Enhancing attendance and student exam score based on mobile attendance application / Nurhafizah Ahmad... [et al.]

In today’s digital era, it is possible to use the latest technology to improve student attendance and performance. The purpose of the present study is to determine the relationship between absenteeism and academic performance among Calculus students, as well as to measure the impact of class absence on the student’s final exam scores. Based on this, the use of appropriate strategy was employed, which is the mobile attendance application to reduce absenteeism among students in higher educational institution. The selection of sample was based on cluster sampling, involving the selection of 87 repeater students. The data collected were analyzed using quartile regression and independent sample t-test. The result of the findings revealed that the class absence has an impact on the student’s final exam scores. This is because, if the student was absences by 1 class, the final exam score is expected to decrease on average by 1.89%. Hence, findings show that the percentage of absences for the students with manual attendance was higher than the percentage of absences for the students with mobile attendance application. The application can help to reduce absenteeism by reminding students about recent attendance records

Effects of monoculture and polyculture farming in oil palm smallholdings on terrestrial arthropod diversity

Oil palm agriculture has become one of the economic mainstays for biodiversity-rich countries in the tropics. The conversion of native forests to oil palm monoculture plantation has caused unprecedented biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia. Little is known about the effects of oil palm polyculture farming on arthropod diversity. In this study, arthropods were sampled using pitfall traps at 120 sites in Peninsular Malaysia. We examined how arthropod biodiversity responded to different oil palm farming practices and local-scale vegetation structure characteristics. We found that the number of arthropod orders was significantly greater in polyculture than monoculture smallholdings. However, we did not detect a significant difference in arthropod order composition nor abundance between monoculture and polyculture practices. In situ habitat characteristics explained 16% of the variation in arthropod order richness, with key predictor variables including farming practice, height of oil palm stands, and number of immature palm. The findings of this study suggest that polyculture farming together with management for in situ habitat complexity may be a useful strategy in supporting biodiversity within in oil palm plantations

Ability of Ceramic Tiles Waste as a Pre-treatment for Laundry Wastewater

The discharge of laundry of laundry wastewater (LWW) into rivers contaminates the water and exposes it to harmful chemicals present in detergents and fabric softeners. This draws attention to the need to implement treatment for LWW. This study focused on determining the ability of ceramic tiles to remove total phosphorus (TP) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from commercial LWW. The coarse aggregate of ceramic tile waste (CTW) was used as the adsorbent. The effectiveness of CTW as an adsorbent to remove TP and COD in LLW was determined by using different adsorbent dosages, contact times, and shaking speeds in a batch experiment. LWW samples were collected from the discharged point of commercial laundry shop. The results revealed that the highest TP removal was 71% with a dosage of 6 g/100 ml ceramic adsorbent, a contact time of 90 minutes, and a shaking speed of 100 rpm. Meanwhile, the highest removal of COD was 80% at a dosage of 6 g/100 mL of ceramic adsorbent, a contact time of 90 minutes, and a shaking speed of 300 rpm. The optimal value of removal for COD 60 mg/L and TP is 1.79 mg/L while pH value is 7.13. Thus, it can be concluded that the CTW aggregate as an adsorbent was effective in reducing TP and COD from LWW

Effects of in situ habitat quality and landscape characteristics in the oil palm agricultural matrix on tropical understory birds, fruit bats and butterflies

The expansion of commercial oil palm crop has modified much of the natural landscape, subsequently leading to biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia. Aside from large-scale oil palm monoculture plantations, self-managed oil palm smallholdings are also becoming common in palm oil producing countries, but less is known about how management of the smallholdings affects faunal biodiversity. We argue that it is critically important to understand the role of habitat complexity at the local and landscape scales for maintaining faunal biodiversity in oil palm smallholdings. We used passive sampling methods to survey understory birds, fruit bats, and butterflies in oil palm smallholdings on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. We quantified the diversity in each taxon and measured in situ habitat quality and landscape metrics. We found that oil palm smallholdings located near rice fields supported fewer bird species. Proximity to roads can give rise to bird and fruit bat richness. Bird and fruit bat richness declined at sites with high crop density. Fruit bat richness declined, but butterfly richness increased, with the height of oil palm stands. Butterfly richness declined with distance from riparian habitats. Decreased coverage and height of ground vegetation also negatively affected butterfly species richness. We also found that the number of farm houses is positively related to bird, fruit bat, and butterfly species richness. Of the three taxa, only butterfly richness was positively influenced by crop diversity. We found that habitat complexity enables smallholdings to support a diverse community of birds and butterflies, but not fruit bats. These findings imply that oil palm smallholdings can be managed in a conservation agricultural matrix, as the smallholdings were able to maintain farmland biodiversity

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Kinetics and isotherms of heavy metals removal from laundry greywater by chitosan ceramic beads

The rise of laundry facilities in the residential areas has become main concern on the water quality due to untreated laundry greywater discharge directly into the drainage. The use of detergents, softener and other cleaning additives have contributed to the heavy metals concentration in surface water. Hence, the current study investigated the adsorption behavior of chitosan ceramic beads and the removal efficiency of heavy metal ions from laundry greywater, including Pb2+, Zn2+, and Fe2+ ions. The effects of dosage, pH, time, temperature, and initial to Pb2+, Zn2+, and Fe2+ were evaluated for the efficiency of the adsorption process. The efficacy results of adsorbent's dose in Pb2+, Zn2+, and Fe2+ ions removal process with 38.89 mg/g, 29.87 mg/g and 49.55 mg/g respectively. The isotherm model, Freundlich, and Temkin model plot the experimental adsorption data set to infer the maximum adsorption capacity. The adsorption study observed that the removal of Pb2+, Zn2+, and Fe2+ ions from chitosan ceramic beads best fits the Freundlich Isotherm model. Kinetic models pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and the Elovich Equation model were used in this study to understand the kinetics of removal of Pb2+, Zn2+, and Fe2+ ions from laundry greywater. Adsorption kinetic study monitored pseudo-first kinetic model for the removal of Pb2+ ions with an R2 value of 0.98 was the best fitted kinetic model while Elovich Equation fitted for the removal of Zn2+ and Fe2+ with an R2 value of 0.92 and 0.96 respectively. The most significant contribution of this work is an understanding of the optimal isotherms and kinetics model that can describe the behavior of Pb2+, Zn2+, and Fe2+ ions adsorption on chitosan ceramic beads. The study provides the details of the chitosan ceramic beads potential to the adsorption of Pb2+, Zn2+, and Fe2+ ions from laundry greywater for safe disposal

Optimization of ceramic waste filter for bathroom greywater treatment using central composite design (CCD)

The present study aims to develop a filtration system consisting of ceramic wastes as a treatment process of bathroom greywater to reduce chemical oxygen demand (COD), Total suspended solids (TSS), Total nitrogen (TN), and turbidity. Optimization of the reduction efficiency was investigated using response surface methodology (RSM) as a function of the ceramic practical sizes (0.25–1.18 mm) and hydraulic retention time HRT (1–3 h). The functional groups on the surface of the ceramic filter media were determined using Fourier transform irradiation (FTIR), while the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to determine the microstructure and the surface morphology of the ceramic particles. Results revealed that the optimal reduction of COD, TSS, TN, and turbidity was influenced by active sites of the filter media (C]C, C]O, CeOeH, and OH−) and was achieved under the operating conditions of 0.25mm of ceramic particles after 3 h of HRT, the observed and predicted reduction for COD, TSS, TN, and Turbidity were 38.8 vs. 39.8%; 58.47 vs. 59.59%; 66.66 vs. 67.32%; 88.31 vs. 89.02%, respectively. It can be concluded that the effectiveness of the ceramic filter media is a potential source for the filtration of bathroom greywater

Greywater treatment using pottery waste ceramic filter

Most village houses in Malaysia discharged lots of significant portion of greywater into stream or drains without any treatment. This phenomenon of direct disposal of greywater into the environment caused environmental risk, especially to water body. This study aimed to assess the quality and treatment of greywater discharge using pottery waste ceramic filter (PWCF) for safe disposal. Greywater samples were collected from 27 village households located at Kampung Parit Sempadan, Parit Raja using grab sampling method. Greywater was treated by using PWCF. The effectiveness of the PWCF was optimized using different sizes (0.25, 0.60, and 1.18 mm) of ceramic filter media at different hydraulic retention times (HRT: 1, 2, and 3 h). The t-test analysis showed significant differences between greywater from the two drainage distances. The results revealed that a distance within 81–100 m was significant to the influence of gender and the number of household occupants of the greywater discharged. The results of this study highlight that PWCF reduced the concentration of COD, BOD and TSS in greywater by 99.4%, 74.3 and 100% respectively using particle size of 0.25 mm and HRT of 3 hours. Finally, it deduced that the use of PWCF was effective and can enhance the quality of greywater for safe disposal