Antimicrobial activities of marine fungi from Malaysia

Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Stress and its associated factors among medical students in a public medical faculty, Malaysia

Background: Stress is common among university students. Levels of stress vary between the students of different courses in the university and many factors are associated with it. As compared to other professional courses, medical students are more prone to get depressed because medical education is known to be stressful and very demanding. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire involving all medical students in academic session 2013/2014. The questionnaire consists of 3 parts; socio-demographic information, family factors and personal factors; Depression, Anxiety and Stress Score 21 questionnaire (DASS 21) and Duke University Religion Index (DUREL). DUREL measures religiosity in 3 scales namely; organized religious activity (ORA), non-organized religious activity (NORA) and intrinsic religiosity (IR). The questionnaire was distributed to all medical students available in FMHS during the data collection period. Data collected were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21. Result: Of 409 medical students, 329 (80.4%) responded. Most (50.5%) were aged 22 years and above, majority (62.3%) were female students. Respondents were mainly Malay (54.4%) and Muslims (56.8%). Stress prevalence in medical students were 19.8%. Stress prevalence was higher among students aged ≤ 21 years (22.1%), male (20.2%), Indian (24.0%) and Hindus (31.6%),among students with father of primary education level (21.4%), mother of tertiary education level (25%) and low income family (21.4%). Prevalence of stress among students in pre-clinical year (21.4%) and clinical year students (17.9%), p>0.05. Stress among students who did not undergo matriculation course and those who attended were 21.7% and 18.8%, respectively. Proportion of stress students who entered medical school not on their own choice and on their own choice were 24.3% and 18.5%, respectively, p>0.05. Medical students with poor ORA and NORA showed higher proportion of stress (20.2%, 20.6% respectively) however, students with good IR had higher proportion of stress compared to those with poor IR (20.0%, 19.5%, p>0.05). Conclusion: Stress is prevalent among almost one-fifth of medical students, especially those in their pre-clinical years of studies. Students’ involvement in religious activities could be beneficial to prevent stress. Further research is needed to assess the effect of medical training on stress and the effect of religiosity on stress coping

Profile of MIBI Liquid Phase Radiopharmaceutical for Myocardial Imaging

The 99mTc-MIBI radiopharmaceutical has been used innuclear medicine in Indonesia for myocardial imaging. BATAN researchers have mastered the technology to manufacture MIBI as a liophylized kit. A reformulation of MIBI radiopharmaceutical has been conducted to improve the stability of the kit especially in the liquid-phase kit. Basically, radiopharmaceuticals in liquid form are not different from the dry kit. However in the manufacturing of liquid-phase kit, lyophilization process was not done. To improve the stability of liquid kit, a reformulation of the components was conducted by using two separate vials (Formulation 2) and the characteristics were compared with the one-vial formulation (Formulation 1). The MIBI Formulation 2 consists of two vials, vial A containing 0.06 mg of SnCl2 2H2O and 2.6 mg Sodium Citrate 2H2O and vial B containing 0.5 mg of [Cu(MIBI)4]BF4, 1 mg of cysteine hydrochloride, and 20 mg of mannitol.The purposes of this study wereto determine the stability of two different formulations of MIBI as a liquid-phase kit, to compare their stability in different storage condition such as in refrigerator and freezer, and to compare the ratio of activities attained between target and nontarget organs after injection to animal model. As a diagnostic agent, MIBI was reconstituted with Technetium-99m as radionuclide tracer to 99mTc-MIBI labeled compound. The radiochemical purity of 99mTc-MIBI was determined by chromatography method using alumina thin-layer chromatography paper as the stationary phase and ethanol 95% as the mobile phase. The results showed MIBI Formulation 2 has a higher stability than Formulation 1. Formulation 2 also maintained a 96.68% radiochemical purity under 52-day storage and attained a target-to-nontarget activity ratio of 8.22.Received: 04 October 2014; Revised: 10 November 2015; Accepted: 25 November 201

3D MODELING FOR ROCK ART DOCUMENTATION USING LIGHTWEIGHT MULTISPECTRAL CAMERA

This paper discusses the use of the lightweight multispectral camera to acquire three-dimensional data for rock art documentation application. The camera consists of five discrete bands, used for taking the motifs of the rock art paintings on a big structure of a cave based on the close-range photogrammetry technique. The captured images then processed using commercial structure-from-motion photogrammetry software, which automatically extracts the tie point. The extracted tie points were then used as input to generate a dense point cloud based on the multi-view stereo (MVS) and produced the multispectral 3D model, and orthophotos in a different wavelength. For comparison, the paintings and the wall surface also observed by using terrestrial laser scanner which capable of recording thousands of points in a short period of time with high accuracy. The cloud-to-cloud comparison between multispectral and TLS 3D point cloud show a sub-cm discrepancy, considering the used of the natural features as control target during 3D construction. Nevertheless, the processing also provides photorealistic orthophoto, indicates the advantages of the multispectral camera in generating dense 3D point cloud as TLS, photorealistic 3D model as RGB optic camera, and also with the multiwavelength output

3D modelling method of high above ground rock art painting using multispectral camera

This paper presents a developed methodology of 3D modelling of rock art painting located at high above shelter floor based on close-range photogrammetric technique. Instead of using elevated devices to reach inaccessible paintings due to high elevation, the developed method proposed a simple technique. The camera was mounted on an expandable pole to acquire the panel with normal and tilted camera settings. Due to inaccessibility to place the control point marker on the panel surface, the distribution of photo control was positioned below the panel. Based on the configuration, the image of the panel was acquired using the low-spatial resolution multispectral camera in a two elevated strips position that imitates the aerial photogrammetry flight line. The camera was set parallelly to the painting panel on both strips, with additional tilted geometry included at the upper strip of the camera block. The acquired multispectral images were then processed using commercial SfM photogrammetry software to generate a 3D point cloud. The accuracy of constructed point cloud was then analysed by comparing it with the point cloud generated using a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS). The result has shown that the multispectral 3D point cloud has a small deviation against the TLS point cloud. The mean deviation was -0.43mm, indicating a slight downscaled on the multispectral point cloud

Effects of communication and utility-based decision making in a simple model of evacuation

We present a simple cellular automaton based model of decision making during evacuation. Evacuees have to choose between two different exit routes, resulting in a strategic decision making problem. Agents take their decisions based on utility functions, these can be revised as the evacuation proceeds, leading to complex interaction between individuals and to jamming transitions. The model also includes the possibility to communicate and exchange information with distant agents, information received may affect the decision of agents. We show that under a wider range of evacuation scenarios performance of the model system as a whole is optimal at an intermediate fraction of evacuees with access to communication.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

THE SUITABILITY OF TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING FOR STRATA BUILDING

During the recent years, the used of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is becoming rapidly popular because of its ability in several applications, especially the ability to observe complex documentation of complex building and observe millions of point cloud in three-dimensional in a short period. Users of strata plan usually find it difficult to translate the traditional two-dimensional (2D) data on maps they see on a flat piece of paper to three-dimensional (3D). The TLS is able to record thousands of point clouds which contains very rich of geometry details and made the processing usually takes longer time. In addition, the demand of strata survey work has made the surveyors need to obtain the data with full of accuracy and time saves. Therefore, the aim of this study is to study the limitation uses of TLS and its suitability for strata building survey. In this study, the efficiency of TLS Leica C10 for strata building survey was determined in term of its accuracy and comparing with Zeb-Revo Handheld Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) and the distometer. The accuracy for scanned data from both, TLS and MLS were compared with the Distometer by using root mean square error (RMSE) formula. Then, the 3D model of the building for both data, TLS and MLS were produced to analyze the visualization for different type of scanners. The software used; Autodesk Recap, Autodesk Revit, Leica Cyclone Software, Autocad Software and Geo Slam Software. The RMSE for TLS technique is 0.001m meanwhile, RMSE for MLS technique is 0.007 m. The difference between these two techniques is 0.006 m. The 3D model of building for both models did not have too much different but the scanned data from TLS is much easier to process and generate the 3D model compared to scanned data from MLS. It is because the scanned data from TLS comes with an image, while none from MLS scanned data. There are limitations of TLS for strata building survey such as water and glass window but this study proved that acquiring data by TLS is better than using MLS

THREE-DIMENSIONAL RECORDING AND PHOTOREALISTIC MODEL RECONSTRUCTION FOR VIRTUAL MUSEUM APPLICATION – AN EXPERIENCE IN MALAYSIA

In recent years, museums are utilizing the ability of virtual reality (VR) technologies to visualize their collections in three-dimensional (3D) environment. The demands for 3D digitization of cultural heritage have increase greatly to facilitate the development of virtual museum. Among the available techniques, the use of laser scanning for digital recording and 3D reproduction of the heritage sites and archaeological artefacts are technically more reliable due to its rapid and high resolution data capture. However, the suitable 3D laser scanners used greatly depend on the level of details and size of an object. This research used medium and close-range type of laser scanners to digitally record the heritage objects. The aim of this research was to develop methodology framework for digital recording and 3D reproduction of archaeological artefact and heritage sites in Malaysia by using terrestrial laser scanning technology. Besides, this research focused on the reconstruction of photorealistic 3D models based on the colour information yield by close-range photogrammetry. The colour descriptions were obtained either by built-in camera or externally integrated camera on the laser scanner. For better colour descriptions, external images were captured by independent Nikon D300s digital camera. The geometric model accuracy of A’Famosa and terracotta Buddha statuette was in 5 mm and 0.41 mm respectively. 3D flythrough animation was rendered by using the coloured point clouds model. The development of 3D Virtual Walkthrough Museum (3DVWM) utilized the 3D PDF document and SCENE WebShare platform to offer realistic visualization experience to the visitors where the reality-based models could be manipulate in 3D geometric aspects and use of metric analysis. Thus, 3DVWM can facilitate the virtual museum application in Malaysia and enable wider visitors to virtually appreciate the cultural heritage in Malaysia. Thus, this indirectly stimulates the tourism industry in our country

Sensitivity and specificity of waist circumference as a single screening tool for identification of overweight and obesity among Malaysian adults

Generalised obesity and central obesity are risk factors for Type II diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Waist circumference (WC) has been suggested as a single screening tool for identification of overweight or obese subjects in lieu of the body mass index (BMI) for weight management in public health program. Currently, the recommended waist circumference cut-off points of ≥ 94cm for men and ≥80cm for women (waist action level 1) and ≥ 102cm for men and ≥ 88cm for women (waist action level 2) used for identification of overweight and obesity are based on studies in Caucasian populations. The objective of this study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the recommended waist action levels, and to determine optimal WC cut-off points for identification of overweight or obesity with central fat distribution based on BMI for Malaysian adults. Data from 32,773 subjects (14,982 men and 17,791 women) aged 18 and above who participated in the Third National Health Morbidity Survey in 2006 were analysed. Sensitivity and specificity of WC at waist action level 1 were 48.3% and 97.5% for men; and 84.2% and 80.6% for women when compared to the cut-off points based on BMI ≥25kg/m 2. At waist action level 2, sensitivity and specificity were 52.4% and 98.0% for men, and 79.2% and 85.4% for women when compared with the cut-off points based on BMI (≥30 kg/m 2). Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that the appropriate screening cut-off points for WC to identify subjects with overweight (≥25kg/m 2) was 86.0cm (sensitivity=83.6%, specificity=82.5%) for men, and 79.1cm (sensitivity=85.0%, specificity=79.5%) for women. Waist circumference cut-off points to identify obese subjects (BMI≥30 kg/m 2) was 93.2cm (sensitivity=86.5%, specificity=85.7%) for men and 85.2cm (sensitivity=77.9%, specificity=78.0%) for women. Our findings demonstrated that the current recommended waist circumference cut-off points have low sensitivity for identification of overweight and obesity in men. We suggest that these newly identified cut-off points be considered