A framework for designing, analyzing and classifying cementless femoral stem for malay population

Asian hip morphology differs from western populations due to their lifestyle and physical stature. This was confirmed by the modification of commercial hip implants to address these differences and to improve the primary fixation stability inside the femoral canal. This study provided a framework for designing, analyzing and classifying cementless femoral stem for Malay population. The process began with a three dimensional (3D) morphology study, followed by a femoral stem design, fit and fill analysis, and nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA). Various femur parameters for periosteal and endosteal canal diameters were measured from the osteotomy level to 150 mm below, to determine the isthmus position. The 3D morphology study provided accurate dimensions that ensured primary fixation stability for the stem – bone interface and prevented stress shielding at the calcar region. The results showed better total fit (53.7%) and fill (76.7%) in the canal for this newly designed metaphyseal loading with mediolateral flared femoral stem. The FEA showed the maximum equivalent von Misses stress was 66.88 MPa proximally with a safety factor of 2.39 against endosteal fracture, and micromotion was 4.73 µm, which promotes osseointegration. The prototype was fabricated using 316L stainless steel by using investment casting techniques to reduce manufacturing cost without jeopardizing implant quality. Most researchers validated FEA with biomechanical testing but this increases computational time with different preset parameters. Any changes to these parameters will lead to different results, which are not in compliance with the experimental results. A new method for primary stability classification using support vector machine classifier and several time domain features for feature extraction (TDF – SVM) was proposed to overcome this FEA limitation. Thirteen different time domain features feed the classifier with polynomial kernel that mapped the datasets into separable hyper planes. Multiclass support vector machines considered three classes of micromotion and four classes of strain by mapping the original data into a feature space. A one-against-all method was chosen because of its easy application, reduced computational time, and accurate results. The results demonstrated more than 97% classification accuracy using several time domain features (mean absolute value, maximum peak value, mean value, root mean square) for both strain and micromotion. This indicated that TDF – SVM could be applied as preclinical tool to provide functional information for implant stability prior clinical use

Students view on text chats (CH), forum discussion (FR), and online learning interaction (LI)

The objective of this research is to get the students’ opinion on using online forum discussion (FR), text chatting (CH), and online learning interaction (LI). Quantitative and qualitative approaches were used through questionnaires and semi-structured questions which were administered to 133 Social Science students of a Malaysian public university, selected using volunteer random sampling. The result of a descriptive analysis shows that FR was more favoured by the students (mean = 4.11) compared to CH (mean = 3.87) and LI (mean = 4.06). Next, the path analysis found that FR is more significant (r = 0.59, p < .05) compared to CH (r = 0.35, p < .05) towards LI aspect. However, FR and CH are interrelated with critical ratio (C.R) = 6.455, p < .05). Qualitative analysis found that student’s views leaned more towards FR because of its ability to generate meaningful discussions in LI compare to CH according to some of stated reasons. From the perspective of LI, students need a learning environment that encourages them to participate in learning activities actively and involves the lecturer as learning supervisors. The results of analysis explain that the online FR and CH have different perspectives of focus of use. The implication of this study suggests the involvement of students and lecturer during design and development stage of online learning process

Evaluation of risk management practices in information systems project in the public sector

Risk has been identified as one of the important factors that influences the success of Information Systems projects. Poor risk management could pose a threat to project performance and outcome. Many risk management models and standards have been developed to assist project managers and teams to overcome or minimize the impact of project risk. Despite continuous attention and emphasis on the positive contributions of risk management to a project, risk management practices are relatively lacking and it have not been practiced in its entirety. Hence, this study intended to identify the level of risk management practice and its influencing factors in IS projects. A case study was carried out by adopting the risk management maturity model to evaluate the level of risk management practices in IS projects. Factors that influence risk management practices in IS projects were identified and validated by experts. The findings can be used as a guideline for improving and enhancing implementation of risk management in project development

Effect of Core Stabilization Exercise for Non-Specific Low Back Pain among Athletes

This study aimed to analyze the effect of core stabilization exercise compared to general exercise for non-specific low back pain among athletes. There were 16 athletes with non-specific low back pain participated in this study. They were divided randomly into two groups after the screening process: core stabilization exercise group (CSG) and general exercise group (GEG). They were required to finish three sessions per week for six weeks. The pre-test and post-test were recorded using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire (ODQ). The study revealed that the core stabilization exercise group is influential and has significant pain relief (p=0.000) and disability reduced (p=0.001) compared to the general exercise group after six weeks of intervention. This study demonstrated that core stabilization exercise is effective in reducing pain relief and reduce functional disability. Thus, prescribing core stabilization exercise may be beneficial to be used as therapeutic exercises for patients who suffer low back pain as it relieves pain and reduces functional disability. &nbsp

An Explorative Study on Educational Knowledge Management in Supply and Chain

Realizing the importance of knowledge management (KM) in improving the supply chain; KM is identified as one of the sustainable factors to educational achievement. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge management among principals and teachers in high performance schools in Malaysia. Information was gathered from six teachers and four principals from four different schools in Northern Malaysia. The data was collected through demographic profiles and semi-structured interviews. We identified five major themes related to teachers and principals in managing knowledge management in school; (1) Knowledge Received, (2) Knowledge Documentation, (3) Knowledge Sharing, (4) Knowledge Creation, and (5) Knowledge Application. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed

Potential application of LDPE plastic waste into tiles

Plastic has interesting characteristics which makes it the most used material in the world. However, plastic is known to be a non-biodegradable material which unable to naturally decompost in soil and thus contribute to environmental issue. As alternative, plastic waste has been recycled to produce quality and sustainable construction materials as the source is abundant. Thus, this study is carried out to utilize plastic waste particularly low density polyethylene (LDPE) and with sand in manufacturing tiles in two different sand and plastic waste ratios of 2:1 and 2:2. The tiles manufactured were further analyzed for their water absorption and compressive strength. It was found that the tiles made of mixture ratio of 2:2 have higher compressive strength and lower weight compared to that of 2:1 ratio. The average weight of tiles for 2:1 ratio was 891.59 g, while ratio 2:2 produced tiles with weight of 1319.5 g. Tiles manufactured from the plastic waste also showed better water absorption and compressive strength compared to normal cement tiles

Strategic Level Implementation: Development Criteria for IBS Formwork System Readiness Framework (IBS FOSREF) for Malaysian Construction Industry

The Industrialized Building System (IBS) was introduced by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) are classified to precast concrete framing, panel and box systems, steel formwork systems, steel framing systems, prefabricated systems and block work system which is mainly components based systems and products (CIDB, 2007). According to Nawi (2011), the benefit of IBS formwork system implementation will lead to environmental friendly which reduce the harmful impact on the environment by better use of available resources and reuse of molds will affect less of waste materials. Since there is no theory about readiness factors of IBS formwork system in Malaysia, the stakeholders will not realize the significance of IBS formwork system. Most of the challenges factor in implementation of IBS formwork system is the attitude of Malaysian construction stakeholders which are un-readiness in facing of globalization era since it was already stated by IBS Roadmap (2003-2010). Hence, the goals of this research are to analyses the critical factors of driving or hindering the used of IBS formwork system in the Malaysian construction industry. A survey among 157 respondents which are construction personnel was employed for the study. The survey result shows that fifteen (15) identified factors for IBS formwork implementation are further ranked according to the average mean score perceived by construction personnel as follow: (F6: Government Initiative), (F12: Roles of Agencies), (F13: Procurement), (F7: Training), (F14: Incentives), (F15: Manufacturer Availability), (F11: Familiarity of IBS System), (F4: Qualified Technical Team), (F8: Cost … Financial), (F3: IBS Score Index), (F1: Project Trend), (F10: Compliance of Policy), (F5: IBS Scoring Manual), (F9: Promotion) and (F2: Contractor Involvement). Other than that, the development of IBS Formwork System Readiness Framework (IBS FOSREF) incorporated with Strategic Level Implementation Mc Kinsey 7s for Malaysian Construction Industry which are the main outcome for this research could facilitate the Malaysian construction stakeholders to ensure IBS formwork system implementation will be success

Psychiatric disorders among young male adult prisoners: a cross sectional study in a Malaysian prison

Introduction: In recent years there has been an increase in the number of young people in prison. This study is the firstto look at the proportion of psychiatric disorders among young adultprisoners. Objective: The main objective is to determine the percentage of psychiatric disorders among young adult male prisoners. Method: A cross sectional study of young adult male prisoners, with ages ranged between 18 and 21 years old, was conducted between September and December, 2008 at the Kajang Prison. A total of 225 inmates participated in the study which used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) as its instrument. Results: The percentage of psychiatric disorders was 60.0%. Alcohol and substance related disorders had the highest prevalence at 50.2%, followed by Major Depressive Disorders and Dysthymia at 16.9%. About 39.6% were observed to have antisocial personality disordet Psychiatric disorders were found to have significant differences (p<O.05) in connection with parental marriage and recidivism. Conclusion: This study shows that the percentage of psychiatric disorders, especially substance related disorders, is high among young male adult prisoners. It highlights the urgent need for early intervention for this group of young people

Literature mapping: critical factors in industrialized building system plastic formwork application

Industrialized building system (IBS) in Malaysia has been practiced for decades.The development of its formal practice parallels with the improvement of the built environment in the nation.One of the applications is on formwork.IBS plastic formwork has been promoted by Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia as an alternative to replace the conventional formwork system but the involvement from the public and private sectors in applying the IBS plastic formwork is seen reluctant.The aim of this study is to review the gaps that exist especially on awareness and readiness in application of IBS plastic formwork. Very relying on literature, this paper discovered a gap that is considered as critical factors in the successful of IBS plastic formwork application in construction industry.This paper aims to give new bits of knowledge in IBS formwork to upgrade the application of IBS plastic formwork as well as an alternative solution to enhancing the used of IBS in Malaysia

Bond behavior of the reinforcement bar in glass fiber-reinforced polymer connector

U ovom se radu prikazuje ispitivanje prianjajna i proklizavanja armaturne šipke u novorazvijenoj injektiranoj spojnici sa staklenim vlaknima (eng. glass fiber-reinforced polymer - GFRP). Ukupno dvadeset sedam uzoraka ispitano je postupnim povećavanjem osnog vlačnog opterećenja. Rezultati dobiveni ispitivanjem uzoraka usvojeni su za modeliranje ovisnosti naprezanje prianjanja - proklizavanje, što je uspoređeno sa zahtjevima iz normi i odredbi. Rezultati pokazuju da se u konusnim spojnicama razvija veća čvrstoća prianjanja i otpornost na opterećenje usporedo sa smanjenjem promjera u srednjem dijelu.This paper presents the bond stress – slip behavior of a newly developed grouted splice connection fabricated by glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP). A total of twenty seven specimens were tested under increasing axial tension load. Results from the test specimens were adapted to model a bond stress – slip law to be compared with the requirements provided by design codes and provisions. The results show that by reducing mid-length diameter, higher bond strength and load capacity are generated in the tapered splice sleeves