Role of flightless I in cancer growth and metastasis

The aim of this project was to investigate the role of the Flightless I (FliI) protein in tumour growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo using cultured colon cancer cells and a mouse colon cancer model. FliI is a member of the actin-remodelling protein family, which consists of gelsolin, adseverin, capG, villin and supervillin family members, which play important roles in cellular motility, contraction and adhesion. Several studies have investigated the function of FliI and its mechanism of action in both in vitro and in vivo models of wound healing in mouse skin. These studies showed that knockdown of FliI improved wound healing via increased cell proliferation, epithelial cell migration and enhanced wound closure, while also resulting in reduced scarring and inflammation. In contrast, overexpression of FliI caused impaired wound healing with larger, fewer closed wounds, reduced cellular proliferation and delayed epithelial migration, as well as excessive scarring. Since there are parallels between the wound healing/scarring process and cancer progression, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of Flil in cancer growth and spread. Recently it has been shown that FliI expression also correlated with increased tumour growth in a mouse model of squamous cell carcinoma, while FliI inhibition using a neutralising antibody reduced tumour growth and invasion in this model. The FliI protein itself has been shown to be both localised intracellularly and also secreted; therefore, we have studied tumour growth both in mice with reduced FliI expression (FliI heterozygous knockout +/− mice) and also in wild type (WT) mice injected with cancer cells that have FliI knockdown using siRNA. In vitro, FliI expression levels were found to have significant effects on cell migration, cell proliferation, cell adhesion and invasiveness. Knockdown of FliI increased cell motility and proliferation, and was found to increase cell adhesion via upregulation of focal adhesion (FA) proteins, while reducing FliI expression greatly inhibited cellular invasion associated with reduced expression of an invadopodia marker. In vivo, colon cancer cells showed decreased spread to form fewer lung metastases in mice with reduced FliI expression (FliI heterozygous mice). This suggests that host FliI expression levels can regulate tumour growth, possibly through an effect on tumour stromal cell behaviour. Interestingly, knockdown of FliI using siRNA also resulted in smaller primary tumours in mice, suggesting FliI expression in cancer cells could influence tumour growth in this model as well. In vitro, FliI expression correlated with decreased adhesion and increased invasion, suggesting FliI may play a role in tumour progression via effects on cell adhesion and invasion, potentially via effects on invadopodia formation. These findings suggest that FliI inhibition in both stromal and cancer cells may be a promising target for limiting tumour growth and spread. In addition, administration of a FliI-neutralising antibody (FnAB) showed potential for reducing tumour progression in metastatic models and reducing tumour spheroid invasion in vitro. Overall, the results suggest FliI may be a promising target for inhibiting tumour growth and metastasis. The significance of this study is that FliI has been shown to play a role in mediating cellular functions which are important in tumour progression. FliI expression increased cellular invasion, possibly via an invadopodia mechanism correlated with increased cortactin expression. FliI expression has also been shown to influence tumour growth and spread in murine colon cancer models, while FliI inhibition either in the host or in cancer cells reduced tumour progression and metastasis. Importantly, this study demonstrates that the inhibition of FliI expression intracellularly and within hosts could modify the tumour microenvironment, thus reducing tumour growth. This present study also serves as a preliminary finding on the administration of FnAB to potentially reduce tumour growth and spread in animal models, which indicates that FliI could be a potential target for cancer therapy

Relationship of TQM and business performance with mediator of SPC, Lean Production and TPM

In today s highly competitive market, the demand for quality is the single most critical factor for companies to survive in the ever-expanding global marketplace. The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) has been developed as a result of intense global competition. Most of the previous works show that TQM has significant relationship with business performance. However, the examining of moderators is less given in previous work, which mediators are known generally as general tools and techniques without specific focus on types of improvement. The purpose of this paper is to propose relationship between TQM practices and business performance with mediators of Statistical Process Control (SPC), Lean Production (LP) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) based on extensive review of the literature. Study on TQM, Lean Production, TPM and SPC generally investigate the practices and business performance in isolation. The main contribution of this paper is to identify the relationships among TQM, TPM, SPC and Lean Production practices as a conceptual model. This proposed conceptual model will help the academicians and industry players to have better understanding on the relationship between the practices and step by step implementation to improve business performance. The structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques are used to examine the relationships of the practices.©2012 the Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open Access under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY–NC–ND 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Moderating effect of asean free trade agreement between total quality management and business performance

The unprecedented pace of globalisation, trade liberalisation, and capital movement in the later years profoundly changed to pose serious challenges for Malaysian companies to compete in an open market. In today's highly competitive market, the demand for quality is important factor for companies to survive in the ever-expanding global marketplace. The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) has been developed as a result of intense global competition. ASEAN trade liberalisation through the elimination of intraregional tariffs contributed to improving manufacturing in ASEAN countries to be more efficient and competitive in world markets. However, Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) is a good news for foreign companies as they have competitive advantages, but not for local companies. The examining of AFTA as a moderator is less done in previous work. The purpose of this paper is to propose relationship between TQM practices and business performance with moderator effects of AFTA. The main contribution of this paper is to examine whether AFTA has the effect as a moderator. This proposed conceptual model will help the academicians and industry players to have better understanding on the effect of AFTA in TQM implementation in improving their business performance. The structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques are used to examine the relationships of the practices.©2014 the Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open Access under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY–NC–ND 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Penglibatan wanita yang mengikuti Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) dalam industri Oil & Gas

Persediaan wanita yang mengikuti TVET untuk menceburkan diri dalam industri oil & gas merupakan suatu masalah yang sering diperkatakan dikalangan wanita ketika ini. Permasalahan ini menjadi suatu persoalan dalam kalangan wanita tentang apakah persediaan yang perlu mereka lakukan dalam merencana kerjaya dalam industri oil & gas ini. Secara umumnya kajian ini adalah bertujuan mengenalpasti faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi pemilihan kerja dalam industri oil & gas, kesediaan diri wanita dari segi fizikal dan mental serta cabaran yang dihadapi dalam merealisasikan kerjaya mereka dalam industri oil & gas ini. Kajian ini telah dilakukan ke atas pekerja wanita yang telah berkhidmat dalam industri ini bagi zon selatan dan zon tengah. Seramai 110 sampel kajian yang terlibat dalam penyelidikan ini melalui pengedaran borang kaji selidik sebagai instrumen kajian. Data daripada 86 sampel kajian yang diperolehi dari soal selidik kemudiannya dianalisis dengan menggunakan perisian Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) versi 20.0. Hasil dapatan kajian menunjukkan faktor yang mempengaruhi wanita untuk menceburkan diri dalam industri oil & gas ini adalah faktor gaji iaitu skor min sebanyak 4.41 dan diikuti dengan kesediaan dari segi mental dengan nilai skor min pada tahap yang tinggi iaitu 4.392. Dapatan kajian juga mendapati cabaran semasa mendapatkan pekerjaan adalah perkara paling mencabar yang perlu dihadapi oleh wanita iaitu dengan dapatan skor min sebanyak 4.242. Ini membuktikan bahawa wanita perlu mempersiapkan diri dengan sebaiknya sebelum menceburi industri ini. Terdapat hubungan yang signifikan di antara faktor pemilihan kerja dan kesediaan diri wanita. Kesimpulannya, wanita perlu mempersiapkan diri bukan sekadar dengan memperolehi keputusan yang baik dalam akademik, tetapi kecenderungan dan minat dalam meletakkan diri untuk bersaing dengan lelaki bagi membuktikan wanita turut berkemahiran dan mempunyai jati diri yang tinggi untuk berkerja dalam bidang yang sungguh mencabar

The knowledge on oxygen delivery devices and awareness of oxygen prescription among nurses / N Syarmimi Izzati Mohd Zakuan, Nur Shazwani Shahir and Siti Norfitriyah Zakaria

Background: Oxygen is a drug that is commonly used in secondary care. As for any other drugs, it is important to choose appropriate dose and delivery systems for oxygen in order to meet patient’s needs and hence to achieve therapeutic goals. All health care professionals must know how to handle oxygen, as well as oxygen administration because it is vital to achieve therapeutic benefits for the patient. Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the knowledge and practice of decision for prescription and administration of oxygen therapy among nurses in medical ward of Hospital Ampang. Method: A cross-sectional study design was carried out at medical wards in Hospital Ampang. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 48 nurses in medical ward over a period of one month. Result: The result of this study showed most of the staff nurse in the medical ward had good knowledge regarding oxygen delivery devices but had poor awareness on oxygen prescriptions. It was reported that only 29 participants with percentage of 60.4% had good knowledge on oxygen delivery devices, while 13 participants with the precentage of 27.1% showed moderate level and 12.5% of participants had poor knowledge on oxygen delivery devices. Besides that, most of the participants was reported to have poor awareness on oxygen prescriptions with the percentage of 70.8% (n=34), while about 22.9% of participants showed moderate level of awareness, and only 6.3% reported to have good awareness on oxygen prescriptions. The result show there is no association between knowledge of oxygen delivery devices and awareness of oxygen prescription among nurses with the p value of 0.051. Conclusion: The overall score for nurses in medical wards show good knowledge regarding oxygen delivery devices do not guarantee the nuses have good prescription practice. There is clearly a need to place a greater emphasis on oxygen therapy in medical nurses and nursing education and to implement ongoing revision during resident training into the ward. Also, there is the requirement for the development of educational programs and protocols for health care personnel on oxygen therapy must become mandatory towards decreasing errors in oxygen administration

Challenges in the Implementation of Lean Manufacturing in the Wood & Furniture Industry

This study analyses the challenges in implementing lean manufacturing (LM) in the wood & furniture industry. In order to facilitate the smooth implementation of LM practices in this industry, the challenges in terms of its deployment need to be analysed and observed. Realising this importance, this study proposes a model, using PLS-SEM, which focuses on dealing with the challenges faced in the implementation of lean in the wood & furniture industry. The model consists of ten challenges that were determined based on a survey involving 46 SMEs companies in Malaysia. The findings revealed that the implementation of LM is significantly affected by 3 main issues, namely: knowledge, resources, and, culture and human attitude. Furthermore, the analyses also highlighted four dominant challenges which are related to culture and human attitude issues – lack of employee commitment, lack of senior management’s interest and support, difficult to implement, and LM is viewed as “current trend”. Overall, the ability to deal with the challenges involving factors of knowledge, and culture and human attitude, determine the success of LM implementation, especially in companies that have limited resources. This study would help wood & furniture SMEs, government agencies, professional bodies, and academics to better understand the challenges when implementing LM practices. Overall, this study aims at investigating the relationships between the three challenges to better promote LM in the scope under study. Therefore, several activities were proposed to overcome the abovementioned challenges and subsequently contributing to the current body of knowledge.N/

Threat assessment algorithm for Active Blind Spot Assist system using short range radar sensor

Road safety has become more concern due to the number of accidents that keeps increasing every year. The safety systems include from simple installation such as seat belt, airbag, and rear camera to more complicated and intelligent systems such as braking assist, lane change assist, steering control and blind spot monitoring. This paper proposes another intelligent safety system to be implemented in passenger vehicle by monitoring the blind-spot region by using automotive short range radar as sensor to assess its surrounding. This system is called Active Blind-Spot Assist (ABSA) system and this system will collaborate with a Steering Intervention system for autonomous steering maneuvers. The objective of ABSA system is to deploy safety interventions by giving warning to the driver whenever other vehicle is detected within the blind-spot region. Furthermore, this active system also triggers autonomous steering control when the potential of collision with the detected vehicle increases greatly. Consequently, a threat assessment algorithm is developed to evaluate the right moment to give safety interventions to the driver and the conditions for autonomous steering maneuvers. The process of developing the threat assessment algorithm explained in this paper

Proposed analytic framework for student relationship management based on a systematic review of CRM systems literature

Notwithstanding the research attention given to the importance and capability of the student relationship management strategy in higher education sustainability, there is no any systematic framework for implementation. This research as one of the preliminary studies has been undertaken to provide a structural framework of strategic practices for positioning this strategy at an operational level. In doing so, a methodological approach was implemented in two tiers. Firstly, a systematic review of the leading-edge literature on the customer relationship management systems was performed owing to the lack of significant research on the topic, as well as the structure and nature of the concept. Then, the principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation, which is a method of exploratory factor analysis was used to finalize the research. The findings revealed an articulated structural framework with five hypotheses, which may partially or fully be applied to narrow the major gap in the current knowledge. The measurement scale has also been developed for simplification in implementation of the application. Limitations and directions for future research were accordingly discussed

Steering intervention strategy for side lane collision Avoidance

Advance Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have successfully been integrated in many vehicles; however, the research on its improvement is still on-going. Some of the features of ADAS include Lane Departure warning System, Blind Spot detection, Lane Change Assistance and etc. However, with such systems available, accidents still occurred due to the driver's lack of awareness and negligence towards the given indication and warning, especially situation related to side lane collision. Thus, this paper aims to propose a simple steering intervention control. If the driver still proceed for the lane change when there are other object appearing in the blind spot area, the proposed solution will automatically trigger vehicle evasion mode to avoid side lane collision. The system does not take into account comfort in order to warn the driver. The system was tested and validated using a test vehicle. The results show that the steering intervention provides good vehicle evasion results and hypothetically it may act as the final warning towards the person behind the wheel

Critical success factors of student relationship management

Due to the upward trend in the globalization of sustainability issues and the intense competitive environment, it is evident that higher education institutions need new strategic approaches to succeed. To this end, the inquiry for this paper has been made into the debate about student relationship management. Going through the literature indicates that institutions have mainly perceived the concept as a technological initiative for solving the problems in individual domains, accompanied by uncoordinated efforts. Thus, the aims of this study are to theoretically present the critical success factors of this strategic approach and to empirically examine the recognized factors. To do so, a confirmatory factor analysis that is a quantitative analytic method was performed. The results and analyses revealed that there has been a significant correlation between the four critical success factors including knowledge management, student relationship management technology, student orientation, and employees' involvement. It was also found that these factors are significantly correlated with the construct of student relationship management success. The findings have consequently highlighted that in addition to the technological tool, the role of knowledge management, employees' involvement, and student orientation appeared to be particularly important for the implementation of the application