The Efficacy of Garlic in Alleviating Phenanthrene and Chrysene Induced Pulmonary Injury in Rats

Air pollution specifically referring to haze consists of numerous particles including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). These particles consist of various compound including phenanthrene (Phen) and chrysene (Chry). Both of these are among hazardous compounds which are found during the haze periods back in 1997 in Malaysia. This situation had a great impact on health and also on the economic status of the country as well. In finding strategies and bringing about a remission of noxious haze effects in humans, acute and chronic exposure to Phen, Chry and their combination were studied in rats. The acute exposure studies were conducted to evaluate apoptosis in the lung of rats following with Phen, Chry and Phen+Chry. Rats not receiving any treatment served as control while those administered with Phen, Chry and Phen+Chry were instilled at the dose of 14.87ng (7.4mI), 7.07ng (3.5ml) and 21.94ng (10.9m1) respectively. Animals in control and treated group were euthanised at 1, 8 and 24 hours post instillation (p.i.). Apoptosis detection was made on H&E stained paraffin-embedded sections, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling analysis (TUNEL) and DNA laddering of lung samples. Selected proteases were also examined from lung lavage of all rats. Apoptosis were observed in pneumocytes and bronchial epithelium of rats euthanised at the specific time pj and the percentage of apoptotic cells increased with time, especially in 24 hours pj.which were highest for group especially the combination group (p<0.05). This was confirmed by TUNEL analysis and DNA laddering. As for proteases, there was also elevation in the content of total protein, number of neutrophil and level of elastase. This activity also showed increased with time as compared to normal. The chronic exposure study was conducted on changes in the lung of Phen, Chry and Phen+Chry. These rats were kept for three months to assess histopathologic findings, immune response, level of marker enzyme, proteases and the effects of raw garlic as an anti-tumour factor. Rats from the control group, Phen, Chry and Phen+Chry were daily fed with commercial rat pellet while rats from garlic (G), Phen+G, Chry+G and Phen+Chry+G were fed with rat pellet mixed with garlic at the rate of 80 mg/kg body-weightlrat/day. From the observation rats from Phen, Chry and Phen+Chry group showed growth disturbances in pneumocytes and bronchial epitheliam including pulmonary mechanisms. Morphological changes including hyperplasia and metaplasia were among the finding in treatment groups. Necrosis was also detected in these groups. Rats induced with Phen and Chry particles showed a low level of IgG and IgA and alveolar macrophage activity in the lung. Furthermore, rats treated with these particles showed an elevation in glutathione-S-transferase and proteases activity. Rats treated with garlic had no significant lesions and marked elevation in pulmonary defense mechanism. Lastly, acute and chronic exposure to environmental pollutants such as Phen and Chry incites injury to the lung. Garlic has shown to be a great potential in alleviating chronic injury induced by Phen and Chry in the treated rats

Metode pentafsiran gender Musdah Mulia

Musdah dikenal sebagai tokoh feminis muslimah Indonesia yang sangat lantang menyuarakan kesetaraan gender. Beliau mendakwa pentafsiran klasik telah menempatkan wanita lebih rendah daripada lelaki kerana dipengaruhi oleh kehidupan sosial yang patriarki, ekonomi dan politik yang berkembang pada ketika itu. Akibatnya, pentafsiran klasik telah dijadikan sebagai rujukan teologi untuk merendahkan kedudukan wanita. Beliau bukan sekadar mengkritik pentafsiran klasik, malah mempertikai metode yang biasa digunakan ulama dalam mentafsirkan al-Quran. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui dan mengenal pasti metode dan pendekatan tafsir gender Musdah. Dalam menjalankan kajian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan merujuk bahan-bahan kepustakaan dan berbentuk analisis dokumen. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa model pentafsiran Musdah adalah bi al-ra’yi (pemikiran), malah boleh dikategorikan dengan tafsir bi al-ra’yi mazmum (pemikiran tercela). Manakala metode yang digunakan adalah mawdūci (tematik), ini dapat dilihat daripada pentafsiran beliau yang berdasarkan tema-tema. Selain itu, Musdah juga menggunakan beberapa pendekatan pentafsiran, iaitu pendekatan analisis gender, tafsir perspektif wanita, kritik sejarah dan bahasa Arab. Implikasi kajian ini adalah mendedahkan metode tafsir gender yang digunakan Musdah. Pentafsiran yang diasaskan kepada pemikiran semata-mata perlu untuk diwaspadai demi memahami Islam yang sebena

Aplikasi kaedah pentafsiran ayat Mutashabihat dalam tafsir Melayu

Para ulama tafsir terdahulu telah banyak mentafsirkan ayat Mutashabihat. Beberapa kaedah pentafsiran telah digunakan dalam mentafsirkan ayat Mutashabihat mengikut pelbagai mazhab iaitu mazhab ulama golongan Ahli Sunnah, Mushabbihah, Mujassimah, Muktazilah dan Rawafid. Perbahasan ayat Mutashabihat juga banyak dibahaskan dalam tafsir-tafsir Melayu. Oleh itu, kajian ini mempunyai signifikasi yang tinggi untuk mengenal pasti kaedah pentafsiran ulama tafsir yang terdahulu mempengaruhi pentafsiran di dalam kitab tafsir Melayu pada masa kini sekaligus mengetengahkan kitab-kitab tafsir Melayu pada masa kini yang dihasilkan oleh pengarang Melayu. Kaedah analisis kandungan terhadap beberapa kitab tafsir Melayu telah digunakan bagi mendapatkan data dan dianalisis secara deskriptif. Hasil kajian membuktikan bahawa aplikasi tafsir ayat Mutashabihat dalam kitab tafsir Melayu adalah bertepatan dengan kaedah yang digunakan di dalam tafsir-tafsir muktabar seperti Tafsir al-Jalalain, Tafsir Ibnu Kathir, dan lain-lain lagi. Implikasinya dapat memudahkan dan membantu masyarakat Melayu memahami tafsiran ayat Mutashabihat

Analisis fiqh kesetaraan gender Musdah Mulia

Salah satu gerakan yang dilakukan golongan feminis Muslim adalah dekontruksi hukum-hakam fiqh. Musdah sebagai tokoh feminis liberal Indonesia telah mengkritik fiqh klasik kerana dalam pandangan beliau ada ketidakadilan kepada wanita. Beliau juga mendakwa bahawa fiqh klasik hanya sekadar pentafsiran al-Quran dan Sunnah berdasarkan budaya. Oleh itu, ianya sudah tidak relevan lagi dari sisi hukum, begitu juga metodologi. Musdah menawarkan prinsip-prinsip dasar untuk menghadirkan fiqh kesetaraan gender. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis prinsip-prinsip fiqh kesetaraan gender menurut pandangan Musdah. Kajian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan merujuk bahan-bahan kepustakaan dan berbentuk analisis dokumen. Hasil kajian mendapati, Musdah menetapkan enam prinsip dasar untuk menghadirkan fiqh kesetaraan. Pertama, prinsip kemaslahatan. Kedua, prinsip keadilan dan kesetaraan. Ketiga, prinsip hak asasi manusia. Keempat, prinsip pluralisme. Kelima, prinsip nasionalisme. Manakala yang keenam, prinsip demokrasi. Melalui prinsip-prinsip ini beliau telah melakukan rombakan hukum-hakam Islam. Implikasi kajian ini telah mendedahkan hakikat prinsip-prinsip fiqh kesetaraan yang ditawarkan Musdah. Umat Islam hendaklah memperdalam kaedah-kaedah usul fiqh yang digunakan ulama’ supaya tidak mudah terpesong dari ajaran Islam sebenar

Permasalahan pelaksanaan kokurikulum di sekolah menengah di negeri Perlis

Cocurriculum in school have been part from the education system in Malaysia currently. It has become compulsory one activity to every student in all secondary school and primary school. Cocurriculum activity considered important us device to fulfil the aspiration ideal national education policy, that is unity among students which comprise from multi-racial. Jawatankuasa Kabinet's Report (1979) had said that every student need to be encouraged so participate a more active in cocurriculum activity. Each student required to participate in a-body with uniform, a sport or game and a club or association in school. Cocurricular activity is part and parcel of the school curriculum. It is important asa it contributes to physical, mental, emotional and social development of students. The success in the implementation of cocurricular activity would depend on several factors such as finance, facilities and adequate equipment as well as proper involment by students and teachers. The primary objective of this study is to identify the problems in the implementation of cocurricular activity in five selected secondary schools in country of Perlis, five principle, 100 cocurricular teachers and I50 students were chosen as sample in the study. This is an exploratoly study and data were gathered through discussion, interviews and questionnaires. "Descriptive Statistic" and kualitatives imformations were use to analyse the data of this study. The results of this study showed that all the five selected schools faced inadequate facilities and equipment as well as financial problems. The selected schools. also problem in scheduling the activities. The cocurricular teachers most of them were not trained to supervise the activities. Further most of the students in this study were found to be involved cocurricular. nose who were involved were self-motivated by teachers, friends and their parents. On the other hand those who not involved indicated that they had to help their parents at home and problem facilities and adequate equipment. This study has also identified the opinions of the five principle and cocurricular teachers on the importance of the cocurricular activities in an all-round development of students and suggestions and recommendation or improving the implementation of cocurricular activities in state school of Perli

A Review of Service Quality at Higher Learning Institutions

In light of plenty of challenges and obstacles facing higher learning institutions, that include increasing tuitions fees, funding shrinkages, if not cuts, worries of decreasing numbers of students or preventing them in pursuing their education, and more importantly, accomplishing a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace of higher education, universities pay more attention and make all these challenges and obstacles at the top of its agendas. These pressing challenges have called on universities around the world to look for ways through which they can tackle them. Universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have not also been left behind in the wind of change that seems to have swept through the service sector. Service quality is a model developed under the management field in order to facilitate effective measurement of quality of services provided by any organisation, whether public or private. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to determine which of the five instruments of service quality has the relative superior measuring capability in measuring service quality in Saudi Arabian higher learning institutions. It also attempts to review the various models developed in service quality. The overall literature focuses on service quality at higher learning institutions. The conclusion of this paper shows that although higher learning institutions in Saudi Arabia have already joined in the implementation of service quality using various instruments, they still have not yet made a significant progress in the newly adopted system and there is lack of enough so far on this regard. Keywords: Service Quality, Higher Learning Institutions

Factors Influencing Early Retirement Intention of Teacher Leaders in Secondary Schools

The Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) is committed to ensuring that teachers serve until the end of their service. However, there is an increase in the intention for early retirement among teachers. Hence, this study aimed to identify the factors influencing early retirement intention among the teacher leaders of secondary schools. Seven teacher leaders were purposely selected: senior assistants, senior teachers, heads of departments, and heads of six core subjects for Malaysian Certificate Examination from secondary schools in Kelantan, Malaysia. The qualitative data obtained through interviews were analyzed thematically. The findings analysis found eight contributing factors: lack of information technology skills, health problems, role conflict, financially stable, career satisfaction, wanting family time, filling time meaningfully, and venturing into other fields. To reduce the desire for early retirement, this study suggested that relevant partiesrelevant partiesrelevant partiesrelevant partiesrelevant parties should give all factors as contributors attention should give all factors as contributors attention should give all factors as contributors attention should give all factors as contributors attention should give all factors as contributors attention

Compressed Natural Gas Direct Injection: Comparison Between Homogeneous and Stratified Combustion

Due to abundance of natural gas, the use of natural gas for automotive use, particularly for internal combustion engine (ICE), is more practical and cheaper than their future successors. Even though natural gas is a cleaner fuel than other fossil fuels and has a higher octane number and can lead to higher thermal efficiency, its low carbon number makes it less attractive as compared to gasoline and diesel. Based on its potential, an engine referred to as compressed natural gas direct injection engine (CNGDI) was designed, developed and tested to operate on compressed natural gas (CNG) as monofuel directly and centrally injected into the engine. Computational and experimental works have been performed to investigate the viability of the design. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and experimental works with homogenous combustion showed that the results were in good agreement. From experimental works, it is found that combustion characteristics could be improved by using a stratified charge piston configuration with some drawback on performance. In terms of exhaust emissions, stratified configuration causes slight increase in the emission of CO, CO2 and NOx, which highlight a need for further study on this issue

Wood reinvented

Lignocellulosic material which comprises lignin, hemicelluloses, and cellulose is a sustainable and renewable resource and it can come from forest and agricultural wastes and urban waste. 75 % of the lignocelluloses are made up of carbohydrates. Polysaccharides are the major cell wall constituents in the plant cell with the total amount up to 80 % of the total weight of the woody material. The simple sugar monomers in the polysaccharides can be converted into lactic acid through enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation process

Students’ Quality Learning Experience: Key to further studies in the same university

This study investigates the expected learning experience that determines their desire to further their studies at the same university. A cross sectional analysis was done on 190 undergraduate students in a public higher learning institution.  Their opinions were sought regarding the present quality of services offered by the university. The students were very concerned about the quality of teaching, their lecturers and the facilities on offer, and more so the course fees structure, technology, and support systems. There is a need to look again at some of the major complaints addressed, which could guarantee the return of these students to its doorstep.Keywords: Satisfaction; learning experience; quality services; private university; Malaysia.ISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia