Hospital foodservice directors identify the important aspects when implementing room service in hospital foodservice

Room service represents a revolution in hospital patient dining. More menu options, more flexibility in meal delivery, increased food quality, and more personalized service resulted in improved nutritional intake among patients receiving room service. The purpose of this study was to identify key aspects hospital foodservice directors (HFDs) considered when deciding to implement room service and determined the importance of each aspect. A mixed methods study was conducted to address the objectives of this study. Responses from a key informant interview and HFDs on open-ended questions were utilized to develop a web questionnaire. A web questionnaire was e-mailed to 845 HFDs for both groups (who had and had not implemented room service) and HFDs were asked to rate the importance of 28 aspects of room service implementation. Of the 28 aspects, 14 were rated important, very important or extremely important. Factor analysis on 28 aspects revealed four room service factors: cost allocation, human resources and facilities, food quality, and patient satisfaction. Food quality and patient satisfaction factors were perceived as more important by HFDs who had implemented room service than who had not. Cost allocation was the most important factor reported by HFDs who had not implemented room service. Perception on the importance of the patient satisfaction factor differed between hospital type as well as hospital size. Possessing experience and knowledge regarding the nature of room service, HFDs who had implemented room service perceived the customer-oriented meal delivery concept, the availability of menu selections based on patients\u27 preferences, and great food quality served as more important to the success of room service implementation. The cost factor was not as important to those HFDs who had implemented room service as compared to who had not. This may be explained, partially, by the fact that HFDs have already experienced implementation and seen cost savings such as reduction of food waste along with improved patient satisfaction ratings

Spatial variability assessment of local chlorophyll-A estimation using satellite data

The estimation of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) for optically complex water from satellite is challenging. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is an ocean colour satellite which has low spatial resolution and this has led to bias estimate and scale effect that eventually induced errors in Chl-a retrieval using local ocean colour algorithm. Studies on Chl-a variation, assessment of MODIS data and development of local ocean colour algorithm are less for Malacca Straits water. The aim of this study is to locally calibrate and validate the Chl-a derived from MODIS standard Chl-a algorithm (OC3M) on the latest R2013 data within the acceptable error tolerance at the Absolute Percentage Difference (APD) below 35% and to test the algorithm’s applicability. Iterative regression method with weighted function (WFd) namely Iterative Conditional Regression Model (ICRM) is introduced to reduce the spatial bias in the Chl-a estimate. Locally calibrated OC3M algorithm with in-situ data taken at two static stations and kernel 7×7 size named as OCms1 (calibrated with in-situ Case-1 water) and OCms2 (calibrated with in-situ Case-2 water) remarkably reduced the Chl-a bias with APD of 37% and 30% from 54% and 116% respectively. Then, using the ICRM, the APD of OCms1 WFd and OCms2 WFd is 26% and 29% respectively. Results of OCms WFd and OCms (with and without weighted function respectively) are combined for mapping the Chl-a in Case-1 and Case-2 waters. Result of applicability test and statistical analysis shows that OCms WFd ocean colour algorithm provides statistically highest accuracy for Chl-a estimation. The development of local Chl-a algorithm is essential for accurate Chl-a retrieval and it is significant to other marine studies such as in primary production and algal bloom in Malacca Strait water

Tenants’ satisfaction in high residential buildings / Ummu Sholehah Mohd Nor, Wan Nor Azriyati Wan Abd Aziz and Zafirah Al Sadat Zyed.

High residential living in Malaysia has not been widely given a significant emphasises in literature despite its increasing scale and significance in the real estate market. The significance of high rise is commonly due the increasing rate of migration from rural to urban. It is estimated a total of 77.2 percent of the Malaysian population lived in urban areas in 2020. Approximately, 30 percent of this urban population lives in strata housing. These percentages are predicted to continue to increase in the future. The emergence of high residential building has been argued as confronting various problems which has considerable impact on this life style. Satisfaction is an important outcome of living in one’s dwelling, although it is not the only consideration. High residential buildings (HRB) in Malaysia encountered numerous problems in term of management aspects, legislation aspects, and residents’ satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tenants’ satisfaction living in HRB in Klang Valley. The face-to-face interview is conducted amongst 276 tenants at low cost and medium cost HRB using non-parametric convenience sampling. The result from this study indicates that tenant in medium cost high residential buildings (HRB) are more satisfied in term of management and facilities as compared to tenants in low cost HRB. Tenants also not disclosed to the existing act and procedure related to HRB. In conclusion, this study suggested the Local Authority to emphasise the role of tenant. These recommendations hopefully will increase the level of satisfaction amongst the residents in HRB

Room service implementation: Important aspects identified by hospital foodservice directors

Hospital foodservice directors (HFDs) give consideration to various aspects and assess the importance of these aspects when deciding whether or not to implement room service

The Effect of Annealing Treatment on n-Cu2O Thin Film Fabrication

This experiment is about fabrication of homojunction n-type cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin film by using electrodeposition method. The Cu2O thin films were deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates by using copper acetate based solution through potentiostatic electrodeposition method. The n-type Cu2O was fabricated at pH 6.3 with a fixed potential of -0.125V vs. Ag/AgCl and time deposition of 30 minutes. Annealing treatment was introduced to enhance the properties of the thin films.  The quality of Cu2O thin films were studied in varied the annealing duration. Morphological, structural, optical and electrical properties were characterized using X-Ray Diffractometer, Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy, Ultraviolet-visible Spectroscopy and Four Point Probe, respectively

Linking ‘Halal’ friendly hotel attributes and customer satisfaction : the islamic tourism sector / Lennora Putit ... [et al.]

An increasing demand for Islamic tourism has driven the concept of a ‘Halal’ (or permissible) friendly hotel into another level of business insight within the consumers’ travel market. The concept via its unique value proposition has rapidly become very attractive not only to Muslim tourists, but also to non-Muslim tourists globally. This study aims to examine the relationship linking ‘Halal’ friendly hotel attributes and customer satisfaction. Using purposive sampling, a total of 410 survey questionnaires were distributed to targeted respondents with only 323 usable feedbacks and used for data analysis. Regression results revealed that four main “Halal-friendly hotel” attributes have significant relationships with customer satisfaction. These include prayer facilities, Halal food, Islamic dress code and general Islamic morality. Of these four attributes, prayer facilities proved to have the most significant impact on customer satisfaction. Findings and managerial implications were further discussed in this article

Degradation of methyl orange mediated by CuO-doped ZnO phoycatalysts.

0.5 - 2.0% CuO-doped ZnO (CuO-ZnO) photocatalysts were prepared with a simple mixing method where the oxides were initially synthesized through precipitation. The physico-chemical properties of CuO-doped ZnO photocatalysts were studied via XRD, TEM, XRF and BET method and their photoactivity was evaluated by degrading methyl orange (MO) dye. The properties of ZnO were not affected by the addition of CuO except for the particle size of the photocatalyst, which increased proportionally with CuO. In a photoactivity study, 1.0% CuO-ZnO photocatalyst has the highest degradation rate with the optimum mass loading of 1.5 g L-1. Increasing the initial concentration of MO reduced photocatalysts' photoactivity. The degradation of MO followed the pseudo-first order reaction. The photoactivity of CuO-ZnO was maintained until the fifth cycle, which indicates that it is a very stable compound

Knowledge and attitude regarding dengue fever among undergraduate students in UiTM Puncak Alam / Noor Zafirah Awang , Nurul Farahana Abdul Kudus and Siti Noorhanny Nor Azmi

Background: Dengue is among the most well-known mosquito-borne viral illnesses attacking people. Prevalence of Dengue fever among Malaysians has been worsened each year with an increasing numbers of reported cases and its more severe forms clearly calls attention to the importance of knowledge and attitudes toward the prevention of dengue. Objective: The study aims to assess the knowledge and attitudes regarding Dengue Fever among university students in UiTM Puncak Alam campus. Methodology: A cross-sectional study using self-reported questionnaires was conducted among 366 undergraduate students of UiTM Puncak Alam. The data were analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: Only 57 (15.6%) of undergraduate students have good knowledge on Dengue Fever while 290 (79.2%) students have good attitudes towards Dengue Fever. There were no statistically significant associations between most sociodemographic factors (with score of knowledge regarding Dengue Fever except for faculty; p=0.01. There were also no statistically significant associations between most socio-demographic factors with attitude regarding Dengue Fever. Conclusion: Undergraduate students have excellent attitude regarding Dengue Fever. However, the level of knowledge was poor where less than quarter of the participants able to achieve the good level of knowledge on Dengue Fever

Synthesis of Mn(II) Complexes-Carboxymethyl Chitosan Schiff Base Salicylaldehyde and Antibacterial Activity

The development of compounds with a better antibacterial activity is highly needed. One way to achieve this is by modifying the structure of the compound using chitosan as a starting material, because of its abundant natural source in Indonesia, its biodegradable properties, and its structure where free amines are present. This study aims to obtain  Mn(II) -Carboxymethyl Chitosan Schiff Base-Salicylaldehyde complex to increase its antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive) and Escherichia coli (Gram negative). Schiff Base carboxymethyl chitosan-salicylaldehyde was synthesized from carboxymethyl chitosan with salicylaldehyde. Next, the Schiff Base Carboxymethyl Chitosan-Salicylaldehyde was complexed with MnCl2.4H2O and then characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, and AAS and tested for antibacterial activity with the disc diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The product of Carboxymethyl Chitosan Schiff Base-salicylaldehyde is a brownish yellow solid with a yield of 64% (w/w) and has antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (clear zone diameter 11 mm) and Escherichia coli (clear zone diameter 13 mm). The product of Mn(II) Complexes-Carboxymethyl Chitosan Schiff Base-salicylaldehyde is a black solid with a yield of 59% (w/w) and has antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (clear zone diameter 13 mm) and Escherichia coli (clear zone diameter 17 mm)

A new hybrid of fuzzy c-means method and fuzzy linear regression model in predicting manufacturing income

Analysis by human perception could not be solved using traditional method since uncertainty within the data have to be dealt with first. Thus, fuzzy structure system is considered. The objectives of this study are to determine suitable cluster by using fuzzy c-means (FCM) method, to apply existing methods such as multiple linear regression (MLR) and fuzzy linear regression (FLR) as proposed by Tanaka and Ni and to improve the FCM method and FLR model proposed by Zolfaghari to predict manufacturing income. This study focused on FLR which is suitable for ambiguous data in modelling. Clustering is used to cluster or group the data according to its similarity where FCM is the best method. The performance of models will measure by using the mean square error (MSE), the mean absolute error (MAE) and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). Results shows that the improvisation of FCM method and FLR model obtained the lowest value of error measurement with MSE=1.825 11 10 , MAE=115932.702 and MAPE=95.0366. Therefore, as the conclusion, a new hybrid of FCM method and FLR model are the best model for predicting manufacturing income compared to the other model