Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Tuberculosis Screening Among Immigrant Plantation Workers in Sabah, Malaysia

Tuberculosis (TB) among immigrants has substantial contribution to the TB epidemiology in Sabah. This study aimed to determine the yield of screening for TB disease among immigrant plantation workers in Sabah, Malaysia. This was a prospective cohort study involving 482 legal immigrant workers aged 18 years and above, consented and available at study sites during the study period. Workers with previous history of TB or currently on TB treatment were excluded from participation. Symptom based questionnaire was administered along with both chest radiograph and sputum samples collection for symptomatics participants. Out of 482 plantation workers creened, there was no case of active TB detected among the 44 (9.1%) symptomatics participants. Finding of low TB yield in this study was rather unexpected but this indicates the real challenges for the local health authority to come out with more cost effective screening programs, including reducing stigma, in active TB screening among migrant population

Some Practical Guidelines for Effective Sample-Size Determination in Observational Studies

- The purpose of this present study was to determine the right sample size in observational study which is focusing on medical or health sciences field. Sample size calculation is actually depends on the type of how the study is designed. For example different formulas are used to calculate the sample size in different type of the study. In this article, the formula of single proportion and two proportions is discussed and an example from medical research, which may contribute to the understanding of this problem, is presented

Nutritional outcomes related to household food insecurity among mothers in rural Malaysia

During the past two decades, the rates of food insecurity and obesity have risen. Although a relationship between these two seemingly-paradoxical states has not been repeatedly seen in men, research suggests that a correlation between them exists in women. This study examines nutritional outcomes of household food insecurity among mothers in rural Malaysia. A cross-sectional survey of low-income households was conducted, and 223 households with mothers aged 18-55 years, who were non-lactating, non-pregnant, and had at least one child aged 2-12 years, were purposively selected. A questionnaire was administered that included the Radimer/Cornell Scale, items about sociodemographic characteristics, and anthropometric measurements. Of the households, 16.1% were food-secure whereas 83.9% experienced some kind of food insecurity: 29.6% of households were food-insecure, 19.3% contained individuals who were foodinsecure, and 35.0% fell into the 'child hunger' category. The result reported that household-size, total monthly income, income per capita, and food expenditure were significant risk factors of household food insecurity. Although there was a high prevalence of overweight and obese mothers (52%) and 47.1% had at-risk waist-circumference (=80 cm), no significant association was found between food insecurity, body mass index, and waist-circumference. In conclusion, the rates of household food insecurity and overweight and obesity were high in the study population, although they are looking paradoxical. Longitudinal studies with larger sample-sizes are recommended to further examine the relationship between food insecurity and obesity

Logistics Modelling for the University Transport Service Using Choice Experiment

The use of Single Own Vehicle (SOV) among university students in the campus area has been increased lately. Many factors attributed to this scenario. One of them is the availability of the university transport service in the campus area. The benefits of using SOV to the students is undeniable. However, such a scenario gives traffic or environmental problems if the number of SOV users are not regulated. One common approach that has been applied in many universities for reducing the SOV users is by providing the university transport service to their students. But why such service fails to reduce the number of SOV users? Using a Choice Experiment (CE) technique, this study is undertaken to investigate the UUM students’ preferences and satisfaction on the university transport service. The results from the Latent Class Model (LCM) show that the respondents in UUM are not satisfied with the currently provided service and put a hope that the service will be improved soon. This study also found that the respondents are willing to pay (WTP) an additional amount of money if the service is improved where the focus attributes of the service are such passengers loading and service to the nearby towns

A study on the model for the minimum wages act in Malaysia and its implication towards Malaysia’s labour law / Mohamed Azhar Shah Zainal Arif, Nur Ain Mohamad Salleh and Wan Arissa W. Rosli.

The issue of implementation of minimum wage for the worker in Malaysia has been debated for quite some time. Few campaigns have been organized to call for the government to consider this matter relating to the rights of the workers in the country. Everyone should be given the opportunity to live a balance lifestyle and free from exploitation and this can be achieved by imposing a suitable minimum wage for the workers regardless of any form of discrimination. This paper is aimed to find a suitable model or system of implementation of minimum wage to be adopted in Malaysia by comparing it to the system in few other countries like United Kingdom, Australia and also India. This research is focusing on the adequacy of Wages Council Act 1947 and Employment Act and comparison of these Acts with another country. This project touched about laws and its components. The qualitative type of research, semi-structured interviews and library-based internet research had been used as a method in conducting this research in determining the weaknesses and practicability of the laws. The importance of literature review is to get a better understanding of the topic to achieve the objectives of this study. In addition, it helps to get more information such as from paper cutting or articles. The proposed outcome from this research is we expect to find out solutions to handle this issue from getting worst in our country

Sustainable Livelihood of Peatland Dwellers in the Mukah Watershed, Sarawak, Malaysia

A large area of peatland in Sarawak occurs in Mukah Division. Although, considered unsuitable for the cultivation of certain crops, peatlands have been used by the local communities for subsistence agriculture and sago cultivation for generations. When the Land Custody Development Authority (LCDA) allocated 30,000 hectares of land for sago cultivation in the Mukah watershed, opportunities to improve and sustain the livelihood of the communities were eagerly projected. Has this strategy improved and sustained the livelihood of the communities living in the Mukah watershed? Prior to this, what strategy options have they been adapting to sustain their livelihood? A socioeconomic survey was conducted on a sample of 300 respondents from seven selected villages in the Mukah watershed. The socioeconomic profile and the present socioeconomic activities, as well as the socio-cultural aspects related to these activities were examined. The study also provided some strategies and recommendations on how to further develop and sustain the livelihood of the local communities in order to prevent further deterioration of peatland in the Mukah watershed

Effect of cut-out shape on the stresses in aircraft wing ribs under aerodynamic load

Ribs in aircraft wings maintain the airfoil shape of the wing under aerodynamic loads and also support the resulting bending and shear loads that act on the wing. Aircrafts are designed for least weight and hence the wings are made of hollow torsion box and the ribs are designed with cut-outs to reduce the weight of the aircraft structure. These cut-outs on the ribs will lead to higher stresses and stress concentration that can lead to failure of the aircraft structures. The stresses depend on the shape of the cut-outs in the ribs and thus in the present work, the commercial software ANSYS was used to evaluate the stresses on the ribs with different shapes of cut-outs. Four different shapes of cut-out were considered to study the effect of cut-out shape on the stresses in the ribs. It was found that the best shape for the cut-outs on the ribs of wings to reduce weight is elliptical

Performance of asphaltic concrete modified with recycled crushed bricks

The pavement industry relies greatly on this conventional material in constructing the road. However, the shortage of the mined material has led to the need of finding alternative with local materials to partially substitute the asphalt components. The conventional pavement industry also contributed to thermal and greenhouse emission resulting from the mining activities. In addition, throughout the year, the amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste generated from civil construction activities particularly in Malaysia is increasing in alarming rate. Recycling the C&D waste specifically in bricks is viewed as reasonable potential as aggregate modifier in the impulse for greener and sustainable asphalt pavement production. In this paper, recycled crushed bricks (RCB) is introduced to bituminous wearing course as partial replacement for coarse aggregates. The coarse aggregate is partially replaced with RCB in proportions of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% by weight. This study summarizes the results of laboratory evaluation of Los Angeles Abrasion Value, Aggregate Crushing Value and Marshall Test. Results show that asphaltic concrete modified with 10% RCB has the lowest abrasion and crushing values which were 20.2% and 30% respectively. Similarly, the mix has the highest Marshall Stability and lowest flow which 15.61 kN and 3.37 mm respectively. Thus, partial replacement of coarse aggregates with 10% RCB in bituminous mix is suitable to be used in wearing course and can be used as alternative material in bituminous mix to reduce the dependency on natural aggregates and utilize the C&D waste efficiently