Filem Mat Kilau Dan Kebangkitan Konservatisme Melayu

Filem Mat Kilau: Kebangkitan Pahlawan (2022) menjadi fenomena dalam industri perfileman Malaysia apabila berjaya menjadi filem terlaris di Malaysia dengan kutipan sebanyak RM96 juta. Namun, di sebalik populariti filem ini yang pecah panggung, filem ini juga dikritik daripada kerana terlalu sarat dengan mesej perkauman dan agama serta kaitan penerbitan filem ini dengan pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) konservatif seperti Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA). Justeru, kajian ini akan membincangkan sama ada wujud agenda konservatisme Melayu di sebalik penerbitan filem ini dan menganalisis ideologi konservatisme Melayu yang digambarkan dalam filem ini. Teori ideologi konservatisme Melayu dan beberapa konsep lain diaplikasikan bagi membantu kajian ini. Dengan menggunakan kaedah kualitatif iaitu temu bual secara mendalam bersama enam orang informan dan analisis data sekunder, kajian ini mendapati bahawa filem ini padat dengan mesej-mesej konservatif yang berbaur perkauman dan agama

Auditory Brainstem Response with Cognitive Interference in Normal and Autism Spectrum Disorder Children - Understanding the Auditory Sensory Gating Mechanism

Earlier studies disputed the influence of higher-order function such as attention or cognitive inhibition on the auditory brainstem response (ABR) result. In short, the ABR result was considered similar with or without the subject paying attention. However, in the last few years, there has been growing evidence that the higher-order function may influence the ABR findings provided the sensory gating system of the brain is triggered by any cognitive interference activities. This chapter will explain the concept of auditory sensory gating, a method to measure auditory sensory gating, and at the end of the chapter, preliminary findings concerning the ABR with cognitive interference among ten normally developing children are presented. This chapter will also share a case study that compared auditory sensory gating capacity in normal and children with mild autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Evaluation of sound-working memory therapy intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children using Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) sensory gating

Background: Sound therapy is an intervention to provide extensive treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence on the validity of this method that has been performed in the previous studies including (i) the use of parental-report questionnaires for pre and post-intervention and (ii) an absence of objective test such as auditory-evoked potential (AEP) to evaluate the effectiveness of sound-therapy to regulate emotion in ASD children. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of sound therapy in regulating the emotion of ASD children using Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) Sensory Gating through Stroop Task and parental-reported questionnaires (Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) and Malay Sensory Gating Survey (SGS)). Methods: A total of 40 ASD children will be recruited and divided into 5 groups in which 2 groups will be assigned as a control group (no therapy or working memory only) and 3 groups as the experimental groups. The experimental groups will undergo sound-working memory therapy in which different sounds background will be assigned during sound or sound-working memory therapy session. The parents will be requested to answer ERC and Malay SGS at the beginning and end of sound or sound-working memory therapy session. The participants from both groups will undergo pre and post-intervention using ABR with Stroop Task. Results: Two-way Repeated measure ANOVA will be used to compare the ABR sensory gating, ERC, and Malay SGS between experimental and control groups before and after the intervention. Multiple linear regression will be used to evaluate the relationship of all outcomes that will be measured. This study postulates that a good agreement among ABR sensory gating, ERC, and Malay SGS scales in evaluating emotion regulation among ASD children will be obtained. Conclusion: Success in conducting this study will provide a better understanding of sensory gating in ASD children. ABR sensory gating also will provide a reliable and direct result that can significantly support any findings on self or parental-reported questionnaires. This allows for more accurate diagnosis and symptoms which may help in planning intervention for ASD children

Students' Perception of Mobile Application in Calculus Learning

Mathematics is a crucial subject that students learn from primary school onward. However, some students have a negative perception of mathematics, considering it difficult and tedious, especially among Generation Z, who have grown up in a world where information is readily available at their fingertips. So, traditional teaching methods may not be very effective. This study aimed to determine students’ perceptions of mobile applications in calculus learning. The study involved 35 students from a private university in Kedah. This quantitative study utilizes a survey method and employs a questionnaire as the research instrument. The perception questionnaire is divided into four categories: attractiveness, effectiveness, relevance, and motivation. Based on the research findings, this study concludes that students had a positive perception of four aspects—attractiveness, effectiveness, relevance, and motivation— when using a mobile application for calculus learning

Checklist of the herpetofauna of Bukit Perangin Forest Reserve, Kedah, Malaysia

Bukit Perangin Forest Reserve, Kedah Malaysia is a popular forest park well known for its clear rivers and streams, interesting sedimentary rock formations and a rich biodiversity in flora and fauna. However to date no report on the amphibians and reptiles of this forest has ever been published. Therefore, from January 2009 to May 2010, herpetofauna surveys were conducted at Bukit Wang Recreational Forest, which forms a part of the Bukit Perangin Forest Reserve. The results of the survey showed that a total of 15 species of amphibians belonging to 6 families and 15 species of reptiles belonging to 7 families were found in the study area. These constitute the first records for the amphibians and reptiles in this forest. The herpetofauna checklist showed that the most abundant amphibians were from the family Ranidae while the most abundant reptiles were from the family Gekkonidae

CMV endotheliitis: a cause for recurrent failed corneal transplant

Objective: To highlight the clinical presentation of CMV endotheliitis and the challenge in diagnosing this condition in recurrent failed penetrating keratoplasty (PK). Methods: Case seriesResults: There are 3 cases of recurrent failure in PK secondary to CMV endotheliitis presented. Case 1 and 2 were pseudophakic patients, while in case 3, the patient had a previous history of recurrent anterior uveitis. Case 1 and 3 had four and one previous failed PK respectively, while case 2 had endothelial keratoplasty twice before the diagnosis of CMV endotheliitis was made, following positive culture of aqueous humour. The visual acuity ranged from 1/60 to hand movement. All patients had pigmented KP, and two of them had typical coin-shaped KP. Oral valganciclovir was instituted for all patients consisting of bidaily for two weeks, followed by 900 mg once daily for six months. Additionally, topical ganciclovir eyedrop 0.5% was given every four hours with topical dexaminim four times a day. Repeated anterior chamber (AC) tap after six months of treatment was negative for CMV in case 3 while cases 1 and 2 are still on treatment. CMV endotheliitis is an increasingly important cause of failed corneal transplant. We recommend anterior chamber tap in suspicious cases of repeatedly failed corneal transplant, regardless of the presence of coin-shaped KP or not. Minim treatment with oral valganciclovir is important to eradicate the problem, before proceeding with another corneal transplant.Conclusion: It is important to make an accurate early diagnosis by good clinical judgement in preventing loss of corneal endothelial cells. High index of suspicion for CMV endotheliitis as a cause of graft failure must be made especially when the patient presents with coin-shaped KP. Therefore unnecessary treatment resulting from misdiagnosis in these patients can be prevented. Early recognition and treatment of this condition is important to prevent permanent endothelial cell loss and corneal decompensation

Automatic Firing Pin Impression Identification based on Feature Fusion of Fractal Dimension and Geometric Moment

Automatic firearms identification based on the physical evidence of firing pin impression is very vital for forensic investigation. Currently, due to complex topography of firing pin impression, the firearms identification has been performed manually and the precision of comparisons relies on the human expertise. This approach normally requires a long time to observe through a large number of image database. To overcome this problem, an automatic ballistics identification system using the feature fusion of fractal dimension and geometric moment is proposed. In this study, eight fractal dimension features and 11 geometric moment features were extracted from firing pin impression images of five pistols of the Parabellum Vector SPI 9 mm model. These features were passed to five different machine learning methods for classification. The experimental results indicated that the neural network classifier achieved the highest classification performance of 99.3%, which is a very promising result. In conclusion, the features fusion of fractal dimension techniques and geometrical moments, with neural network as classifier yields impressive results towards automatic pistol detection