Jepun vs Malaysia: strategi kempen pilihan raya umum 2017 DAN 2018

Artikel ini membuat perbandingan penggunaan strategi dalam kempen pilihan raya umum yang diadakan di Jepun dan Malaysia pada tahun 2017 dan 2018. Strategi dibahagikan kepada penggunaan isu dan teknik berkempen dalam pilihan raya. Dua buah pakatan parti politik terbesar di Malaysia iaitu Barisan Nasional dan Pakatan Harapan dan dua buah parti politik terbesar Jepun iaitu Parti Liberal Demokratik dan Parti Perlembagaan Demokratik telah dipilih sebagai kajian kes. Kaedah analisis kandungan telah digunakan dari data yang dijana melalui beberapa sumber seperti laporan akhbar, temubual serta status yang dimuat naik di media sosial rasmi milik parti politik yang bertanding. Dari segi penggunaan isu, kedua-dua parti politik Malaysia dan Jepun menggunakan campuran isu positif dan negatif dalam kempen pilihan raya. Oleh itu pengeksploitasian kelemahan yang ada pada lawan masing-masing adalah strategi ampuh bagi mencapai kejayaan. Manakala menunjukkan kekuatan yang ada pada parti sendiri adalah strategi bagi menarik pengundi mempercayai kredibiliti mereka. Dari segi pengimplementasian teknik pula, berkempen cara tradisional masih lagi diteruskan selain penggunaan teknologi terkini dalam media sosial. Walau bagaimanapun berikutan kekangan peraturan yang ketat, beberapa teknik berkempen yang dijalankan di Malaysia tidak boleh digunakan di Jepun seperti berkempen dari rumah ke rumah

High cell density cultivation on Hendersonia sp. for the application of biological control

Malaysia is one the world’s biggest producers and exporters of oil palm products. In 2011, Malaysia has exported 24.27 million tonnes of oil palm products, which accounted for RM 80.4 billion in total export revenue. However, the oil palm is susceptible to plant diseases, especially Basal Stem Rot caused by Ganoderma. This disease has caused tremendous losses to the economy. Hendersonia sp. is a novel fungus strain that has shown effective results in controlling Ganoderma infection. The aim of this study was to establish a comprehensive Hendersonia cultivation platform for industrial-scale production. In an agar medium screening study, the best medium was composed of (g/L): Malt Extract, 20; Glucose, 20; Peptone,1; Yeast Extract, 5; Agar powder, 20. Based from the shake flask media screening study, the medium composed of (g/L): Malt extract, 20; Glucose, 20; Peptone, 1; Yeast extract, 5, gave the highest CDW of 7.45±0.6 g/L. This is followed by the medium composed of (g/L): Sucrose, 40; KH2PO4, 1; MgSO4.7H2O, 1.0; KCl, 0.5; FeSO4, 0.01; Yeast Extract, 2, which resulted with CDW of 6.15±0.14 g/L. The optimization of the medium was applied by using Response Surface Methodology. The new optimized medium formulation was composed of (g/L): Sucrose, 60; K2HPO4, 0.5; Yeast Extract, 3; MgSO4.7H2O, 1; KCl, 0.5; FeSO4, 0.01. For the 150-L bioreactor cultivation, by utilizing un-controlled pH throughout the cultivation, 13.55 g/L of CDW was obtained. In addition, the effects of agitation speed on the cell mass during the 150-L bioreactor cultivation were studied. The highest CDW (15.6 g/L) was obtained with agitation speed of 250 rpm at 70 h. In conclusion, the present study has proposed a reliable and cost-effective approach in mass producing Hendersonia in industrial scale

Before things fall apart: The role of the Soviet Union in Somalia’s troubled past (1969-1978)/ Hassan Sheikh Ali Nur Muhammad, Muhammad Danial Azman and Roy Anthony Rogers

The narrative of Somalia as ‘a nation without a state’ has been central to analyses seeking to explain state failure, the absence of Weberian political authority, civil war, and the resurgence of radical Islamisation and terrorist networks. While the popular depiction on the causes of state collapse has focused on either external or internal factors, this article shows that the socio-political construction of post-independent Somalia has been more contested than frequently depicted, even before the foreign intervention. It argues that foreign intervention exacerbated the existing inability of the government to build standard state building institutions, and created further diffi culties in forging nation-building. By revisiting the immediate post-colonial period of Somalia under the Soviet Union’s infl uence (1969-1978), the aim of this article is not to suggest that we should neglect the internal factors for Somalia’s troubled past, but to highlight the destructive consequences of foreign interventions (as an external factor) on post-colonial state-building. It provides further incentives for internal factors to become more pervasive in challenging contemporary international attempts to restore political order in Somalia

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background: Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods: The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results: A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion: Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)