Design and Development of a portable Pulse Oximetry system

Heart is the most important part in human body. Thus, it is important to follow-up and monitor its condition. Heart rate (HR) and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) are important indicators directly related to heart-pulmonary system. Monitoring of HR and SpO2 offers us a good indication of heart functionality. Therefore, it is crucial to design and develop a homemade inexpensive device for measuring HR and SpO2. Pulse Oximeter (PO) is an opto-electronic non-invasive medical instrument capable of measuring and recording the changes of HR and SpO2 at the finger tip. In this paper we will demonstrate the overall process involved in the development of a portable (PO) system which can be used for health condition monitoring or for educational and research purposes

Persepsi industri hospitaliti terhadap golongan pekerja berkeperluan khas (masalah pendengaran)

Kerjaya merupakan salah satu keperluan bagi setiap manusia samada golongan normal mahupun golongan berkeperluan khas. Kerjaya merupakan laluan bagi manusia untuk mencari sumber pendapatan untuk memastikan kelangsungan hidup. Namun, terdapat isu berkaitan pengangguran terhadap golongan berkeperluan khas. Oleh itu kajian ini dilaksanakan untuk mengenal pasti persepsi industri hospitaliti terhadap golongan berkeperluan khas (masalah pendengaran) serta mengenal pasti cabaran yang dihadapi oleh industri dalam pengambilan pekerja berkeperluan khas (masalah pendengaran). Selain itu kajian ini juga dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti keperluan kriteria yang diharapkan oleh industri hospitaliti. Kajian ini melibatkan 28 syarikat di bawah sektor hospitaliti yang terdapat di sekitar Batu Pahat dan Muar, Johor. Seramai 88 orang majikan yang terdiri daripada pengurus, penyelia, ketua-ketua bahagian dan pekerja yang terlibat dengan pekerja berkeperluan khas (masalah pendengaran) adalah responden dalam kajian ini. Kajian ini menggunakan borang soal selidik sebagai instrument kajian. Data yang diperoleh dianalisis menggunakan kaedah deskriptif menggunakan perisian SPSS (Statistic Package for the Social Science) versi 16.0. Hasil dapatan menunjukkan tahap penerimaan industri hospitaliti terhadap golongan pekerja berkeperluan khas (masalah pendengaran) berada pada tahap sederhana

Physicochemical and Microbiological Quality of Selected Commercial and Traditional Honey in Klang Valley Market, Malaysia

This study was intended to determine the physicochemical and microbiological quality of commercial and traditional honey in Klang Valley. Eleven honey samples from different origins were obtained and examined. Commercial honey samples were labelled as A, B, C, D, E and F and traditional honey samples consisted of Yemeni Sidr honey, Red Tualang honey, Black Tualang honey, Acacia honey and Fraser Hills Tualang honey. Physicochemical quality such as sugar content moisture content, water activity, pH and colour were measured. The pH value for commercial honey reached from pH 3.48 to 3.97 while the pH value for traditional honey reached from 3.07 to 4.72. The moisture content of commercial honey ranged from 17.53% to 18.93% compared to moisture content for traditional honey ranged from 18.03% to 20.67%. The water activity for commercial and traditional honey was in the range 0.56 to 0.62 aw and 0.52 to 0.62aw, respectively. Total sugar content obtained for commercial honey varied from 79.27 to 81.73 g/mL while total sugar content obtained for traditional honey were slightly higher, from 80 to 83.77 g/mL. Colour revealed that commercial honey, D, has the darkest colour compared to other honey (*L=2.11±0.08, *a=-0.02±0.21, *b=1.63±0.15). Standard plate count and yeast and mould were carried out to determined microbiological quality of honey. Generally, honey samples A, B, C, D and Acacia honey were considered safe, as no growth was detected on standard plate count. Less than 10 CFU/g was detected in Honey E, Black Tualang honey and Fraser Hills Tualang honey. There was no growth of yeast and mould count except for Red Tualang honey with not more than 10 CFU/g. Results in this study are within the limits of standards and are comparable with previous reports on honey from various countries

Attitudes of Students at Sultan Qaboos University towards the Nursing Profession

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) students towards the nursing profession. Methods: A sample of 377 students (male = 130; female = 247) were selected from different colleges of SQU, including the College of Nursing. A questionnaire was constructed and validated to assess the attitudes of SQU students towards the nursing profession. Results: Findings revealed that both male and female students in all academic years and colleges had positive attitudes toward the nursing profession. The findings also revealed that gender and academic year created no significant differences (P <0.05) among the study participants, but that the students’ college affiliation did have a significant effect on their attitudes. In particular, nursing students had more positive attitudes than students of other colleges. Conclusion: Findings indicated that the attitudes of SQU students towards the nursing profession were positive, especially those of the nursing students. This means that serious efforts should be made to continue to promote the nursing profession and so ensure that it remains positively regarded by all concerned

Mechanics model for simulating RC hinges under reversed cyclic loading

Describing the moment rotation (M/θ) behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) hinges is essential in predicting the behavior of RC structures under severe loadings, such as under cyclic earthquake motions and blast loading. The behavior of RC hinges is defined by localized slip or partial interaction (PI) behaviors in both the tension and compression region. In the tension region, slip between the reinforcement and the concrete defines crack spacing, crack opening and closing, and tension stiffening. While in the compression region, slip along concrete to concrete interfaces defines the formation and failure of concrete softening wedges. Being strain-based, commonly-applied analysis techniques, such as the moment curvature approach, cannot directly simulate these PI behaviors because they are localized and displacement based. Therefore, strain-based approaches must resort to empirical factors to define behaviors, such as tension stiffening and concrete softening hinge lengths. In this paper, a displacement-based segmental moment rotation approach, which directly simulates the partial interaction behaviors in both compression and tension, is developed for predicting the M/θ response of an RC beam hinge under cyclic loading. Significantly, in order to develop the segmental approach, a partial interaction model to predict the tension stiffening load slip relationship between the reinforcement and the concrete is developed.Ahmad Azim Shukri, Phillip Visintin, Deric J. Oehlers and Mohd Zamin Jumaa

Antimicrobial activity and bioactive evaluation of Plectranthus amboinicus essential oil

Abstract Plectranthus amboinicus or locally known as bangun

Integrated control of electrical discharge machining (EDM) using PSoC

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is one of the earliest non-conventional machining in order to manufacture very accurate 3-D complex components on any electrically conductive materials. In die-sinking EDM, a pulse discharge occurs in a small spark gap between electrically conductive workpiece and electrode in dielectric medium. This paper proposed a new integrated control system using Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC) for Die-sinking EDM in order to enhance Material Removal Rate (MRR). The MRR result of EDM-PSoC system is higher than EDM-Ben Fleming system due to the effect off high speed processing data analysis using PID algorithm in PSoC microcontroller and leads to improving system efficiency 41%