Stress level and its influencing factors among employees in a plastic manufacturing and the implication towards work performance

Stress has been viewed as an inevitable consequence of work life. A worker will fell stress when his or her does not match their job requirements. Work stress come from a variety of sources and it can affect people in different ways. In the report The Scale of Occupational Stress (Smith et al., 2000 in Jeremy, 2005) it was estimated that there were 5 million workers suffering the high level of stress at work. The study shows the important outcomes that approximately one in five workers reported stress arising from work. There were cause by excessive workloads or lack of managerial support, ill health and back pain, together with certain health related activities such as smoking and alcohol intake

Stres Dalam Kalangan Guru Sekolah Menengah Di Empat Buah Negeri Di Malaysia (Factors That Contributed Stress Among Secondary School Teachers In Four States In Malaysia)

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti tahap dan faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan stres di kalangan guru sekolah-sekolah menengah. Seramai 400 orang guru dari 16 buah sekolah menengah di empat buah negeri yang dipilih secara kelompok atas kelompok. Soal selidik digunakan dalam kajian ini untuk mengukur lebihan kerja, hubungan interpersonal dan persekitaran kerja (Administrative Stress Index, ASI) dan soal selidik ketandusan emosi, depersonalisasi dan kejayaan diri (General Health Questionnaire, GHQ). Darjah kebolehpercayaan (Alfa Cronbach) bagi kedua-dua instrumen yang digunakan dalam kajian ini ialah 0.7514 dan 0.8827. Hasil daripada kajian menunjukkan bahawa tidak terdapat perbezaan antara faktor-faktor stres di kalangan guru lelaki dan perempuan di sekolah menengah. Para guru menyatakan bahawa tahap stres guru secara keseluruhannya berada pada tahap yang sederhana. Faktor kejayaan diri merupakan faktor yang paling mempengaruhi stres guru. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa tidak terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara faktor-faktor stres dengan umur, bilangan anak dan pengalaman seseorang guru, tetapi didapati faktor kejayaan diri terdapat hubungan dengan pengalaman

Forecasting peak load electricity demand using statistics and rule based approach

Problem statement: Forecasting of electricity load demand is an essential activity and an important function in power system planning and development. It is a prerequisite to power system expansion planning as the world of electricity is dominated by substantial lead times between decision making and its implementation. The importance of demand forecasting needs to be emphasized at all level as the consequences of under or over forecasting the demand are serious and will affect all stakeholders in the electricity supply industry. Approach: If under estimated, the result is serious since plant installation cannot easily be advanced, this will affect the economy, business, loss of time and image. If over estimated, the financial penalty for excess capacity (i.e., over-estimated and wasting of resources). Therefore this study aimed to develop new forecasting model for forecasting electricity load demand which will minimize the error of forecasting. In this study, we explored the development of rule-based method for forecasting electricity peak load demand. The rule-based system synergized human reasoning style of fuzzy systems through the use of set of rules consisting of IF-THEN approximators with the learning and connectionist structure. Prior to the implementation of rule-based models, SARIMAT model and Regression time series were used. Results: Modification of the basic regression model and modeled it using Box-Jenkins auto regressive error had produced a satisfactory and adequate model with 2.41% forecasting error. With rule-based based forecasting, one can apply forecaster expertise and domain knowledge that is appropriate to the conditions of time series. Conclusion: This study showed a significant improvement in forecast accuracy when compared with the traditional time series model. Good domain knowledge of the experts had contributed to the increase in forecast accuracy. In general, the improvement will depend on the conditions of the data, the knowledge development and validation. The rule-based forecasting procedure offered many promises and we hoped this study can become a starting point for further research in this field

Diagnostic Challenges in Right Iliac Fossa Mass Caused by a Fish Bone

Right iliac fossa (RIF) mass is a common condition seen by surgeons. Despite advances in diagnostic modalities, it remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, hence many authors describe RIF mass as temple of surprises. We report a challenging case of a 35-year-old man whopresented with a tender RIF mass. Abdominal ultrasonography (USG) and computed tomography (CT) scan abdomen were done and he was treated nonsurgically. His symptoms recurred after one month and a CT scan abdomen was repeated which revealed a suspicious foreign body within the appendicular mass. Laparotomy was performed which showed a macerated appendix with a 4-cm long fish bone within. The role of diagnostic tools in managing RIF mass and the treatment modality of appendicular mass are discussed. In managing RIF mass, a surgeon must be aware of thevarious differential diagnoses, but common diagnosis should always be entertained. Multi-modal diagnostic tools must be considered, including serial imaging in different planes. Keywords: Appendicitis, Right iliac fossa mass, Fish bon

Individual and community-level socioeconomic position and its association with adolescents experience of childhood sexual abuse : a multilevel analysis of six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

Background: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a substantial global health and human rights problem and consequently a growing concern in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the association between individual and community-level socioeconomic status (SES) and the likelihood of reporting CSA. Methods: We applied multiple multilevel logistic regression analysis on Demographic and Health Survey data for 6,351female adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 years from six countries in sub-Saharan Africa, between 2006 and 2008. Results: About 70% of the reported cases of CSA were between 14 and 17 years. Zambia had the highest proportion of reported cases of CSA (5.8%). At the individual and community level, we found that there was no association between CSA and socioeconomic position. This study provides evidence that the likelihood of reporting CSA cut across all individual SES as well as all community socioeconomic strata. Conclusions: We found no evidence of socioeconomic differentials in adolescents’ experience of CSA, suggesting that adolescents from the six countries studied experienced CSA regardless of their individual- and community-level socioeconomic position. However, we found some evidence of geographical clustering, adolescents in the same community are subject to common contextual influences. Further studies are needed to explore possible effects of countries’ political, social, economic, legal, and cultural impact on Childhood sexual abuse

Statistical prediction of environmental gamma radiation doses, in Perak, Malaysia

The concentrations of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) and their corresponding terrestrial gamma radiation have been shown to be associated with certain lithology and soil types. A possible relationships among gamma radiation levels, and the lithology and soil types make it possible to predict ionizing radiation level of an area that cannot be directly measured. A study was carried out to statistically predict and validate environmental gamma radiation dose rates based on actual field measurements using a sodium iodide detector. Results obtained showed that the predicted dose rate (Dp) may be determined using a multiple correlation regression equation, Dp = 0.35DL + 0.82 Ds – 0.02, that integrates dose rates contributed by different lithological structures (DL) and soil types (Ds). Statistical analysis on 32 different lithology and soil type combinations showed that more than 50% of the predicted data were not significantly different from the data measured in the field. A predicted isodose map was subsequently plotted base on 4 dose rate classes ranging from 0.1 – 0.3 μSv h-1

Hubungan antara sejarah silam dengan perkembangan personaliti di kalangan pelajar bandar dan luar bandar

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui sejauh mana hubungan di antara sejarah silam terhadap perkembangan personaliti di kalangan pelajar bandar dan luar bandar. Sejarah silam dikaji melalui soalselidik berdasarkan empat faktor yang didapati memberi pengaruh iaitu faktor keluarga, rakan, sekolah dan persekitaran. Personaliti yang dikaji ialah agresif, ekstroversi, intoversi, kritik diri dan sokongan. Sampel yang terpilih adalah secara rawak yang terdiri daripada 100 orang pelajar tingkatan empat dan lima yang berumur dalam lingkungan 16 dan 17 tahun. Mereka terdiri daripada pelajar-pelajar Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Skudai mewakili pelajar bandar dan pelajar-pelajar Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan LKTP Ulu Tebrau mewakili pelajar luar bandar. Hasil dapatan kajian rintis yang dijalankan ke atas Pelajar-pelajar Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Taman Universiti (II) mendapati tahap kebolehpercayaan (Alpha Croanbach) ialah 0.7. Data dianalisis menggunakan program SPSS Versi 10.0 untuk mencari kekerapan, peratus, min, Ujian T dan korelasi. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan tidak terdapat hubungan yang signifikan di antara sejarah silam dengan perkembangan personaliti pelajar

Elak skala konflik di Laut China Selatan meningkat

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Hubungan antara lokus kawalan dengan pencapaian akademik di kalangan pelajar-pelajar sekolah menengah teknik

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti Lokus Kawalan di kalangan pelajar-pelajar aliran Teknik dan aliran Vokasional, Sekolah Menengah Teknik Segamat. Di samping itu, hubungan antara Lokus Kawalan dengan pencapaian akademik pelajar juga dilihat. Perbezaan lingkungan Lokus Kawalan pelajar pula dikaji berdasarkan beberapa ciri-ciri demografi seperti kursus, jantina, pencapaian akademik dan sosio ekonomi. 85 orang pelajar aliran Teknik dan 67 orang pelajar aliran Vokasional telah dipilih sebagai sampel kajian ini. Kajian rintis juga telah dijalankan ke atas 10 orang responden. Satu set soal selidik telah digunakan di dalam kajian ini. Perisian Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) versi 10.0 digunakan untuk mengenal pasti tahap Lokus Kawalan pelajar berdasarkan min. Kolerasi Pearson digunakan untuk melihat hubungan antara Lokus Kawalan dengan pencapaian akademik pelajar. Ujian-T dan ANOVA sehala pula digunakan untuk melihat perbezaan Lokus Kawalan pelajar berdasarkan ciri-ciri demografi responden. hasil kajian bagi persoalan kajian pertama menunjukkan perbezaan peratusan yang kecil berkaitan Lokus Kawalan pelajar-pelajar aliran Teknik dan aliran Vokasional. Persoalan kajian kedua menunjukkan tidak terdapat hubungan antara Lokus Kawalan dengan pencapaian akademik. Bagi persoalan kajian ketiga, hasil menunjukkan tiada perbezaan Lokus Kawalan pelajar-pelajar yang berlainan kursus. Hasil kajian bagi persoalan kajian keempat menunjukkan tiada perbezaan Lokus Kawalan di kalangan pelajar yang berlainan jantina dan persoalan kajian kelima pula menunjukkan tidak terdapat perbezaan Lokus Kawalan di kalangan pelajar-pelajar berlainan sosio ekonomi. Daripada hasil dapatan yang diperolehi, secara keseluruhannya tahap Lokus Kawalan tidak mempengaruhi pencapaian akademik dan ianya pula tidak dipengaruhi oleh ciri-ciri demografi pelajar