Self-efficacy of catering students of Faculty Technical and Vocational Education, University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia in the Field of Career to be pursued

The increasing rate of unemployed graduates in Malaysia has received alarming attention in recents years. One of the factors that contribute to the unemployment problem is the lack of self-efficacy among graduates in making career choices. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the self-efficacy of catering students to make decision on career field options to be pursued either as a teacher, hospitality employee or entrepreneur. The design of this study is a quantitative descriptive study through survey and questionnaire is used as research instruments. A total of 66 catering students of year 3 and 4 from Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education (FPTV) were selected as the study sample. The data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22.00 software involving mean, standard deviation, and ANOVA. The results showed that the mean scores of self-efficacy of catering students were high to become teachers (M= 4.11, SD=0.617) and followed by hospitality employee (M= 3.87, SD= 0.574) and entrepreneurs (M= 3.93, SD=0.514). However, there was no significant difference between the three career fields with a value of p = 0.052. In conclusion, catering students have high self-efficacy in venturing into the field of career when graduating from university. Graduates need to see the importance of enhancing self-efficacy because it opens paths for career opportunities and advancement

Current Status and Utilization of Oral and Dental Health Services in Gezira State (2005-2009)

 Objective:  This study aimed to assess the status of the present dental and oral health services   in the Gezira state.  Methods: The study areas comprise of three clusters: urban, suburban and rural. Five study sites in the urban area, four sites in suburban area around Wad Medani and 12 sites in the rural area were chosen from the six localities of Gezira State . The households study sample was as follows: 100 in the urban area, 108 in the rural area and 52 in the suburban area. The study tools were direct pre-coded questionnaires, household survey and observation checklist. The procedure involved household interview to evaluate dental  status of dental health professionals, equipment and materials in order to assess dental health services. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze and present the data. The SPSS Statistical Programme using Microsoft Windows was used. Results: This result revealed absolute lack of dental services in the rural and relative lack of services in suburban areas. The present unit is old and most of them were incomplete and not functioning. This was the reason that some of rural and suburban populations seek oral health services in Wad Medani health institutions. Most of the patients irrespective of their residence preferred treatment at private dental clinics because they expect better care due to good facilities Recommendation: Establishing new dental units with good facilities distributed in different localities and rehabilitation of dental units provided to Elhasaheisa and Elmanagil dental departments with equipments and dental specialties to become specialized dental hospitals to cover the population needs and demand dental services for the surrounding areas

Rickettsial Infection Diagnosed in a Clinical Context in Oman

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The existence of Red Junglefowls (Gallus Gallus) in oil palm plantations in selected states in Malaysia and their morphological characteristics

An investigation was carried out to establish the existence of Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) populations in oil palm plantations and to study their morphological characteristics. This study which commenced from February to August in 2009 and 2010, took place in several oil palm plantations in the state of Johor, Selangor and Pahang, Malaysia. Twenty seven Red Junglefowls which comprised of seven adult males, six adult females, four juvenile males, three juvenile females, four male chicks and three female chicks were successfully captured throughout this study using the scoop netting method. The morphological study highly suggested the purity of the birds based on the characteristics exhibited. The birds were characterised by boat-shape body appearance, white or red ear lobe and slender greyish blue leg. Thus, this study offered some evidence that oil palm plantations are found to be suitable in sustaining and providing ample survivability for the species to exist in the future

Characteristics and economic value of the rejected brine at Al-Khobar desalination plant in KSA

This paper presents the characteristics of seawater and rejected brine, and the economic value of the rejected brine at Al-Khobar desalination plant, KSA. The rejected brine may be discharged to sea/ocean contains of different salts and dissolved minerals in high concentrations, which carry considerable economic value in relevant industries. It is found that the rejected brine contains huge amount of SO42-, Cl-, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Fe2- and Cu2+, which have high economic value. Therefore, these minerals can be recovered directly from the rejected brine. This study estimated the quantities of these minerals and the revenue income according to their current market prices. Moreover, this study may help the policy/decision makers to assess the economic value of the brine to establish new industries for brine processing. Seawater and brine samples collected from the Al-Khobar plant. Various physical and chemical properties were observed in order to find economic value of minerals

COVID-19 clinical presentations: the modern mimic of other conditions

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has placed enormous challenges on the health sector. Diagnosis is one of these challenges, where a clinical presentation may suggest a disease other than COVID-19. In this review we describe many presentations unrelated to the respiratory system. The ACE2 receptor is present in a wide variety of body tissues and it appears that this may be a link with the clinical pathology. To find these data we searched the major academic research engines, Google Scholar, and Pubmed, as well as the most recent case reports and original research published in specialized journals. An awareness of these uncommon presentations helps health workers to recognize and treat the disease early and appropriately. Keywords: COVID-19, coronavirus, pandemic, ACE2, unusual symptoms, revie

Effects of humidity on sand and dust storm attenuation predictions based on 14 GHz measurement

Several models were proposed to predict the attenuation of microwave signals due to sand and dust storms. Those models were developed based on theoretical assumptions like Rayleigh approximation, Mie equations or numerical methods. This paper presents a comparison between attenuation predicted by three different theoretical models with measured attenuation at 14 GHz. Dielectric constant of dust particles is one of the important parameter in prediction models. This constant is estimated from measured dust samples and is utilized for predictions. All models are found largely underestimating the measurement. Humidity is also monitored and has been observed higher during dust storm. Hence dielectric constants are re-estimated with relative humidity conditions using available conversion model. The prediction has a great impact of humidity and predicted attenuations are found much higher in humid than dry dust condition. However, all models underestimate the measurement even considering 100% of relative humidity. Hence it is recommended to investigate the models by considering humidity and other environmental factors that change during dust storm

Exploitation of Tolerance of Wheat Kernel Weight and Shape-Related Traits from Aegilops tauschii under Heat and Combined Heat-Drought Stresses

Kernel weight and shape-related traits are inherited stably and increase wheat yield. Narrow genetic diversity limits the progress of wheat breeding. Here, we evaluated kernel weight and shape-related traits and applied genome-wide association analysis to a panel of wheat multiple synthetic derivative (MSD) lines. The MSD lines harbored genomic fragments from Aegilops tauschii. These materials were grown under optimum conditions in Japan, as well as under heat and combined heat–drought conditions in Sudan. We aimed to explore useful QTLs for kernel weight and shape-related traits under stress conditions. These can be useful for enhancing yield under stress conditions. MSD lines possessed remarkable genetic variation for all traits under all conditions, and some lines showed better performance than the background parent Norin 61. We identified 82 marker trait associations (MTAs) under the three conditions; most of them originated from the D genome. All of the favorable alleles originated from Ae. tauschii. For the first time, we identified markers on chromosome 5D associated with a candidate gene encoding a RING-type E3 ubiquitin–protein ligase and expected to have a role in regulating wheat seed size. Our study provides important knowledge for the improvement of wheat yield under optimum and stress conditions. The results emphasize the importance of Ae. tauschii as a gene reservoir for wheat breeding

Development of Spectrophotometric Method for Determination of Dopamine Hydrochloride in Bulk and Injectable Forms

ABSTRACT A precise, simple, cost-effective, specific and sensitive spectrophotometric method was developed for the assay of Dopamine HCl. The proposed method is based on generation of a colored complex through utilizing the known reaction of 2,6-dichloroquinone 4-chloroimide (DCQ) with phenols, primary and secondary amines. Dopamine HCl reacts with 2,6-dichloroquinone 4-chloroimide (0.12% solution in ethanol), in aqueous media at room temperature to produce a colored product that absorbs light at λmax 470 nm. All reaction conditions were optimized and standardized. The absorbance intensity of the colored product was linear with Dopamine HCl concentration in the range of (5 to 45 µg/ml). The correlation coefficient was found to be (r =0.999). The limit of detection was 2.5µg/ml. The stoichiometry of the reaction between Dopamine HCl and 2,6-dichloroquinone 4-chloroimide was studied, and revealed a 1:4 ratio of Dopamine HCl: DCQ respectively. The added recovery and standard addition approaches' results were 99.67%±2.25 (n=6) and 99.09% for the former and later respectively, indicating the absence of interference

Effect of heat treatment on the corrosion behaviour of LM6 in sulphuric acid and sodium hydroxide

Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) are the main solutions used in water treatment stations to adjust the potential of hydrogen (PH). Pumps used in such stations must bear acidic and alkaline mediums. Pump parts such as impellers and casings could be made by aluminium silicon alloy (LM6) due to their cast-ability and corrosion resistance. In this paper, the corrosion behaviour of LM6 in acidic and alkaline solutions was investigated. The corrosion test samples of LM6 were prepared using a carbon dioxide sand casting mould. Test samples subjected to solution heat treatment. A corrosion test was conducted using the weight-loss method by immersing the samples in H2SO4 and NaOH. Resulted showed that the LM6 was more corroded in the alkali than in acid. Cumulative weight loss of non-heat-treated LM6 in H2SO4 was 11.23 mg/cm2 while in NaOH was 177 mg/cm2. Cumulative weight loss of heat-treated LM6 in H2SO4 was 8.44 mg/cm2 while in NaOH was 192 mg/cm2. The corrosion rate of non-heat-treated LM6 in H2SO4 was 78 MPY while heat-treated LM6 was 56 MPY. Concluded that LM6 is more corroded in NaOHthan in H2SO4 and the heat-treated LM6 was more corrosion resistance than the non-heat-treated one