Amanat Naib Canselor UiTM : Dewan Agong Tuanku Canselor 2011 : 10 Februari 2011 / Dato' Prof. Ir. Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar

Dengan penuh takzim dan rendah hati, saya melafazkan kesyukuran, dan puji-pujian ke hazrat Allah Azza wa Jalla atas segala kurnia dan rahmat-Nya, memberi kelapangan waktu, ruang, serta kesihatan, untuk kita sama-sama berhimpun di dewan yang indah ini, sempena Majlis Penyampaian Amanat Tahun Baru saya, sebagai Naib Canselor UiTM, bagi tahun ini, tahun 2011

Prognostic equation based on artificial neural network for quantitative rainfall forecast using numerical weather prediction model products / Wardah Tahir … [et al.]

In Malaysia, there are two types of flood that normally occur namely, monsoon flood and flash flood. Floods associated with the monsoonal rainfall events are common occurrences on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia during the northeast monsoon season. Every year tropical monsoon storms result in severe flooding and causes enormous economic damage, social disruption, and sometimes loss of lives. Extreme monsoon storm weather phenomenon is the most destructive natural disaster afflicting Malaysia with respect to the cost, damages to properties and the area of extent (Keizrul and Chong, 2002). Given the sparseness of ground based observations, missing records and uneven distribution of the existing raingauge network, there is no adequate and timely information about rainfall pattern in Malaysia. An alternative source of quantitative precipitation information is from the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model products. However, the accuracy of quantitative precipitation forecast produced by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) is still lacking even though significant progress has been made on the technical aspects (Low, 2006) . The study examined the effectiveness of two high resolution Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models namely the Fifth Generation Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale (MM5) and Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) in predicting Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF) over a tropical region. In this study, Kelantan River Basin has been selected as the case study to evaluate the performance and accuracy of precipitation forecast produced by the NWP models for monsoon flood events in the catchment area. Hourly and daily total rainfall data in year 2009 had been analysed. The rainfall events were further classified into low, moderate and heavy rainfall by using Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) Malaysia standard. The performance and accuracy of the NWP model outputs against rainfall amount was verified using Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and correlation (r). Notably, the statistical verification shows that there is quite strong correlation for 24 hourly rainfall forecast and the RMSE values are smaller for short range forecast (hourly up to 24 hourly). It is also noted that the longer the rainfall forecast duration, the higher probability of detection (POD) and the lesser probability of the false alarm ratio (FAR)

Predictor of academic performance: personality traits and catechol-O-methyltransferase polymorphisms

Personality traits and genetics are important factors in determining academic performance. Although there have been studies on the association between genetics and academic performance, there is limited data on the effect of personality traits and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 polymorphism on academic performance, particularly among university students in Malaysia. The objective of this study was to correlate the relationship between personality traits, COMT rs4680 polymorphism, and academic performance among health sciences undergraduate students at a Malaysian university. The research design was a correlational study where 221 students were recruited based on the convenient sampling approach. The demographic and international personality item pool (IPIP) questionnaires were administered online, whereas the COMT rs4680 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was determined using a tetra-primer allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). From the IPIP results, the conscientiousness trait was positively and significantly correlated with academic performance (r=0.141, p=0.036). Participants with homozygous Met/Met allele of the COMT rs4680 polymorphism tended to perform better in academics (p=0.009) as compared to participants with homozygous Val/Val and heterozygous Val/Met alleles. As a conclusion, students with a higher conscientiousness score and carriers of the homozygous Met/Met allele of COMT rs4680 showed better academic performance

The Effects of Exercise on the Psycho-cognitive Function of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in the Young Adults

The benefit of exercise in inducing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) functions in relation to cognition had been reported. Nevertheless, the ambiguity remains with regards to the types of exercise and the duration of exercise required for one to have beneficial effects. In this study, we aimed to analyse the effects of varying modes of exercises and the duration required to improve BDNF functions, specifically in the young adults. The types of exercises evaluated in the meta-analysis include (1) single bout of acute aerobic exercise, (2) repeated and frequent sessions of aerobic exercise (program exercise) over a course of several weeks, and (3) resistance training. Only a single bout of acute aerobic exercise (z=4.92, p=0.00001) is sufficient to cause an increase in BDNF following exercise intervention, while program exercise (z=1.02, p=0.31) and resistance training (z=0.92, p=0.36) demonstrated inconsistencies, some exhibited significant increase in BDNF levels while others exhibited similar results with the control groups

Signatory metabolomics biomarkers of stress, anxiety, and depression: a proof of concept for precision health among university students: A cross-sectional study

Purpose The highly competitive nature of tertiary education and the pressure to perform academically have increased psychological morbidity like emotional distress. Untargeted metabolomics was used to analyze serum samples of university students for biomarkers and perturbated metabolism due to stress, anxiety, and depression (SAD). Methods Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) was used to assess the severity of SAD in university students. The metabolite fingerprint of each subject was obtained using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry quadrupole time-of-flight (LC/MS QTOF). The signature metabolites for each trait were determined by projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) with variable importance for the projection (VIP) score > 1.0 (P<0.05) and subjected to analysis using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Potential biomarkers with an area under the curve (AUC) value exceeding 0.65 were identified. Results Various groups of glycerophospholipids were upregulated in the studied traits. On the other hand, metabolites such as glycocholic acid was upregulated in depression, while hypoxanthine was upregulated in anxiety, and PE-Cer(d14:1(4E)/22:1(13Z)) was upregulated in stress. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the relationship of the differentially expressed metabolites in university students of different categories of SAD using the DASS-21 screening tool in Malaysia as we move forward with precision health

Teks Ucapan Yang Berbahagia Dato' Prof. Ir. Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar sempena Majlis Amanat Tahun Baru 2010 : Dewan Sri Budiman, 25 Januari 2010 / Dato' Prof. Ir. Dr. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar

Teks ucapan sempena Majlis Amanat Tahun Baru 2010