.989 and 0.011, respectively. The electrochemical stability for the highest conducting sample was 1.94 V, indicated by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The cyclic voltammetry (CV) response displayed no redox reaction peaks through its entire potential range. Through the constructing electric double-layer capacitor, the energy storage capacity of the highest conducting sample was investigated. All decisive parameters of the EDLC were determined. At the first cycle, the specific capacitance, internal resistance, energy density, and power density were found to be 130 F/g, 80 Ω, 14.5 Wh/kg, and 1100 W/kg, respectively