A Pilot Study on the Quality of Life in Family Caregivers of Cancer Patients at an Urban Tertiary Hospital in Kuala Lumpur

Background: Family plays an important role in caregiving of cancer patients. There are limited published articles on cancer caregiving in the Malaysian population. The aim of the study was to determine the quality of life (QoL) of cancer patient caregivers and its associated factors. Subjects and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted at an urban tertiary hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A total of 94 family caregivers of all types of cancer patients completed validated questionnaires in the national language. The dependent variable was theQoL in family caregivers, which was measured by the Malay Caregiver Quality of Life–Cancer (MCQOL-C) questionnaire. It consisted of 35 items, and the domains are burden, positive adaptation, disruptiveness, financial concerns and others. The higher the QoL scores, the better the QoL. The independent variables were socio-demographic factors (age, education level, ethnicity, gender, marital status, relationship with patient, any children less than 18 years old, and employment status). The data were analyzed by a linear regression model. Results: The study population (N= 94) comprised of 73.4% females, 38.8% were spouses to cancer patients. The mean age was 45.02+14.65, ranged from 17-78 years old. Half (56.4%) of the study subjects were Malays, 54.3% obtained secondary education, and 50% were not working. The reliability of the questionnaire was good with Cronbach alpha= 0.87. The mean (SD) score of QoL was 80.57 (21.27), ranged from 25-128. The multivariate analysis showed that being non-Malay had lower quality of life than Malay (b= -18.40; 95% CI= 3.10 to 33.70; p= 0.020). Conclusion: Ethnicity affects the QoL of cancer patient caregiving. This provides invaluable insight for developing health care service. Keywords: quality of life, family caregiver, cance

Effect of particle discretisation and horizon size on the displacement and damage plot using bond-based peridynamics

Peridynamics (PD) represents a new non-local theory of continuum mechanics which uses integro differential equations instead of the typical local partial differential equations in its formulation. Thus, it is suitable for modelling fracture mechanics, where a continuum domain is modelled through particles connected via physical interactions. The PD formulation allows us to model spontaneous crack initiation, and crack branching without the need for special mathematical treatment. The value of parameters such as particle discretisation and horizon size will be checked to make sure that it agreed to the result from Finite Element Method (FEM) in elastic deformation before proceed to the failure mode. In PD, failure criterion is established when its stretch value exceeds a prescribed critical stretch value. In the classical bond model or Prototype Microelastic Brittle (PMB), the bond force grows linearly with the bond stretch, and the value suddenly goes down to zero when the bond stretch exceeds its critical value. This study will focus on the effect of horizon size and particle discretisation on PD displacement of elastic analysis, and damage patterns with PMB damage model. The proposed study leads to a better understanding of how horizon size and particle disretisation affect the damage patterns in PD frameworks

A quasi-brittle damage model in the framework of bond-based peridynamics with adaptive dynamic relaxation method

Peridynamics (PD) is a new tool, based on the non-local theory for modelling fracture mechanics, where particles connected through physical interaction used to represent a domain. By using the PD theory, damage or crack in a material domain can be shown in much practical representation. This study compares between Prototype Microelastic Brittle (PMB) damage model and a new Quasi-Brittle (QBR) damage model in the framework of the Bond-based Peridynamics (BBPD) in terms of the damage plot. An in-house code using Matlab was developed for BBPD with inclusion of both damage models, and tested for a quasi-static problem with the implementation of Adaptive Dynamic Relaxation (ADR) method in the theory in order to get a faster steady state solutions. This paper is the first attempt to include ADR method in the framework of BBPD for QBR damage model. This paper analysed a numerical problem with the absence of failure and compared the displacement with literature result that used Finite Element Method (FEM). The obtained numerical results are in good agreement with the result from FEM. The same problem was used with the allowance of the failure to happen for both of the damage models; PMB and QBR, to observe the damage pattern between these two damage models. PMB damage model produced damage value of roughly twice compared to the damage value from QBR damage model. It is found that the QBR damage model with ADR under quasi-static loading significantly improves the prediction of the progressive failure process, and managed to model a more realistic damage model with respect to the PMB damage model

Battery cell balancing optimisation for battery management system

Battery cell balancing in every electrical component such as home electronic equipment and electric vehicle is very important to extend battery run time which is simplified known as battery life. The underlying solution to equalize the balance of cell voltage and SOC between the cells when they are in complete charge. In order to control and extend the battery life, the battery cell balancing is design and manipulated in such way as well as shorten the charging process. Active and passive cell balancing strategies as a unique hallmark enables the balancing of the battery with the excellent performances configuration so that the charging process will be faster. The experimental and simulation covers an analysis of how fast the battery can balance for certain time. The simulation based analysis is conducted to certify the use of optimisation in active or passive cell balancing to extend battery life for long periods of time

Visual Thinking Process and Emotions Through Expressive Art

Background: Drawing has a therapeutic function in the lives of people with special needs.These people need additional support for communication and learning.Researchers believed that drawing is an effective way for these people to show their self-esteem, emotions, social competence, and other hidden personalities. Art therapy teaches knowledge of visual art (drawing and painting). It is also known as expressive art because it assists in dealing with some emotions that are difficult for verbal communication. Furthermore, art therapy is beneficial for fine motor skill development. The aim of this study was to explore the use of expressive art in a group of autistic people. Subjects and Method: This was a qualitative study. A series of art therapy workshop were conducted in University of Malaya in collaboration with Malaysian Rehabilitation Council, and Maybank Foundation. A number of 18 people aged 8-17 years old with autism from Malaysian Rehabilitation Council were invited to University of Malaya for the art therapy workshop. They consisted of Malays, Chinese, and Indians. These peoplehad some level of communication problems. Art therapy workshop was conducted twice a month for 6 month with each session lasted for 4 hours. Art template, art materials, and a list of activities were given to each participant. Before the session, the participants informed the researchers verbally the scope of art that they would be drawing. The researchers observed the thinking process and emotions of the participants through the art activities. Results: Some of the art work was not related to what they have mentioned earlier. We found that art demonstrated their thought process. Drawing was more accurate in visualizing their thinking process rather than verbal communication. Besides, we detected a range of emotions illustrated from their final art work. Some of the emotions were psychological distress, happiness, and sadness. Conclusion: Expressive artis useful for visualizing thinking process of autistic people. Keywords: art therapy, autistic, visual thinking, emotions, expressive ar

ART THERAPY FOR PEOPLE WITH AUTISM

Background: Art therapy is a technique used in mental health profession in which patients with special needs use creative process facilitated by the art therapist to explore patients‘ interpersonal and art skills. Art therapy teaches knowledge of visual art (drawing and painting) and the creative process involved is not only beneficial for fine motor skills development but also assists in dealing with emotions. The objectives were to identify interpersonal skills, to develop art skills and to increase self-esteem through art therapy activities. Subjects and Method: This was a qualitative study. A series of art therapy workshop were conducted in University of Malaya in collaboration with Malaysian Rehabilitation Council, Maybank Foundation, and University of Malaya. A number of 38 participants from Malaysian Rehabilitation Council who were autistic were invited to University of Malaya for the art therapy workshop. Their age range was from 8 – 17 years old and consisted of Malays, Chinese and Indians. It was a participant observer study in which the researcher studied the life of a group by sharing in its activities. Art therapy workshop was conducted for 6 months duration twice a month and each session was for 4 hours. Art template, art materials and a list of activities were given to each participant. Throughout the sessions, the way participants communicate and interact with researcher were documented to identify interpersonal skills. The development of art skills was through the teaching of art using the different art template for each session. Results: From the outcome of the artwork, participants showed increased self-esteem as their art skills improved throughout the art sessions. Conclusion: Art therapy is able to develop interpersonal skills, art skills and increase self-esteem of people with autism. Keywords: Art therapy, autism, interpersonal skills, art skills, self-estee

Development of a Compact Wide-Slot Antenna for Early Stage Breast Cancer Detection Featuring Circular Array Full-View Geometry

A novel planar type antenna printed on a high permittivity Rogers’ substrate is proposed for early stage microwave breast cancer detection. The design is based on a p-shaped wide-slot structure with 50Ω microstrip feeding circuit to eliminate losses of transmission.The design parameters are optimized resulting in a good reflection coefficient at −10 dB from4.5 to 10.9GHz. Imaging result using inhomogeneous breast phantom indicates that the proposed antenna is capable of detecting a 5mm size cancerous tumor embedded inside the fibroglandular region with dielectric contrast between the target and the surroundingmaterials ranging from 1.7:1 to 3.6:1

Fracture response of La61.4Al15.9Ni11.35Cu11.35 bulk metallic glass subjected to quasi-static compression loading

Lanthanum based bulk metallic glass (BMG) is one of the BMG which have the excellent glass-forming ability (GFA). In this empirical study, as-received La61.4Al15.9Ni11.35Cu11.35 bulk metallic glasses were subjected to a quasi-static compression test. The results show the maximum modulus Young’s of 191 GPa, the compressive force of 590 MPa and the compressive displacement at maximum force of 0.35 mm. The La-based BMG were comparable to the 304 stainless steels in term of the mechanical properties. The La-based BMG fracture response from the quasi-static compression test was documented. The fracture response under compressive loading is vital to understand the La-based BMG for the promising used in lightweight alloy applications. identity

Investigation of the Emission Characteristics of Iso-Butanol Additives on Methanol-Gasoline Blends using Spark Ignition Engine / Hazim Sharudin ...[et al.]

Lower emissions of spark ignition engine can be achieved by using alcohol fuels such as methanol as it is more environmental advantage over fossil fuel. The methanol fuels can be further improved by added with iso-butanol as it have higher energy content and able to displace more gasoline fuel. Nevertheless, the research on the addition of lower ratio iso-butanol in methanol-gasoline blends specifically on exhaust emission is still not investigated thoroughly. Therefore, this study will focus on investigating the effect of iso-butanol additive on methanol-gasoline blends on the emission characteristics of spark ignition engine. The lower percentage (5%) of methanol-gasoline fuels was added with lower ratio of iso-butanol (5-15%) with 5% of volume increment. The experimental test were carried out on a 1.6-litre four-cylinder spark ignition engine at a fixed speed of 4000 rpm with increasing engine load form 10 Nm until 100 Nm. The results showed that the iso-butanol additive in methanol-gasoline blends was efficient to reduce the carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbon (HC) formation compared to base fuel. Among all tested fuels, M5B15 (Iso-butanol 15% + Methanol 5% + Gasoline 80%) blend gave lower CO and HC emissions by 12.45% and 16.18% at 100 Nm. Meanwhile, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were higher for all methanol-gasoline blends with iso-butanol additives compared with that base gasoline. M5B15 blends gives higher emissions of NOx and CO2 by 11.45% and 11.74% at 100 Nm. This study summarized that iso-butanol additives can be applied in low percentage methanol-gasoline blends without any modification on the current existing engine, therefore reducing any serious environment impact

Spatial estimation of average daily precipitation using multiple linear regression by using topographic and wind speed variables in tropical climate

Complex topography and wind characteristics play important roles in rising air masses and in daily spatial distribution of the precipitations in complex region. As a result, its spatial discontinuity and behaviour in complex areas can affect the spatial distribution of precipitation. In this work, a two-fold concept was used to consider both spatial discontinuity and topographic and wind speed in average daily spatial precipitation estimation using Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) in tropical climates. First, wet and dry days were identified by the two methods. Then the two models based on MLR (Model 1 and Model 2) were applied on wet days to estimate the precipitation using selected predictor variables. The models were applied for month wise, season wise and year wise daily averages separately during the study period. The study reveals that, Model 1 has been found to be the best in terms of categorical statistics, R2 values, bias and special distribution patterns. However, it was found that sets of different predictor variables dominates in different months, seasons and years. Furthermore, necessities of other data for further enhancement of the results were suggested