Ambulance Response Time at Three Selected Tertiary Hospitals In Malaysia: Performance of Hospital-Based Ambulance Equipped With Computerized Call Centre System

AbstractIntroduction. The importance of rapid ambulance response to emergency medical crises is undeniable and early access to advanced care is a crucial to safe life. Modern computerized call centre and the hospital based ambulance are believed to enhance the quality of service delivery. However, whether it will further reduce the response time is debatable.Methodology. A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2012 until July 2012 at three selected tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. The aims were to determine and compare the association of response time in the hospital based ambulance and community-based ambulance and hospital with computerized call centre system and the call centre using voice only respectively. The ambulance response time was expressed in a median and interquartile range (IQR) and Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the associations between types of ambulance and computerized call centre system versus voice only. Wilcoxon Rank Sign Test was used to assess the significance of means difference.Result. A hospital-based ambulance had the median of 0.19 minutes while community-based ambulance had the median of 0.20 minutes (The Z score - 0.916, P value - 0.360). The hospital with computer call centre had the median of 0.19 minutes while hospital without computer call centre had the median of 0.20 minutes (The Z score - 0.816, P value - 0.414).Conclusions. The response time of hospital-based ambulance equipped with computerized call center system is comparable in three selected tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. Keywords: Ambulance response time; Hospital-based ambulance; computerised call centre

Pemahaman murid tahun lima tentang luas segi empat: Kajian awal

Kajian ini berlandaskan konstruktivisme radikal, bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti pemahaman murid Tahun Lima tentang luas segi empat dan kedua untuk mengenal. posit bagaimana pemahaman tentang luas yang dimiliki oleh murid Tahun Lima digunakan dalam menyelesaikan masalah membabitkan luas segi empat. Dalam konteks ini, kontruktivisme radikal membantu untuk menjawab persoalan kajian tentang pemahaman yang dipunyai oleh murid melalui aktiviti berbeza membabitkan gambaran mental tentang segi empat, pentafsiran rajah segi empat, perwakilan segi empat, gambaran mental tentang luas segi empat, makna tentang luas segi empat, dan penyelesaian masalah membabitkan luas segi empat. Data bagi kajian .ini merangkumi maklumat lisan dan bukan lisan yang dikumpulkan dan 6 orang murid Tahun Lima. Setiap sesi temuduga klinikal dirakammkan dengan video dan audio dan mengambil masa antara 45 minit sehingga 1 jam. Penganalisisan data membabitkan 4 peringkat, iaitu transkripsi rakaman audio dan video kepada bentuk bertulis, data mentah dalam bentuk protokol bertulis diolah dan disusun mengikut tema tertentu dan membentuk kajian kes yang membabitkan pemerihalan tingkahh laku peserta kajian tentang aspek tertentu luas segi empat, penganalisan merentasi peserta kajian, dan pengenalpastian pemahaman tentang luas segi empat yang dimiliki murid Tahun Lima. Hasil dapatan kajian pada peringkat awal bagi seorang murid Tahun Lima mendapati murid itu menggambarkan konsep segi tiga dan segi empat sebagai benda dalam kehidupan harian dan bentuk lukisan rajah. Gambaran mental tentang luas segi tiga dan luas segi empat berkisar dalam idea -: dimensi dalam bentuk tiga dimensi. Seterusnya, luas segi empat diiafsirkan sebagai penambahan panjang sisi dalam konteks peraturan perimeter dan sebagai bilangan unit dalam konteks banyak kepada satu

Statistical Analysis Of Solid Waste Generated In Selected Palm Oil Mill In Malaysia.

Similar types of industry sometimes have different solid waste management. In this study, Discriminant Analysis (DA) and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) were applied to analyze the solid waste generation from the perspective of the amount of solid wastes generated such as empty fruit bunches (EFB), potash ash, fibre, and shell from 5 different oil palm mills industry

Production of the lactic acid from mango peel waste – Factorial experiment

AbstractThe production of lactic acid from mango peels using the bio-fermentation method was investigated. The possible relationship between the operational factors, namely process temperature (15 and 35 °C), initial medium pH (4 and 10) and duration of fermentation (3 and 6 days) on lactic acid production as the response was determined using the factorial design. Analysis of the data obtained showed there was a strong significant influence of the operational factors and their interactions on lactic acid production (P < 0.0001) of fermenting microorganisms. The regression model for lactic acid production fitted the data adequately and explained more than 99% of the variation in the response. The results also showed that the maximum production of lactic acid can be achieved at initial medium pH of 10; incubation time of 6 days; and at a temperature of 35 °C. The maximum production of lactic acid was 17.484 g/L. This study highlights the potential of mango peels as a low cost and economically viable fermentation substrate for the production of lactic acid

Sterilization and extraction of palm oil from screw pressed palm fruit fiber using supercritical carbon dioxide

The supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) was successfully used in the complete sterilization as well as simultaneous extraction of oil from screw pressed palm fruit fiber. The studies were conducted at different temperatures (40, 50, 70 °C) and pressures (13.7, 20.7 MPa) for 60 min of extraction period. The bacteria, gram negative (Bacillus), present in the sample was completely killed at 20.7 MPa and 50 °C. Palmitic and oleic acid were found to be the major fatty acids in extracted oil. More saturated fatty acid were extracted at 50 °C and lower operating pressure (13.7 MPa). The unsaturated components, such as linoleic and oleic acids were extracted at higher pressures of 27.6 and 34.5 MPa, respectively. The fatty acids composition of the extracted oil analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) includes caprylic, capric, lauric, myristic, palmitic, margaric, stearic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, arachidic and gadoleic acids

High-pressure enzymatic hydrolysis to reveal physicochemical and thermal properties of bamboo fiber using a supercritical water fermenter

Bamboo fiber was treated using a high-pressure enzyme hydrolysis process. The process performance was compared with the pulping and bleaching process for bamboo fiber.Several analytical methods, including field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry, were employed to determine the physicochemical and thermal properties of the treated cellulosic bamboo fiber. It was found that the pressurized enzyme hydrolysis treated bamboo fiber had the most uniform morphological structure, along with lowest crystallinity and highest thermal stability. Thus, utilizing high-pressure enzyme hydrolysis is the most effective process for treating fiber to remove non-cellulosic components from the raw material, including lignin, hemicelluloses, and waxy materials

Temporal change detection of land use/land cover using GIS and remote sensing techniques in South Ghor Regions, Al-Karak, Jordan

This study examines the spatial and temporal changes of land use and land cover in South Ghor, Jordan. Satellite images for the years 1972, 1989, 1999 and 2016 were used for LULC supervised classification techniques, four LULC classes were decided: built-up areas, pastures and bare land, agricultural land and water bodies. For the accuracy of assessment classifications, matrix error and KAPPA analysis have been used in this paper. The analysis detected by supervised classification techniques show that agricultural land and built-up land have increased, while barren land and water bodies have decreased. It is predicted that the study would significantly contribute to better policy making, sustainable development and developing useful change detection planes for the south ghor regions and similar regions of the country.Keywords: land use/land cover change; change detection; classification; remote sensing; GI

Flexural behaviour of the two-way spanning reinforced concrete slab using spherical plastic bubble balls

The use of conventional reinforced concrete in the construction industry increases each year, especially in developing countries. However, the concrete content, particularly cement production contributed to the greenhouse gas emission subsequently increase to climate change. Thus, the reinforced concrete slab containing high-density polyethene (HDPE) hollow spherical plastic bubble balls also known as bubble deck slabs were introduced for sustainable construction. This type of slab forms a slab that has less concrete volume compared to the normal solid reinforced concrete slab. Although this unique system can facilitate up to a 50% longer span compared to the conventional reinforced concrete solid slab, yet, it can cause the performance of the slab structure such as flexural and shear capacity may be affected due to the thirty to forty per cent of fewer concrete volumes. Hence, this paper studies the comparison of the performance of the two-way supported slabs; reinforced bubble deck slab and normal solid reinforced concrete slab after being subjected to the area loading. The square slabs are 1200mm by 1200mm in width and length with a thickness of 235mm. The investigations of the experiments included flexural strength, bending stiffness and load-deflection behaviour due to the impact of the area loading. Also, the crack propagation and crack pattern which differs also was shown for each type of slab system, especially in shear strength