The dynamics of vulnerabilities and capabilities in improving resilience within Malaysian construction supply chain

Purpose: The dynamics and effects of interconnected risks among construction organisations tend to be overlooked across the Malaysian public project supply chains, making them highly vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. This study aims to investigate this dynamism by assessing the supply chain’s critical vulnerabilities and capabilities that formulate the level of resilience in handling disruptive events in construction projects. Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive questionnaire survey was conducted with 105 construction professionals from two groups of respondents, the public and private organisations that work in public projects to identify their current vulnerabilities and capabilities. Data were analysed and compared using the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Findings: The findings revealed that the top five critical vulnerability factors of the supply chain include political or regulatory changes, market pressures, management, financial and strategic vulnerability. Further comparisons highlighted that the public organisations faced significantly higher political threats compared to the private organisations whilst the private organisations faced significant market pressures. The survey also show that despite the private organisations’ high capability in financial strength, the public organisations’ financial vulnerability has destabilised the entire supply chain. Originality/value: This study presents the construction supply chain’s vulnerabilities in a layered framework approach that can provide managers a new perspective on the dynamics of the cascading impacts of these vulnerabilities when observed through several layers of supply chains

Prevention of Radiocontrast-Induced Nephropathy after Coronary Angiography: N-Acetylcysteine plus Saline Hydration versus Saline Hydration

Purpose: To compare the incidence of radiocontrast-induced nephropathy (RCIN) in patients undergoing coronary angiography pretreated with N-acetylcysteine NAC plus saline hydration or saline hydration alone and to determine the association between various risk factors and RCIN.Methods: Patients were retrospectively evaluated over a one-year period. RCIN was defined as an acute rise in serum creatinine of at least 0.5 mg/dl or more than 25 % from baseline value. SPSS software, version 13 was used for data analysis.Results: Overall, 299 patients were studied. Thirteen patients (4.3%) developed RCIN. RCIN was 3.3 % in patients treated with hydration, and 8.3 % in patients treated with NAC plus hydration (p = 0.09). Inpatients with RCIN, the changes in creatinine and % change in creatinine after 24 h were significantly lower in the NAC plus hydration group (p = 0.039 and p = 0.042, respectively). RCIN was significantly associated with male gender (p = 0.017), history of renal failure (p = 0.006), ischemic heart disease (p =0.003), and diuretic treatment (p = 0.013).Conclusion: NAC plus saline hydration may not be more effective than saline hydration alone in decreasing RCIN after coronary angiography. Additional efforts to find an ideal preventive treatment are needed

Sidelobe reduction of unequally spaced arrays for 5G applications

Unequally spaced arrays technique offers an alternative for limited sidelobe level reduction compared to conventional array antennas with equally spaced elements. In this paper, the abilities and design of microstrip linear array antenna, fed by multiport feeding with uniform excitation coefficient in all array elements are presented for sidelobe level reduction at 28 GHz. By using the proximity coupled feed, simulation result gave -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 1.42 GHz and reflection coefficient of -35.5 dB has been achieved. The sidelobe level at broadside decreased from -11.77 dB to -14.76 dB (N = 4) and -12.77 dB to -15.98 dB (N = 8) with unequally spaced array. This feature is suitable for 5G applications

Vitamin E and MDA Concentrations in Plasma of Healthy Young Adult, Elderly and Pregnancy

Vitamin E is one of essential micronutrients. It is an antioxidant which potentially protects bioinolecules against oxidative damage. One ofparameters ofoxidafive damage is MDA or lipid peroxide. In this study, concentrations of plasma vitamin E as an antioxidant and MDA as one of oxidative damage markers were measured. The subjects consisted offive groups: (I) male medical students (young adult), (II) female medical students (young adult), (III) nursery inhabitants in Yogyakarta province (Abiyoso), (IV) nursery inhabitants in Manado, North Sulawesi Province (Senja Cerah), as the old ages, and (V) pregnant women within third trimester (of Prenatal Care Unit in Sardjito Hospital). The concentrations of Vitamin E (mg/dl) and MDA (nmol/ml) were as follows: Young Adult Male (n= 28) 20,8 + 3,8 and 0,190 + 0,057Young adult Female (n-28) 21,9 + 4,5 and 0,123 + 0,057Old age Yogyakarta (n=41) 30,6 + 10,4 and 0,291 + 0,062Old age Manado (n=40) 26,5 + 4,5 and 0,391 + 0,081Pregnant Women (=28) 39,9 + 11,3 and 0,165 -f 0,067. Groups of people who were hyperlipemic tend to have high concentration of Vitamin E, while group IV who eat less vegetable protein and more PUFA tend to have higher MDA concentration. Keyword : Malonal dehyde (MDA), plasma, young adult, elderly, pregnanc

Tribological evaluation of solid lubricant enriched in modified Jatropha-Based Oil as Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) oil for composite material

The use of lubricant during the machining process plays an important role to reduce friction and wear. Mineral-based oil is the most widely used lubricant that provided high-quality lubrication properties. However, mineral-based oil has poor biodegradability and causes long-term pollution to the environment and harmful to human. Implementation of environmental-friendly lubricant was encouraged to achieve sustainable manufacturing practices. The inherent biodegradability of vegetable-based oil with solid particle offers greater benefit to the environment and lubrication performance. The study aims to evaluate the influence of green solid particle (hexagonal boron nitride, hBN) enriched in the modified jatropha oil (MJO) through tribology testing using four-ball tribotestermachine. hBN particlewas added inMJOat various concentration ratio; 0.05wt% and 0.5wt%. TheMJOsamples were compared with the crude jatropha oil and commercial synthetic ester. The tribology testing was conducted according to ASTM D4712. The value of coefficient of friction, wear scar diameter, worn surface analysis and surface roughness were evaluated. The lowest concentration of hBN particles in MJO (MJO + 0.05 wt% hBN) has reduced the coefficient of friction with smaller wear scar diameter and better surface roughness quality. The worn surface analysis from the ball lubricate byMJO + 0.05 wt% hBN had light and shallow grooves. The study proved that MJO + 0.05 wt% hBN exhibits better lubrication ability and suitable as an alternative for the environmental-friendly lubricant especially for minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) oil

Nutritional intervention and its impact on the height of children among the B40 group in Selangor

Introduction: A number of children suffer from malnutrition with visible stunting due various factors such as food insecurity and household income. The address of nutritional intervention promotes healthier outcomes especially engagement through population with greater risks, those with low income of B40 groups in Selangor being the most populous state, thus accelerating health policy makers in making differences in public health strategies. Nutritional status is a significant measure for the anthropometric development of the children population. Therefore, this study aims to measure the impact of nutritional intervention on the height of children aged 1 to 6 years old among the population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in Selangor State involving 500 children aged 1 to 6 years old randomly selected among the B40 group. A nutritional intervention that involved the supply of specialized formula milk totalling 2kg and 30 tablets of multivitamin with lysin were given for each month. Nutritional counseling was also given. Anthropometric measurements were taken using (barang) and were monitored using WHO AthroPlus software. The height is categorized into moderately stunted and severely stunted defined by WHO height-for age Z score. Descriptive data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25. Results: 500 total respondents participated in the 5-month course. There were equal numbers of gender 50% and the majority of the respondents were aged 3 years old. For all ages, the baseline height results showed 15.0% were moderately stunted and 3.3% were severely stunted. For each month, there was an increase in mean of height, where the highest in the second month follow up, increase in mean of 1.89m, followed by 0.63m, 0.53m and 0.48m increase in height on the third, fourth and fifth month respectively. The fifth month has the lowest percentage of moderately stunted children 5.0% compared to the first month with 15%. Discussion: Here, by giving nutrient supplementation, it helps to improve the height of these children. Initially, children may develop stunting not as easily as being underweight. Stunting is needed more attention compared to other undernutrition anthropometric; underweight and wasting as each varies in severity, speed and onset of its retardation. Conclusion: Access to nutrition security throughout the 5-months-programme improves the stunting problems, thus the growth and health outcomes in up to aged 5 children. Therefore, other efforts of environmental sanitation, primary health care and control infections for the children are also recommended

Digital mental health and covid-19: mental health literacy among general population in Selangor

Introduction: Mental health increased in prevalence during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused changes in health-seeking behaviour among the general population. Having adequate knowledge helps to improve community attitudes on mental health. Thus, measuring mental health literacy is essential in developing policies, prevention strategies and formulating interventions. Therefore, this study aims to measure mental health literacy among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic in Selangor. Methods: A validated Malay version of the self-administered Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) was used in this cross-sectional study among all Selangor citizens through SELANGKAH Apps from 13th September 2021 until 7th March 2022. This app was initially used as a contact tracing during the pandemic. Later features of the mental health module (SEHAT) were added, consisting of screening questionnaires, literacy questionnaires, and psychoeducation videos. This app was promoted to all Selangor citizens and can be downloaded for free. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 26. Result: There are a total of 42072 SEHAT app users, while 1222 users completed the MHLS questionnaires. Most respondents were female (52.8%), Muslims (79.3%), had formal education up to secondary level (51.1%), had a monthly income below RM 5000 (90.5%), and age group of 21-40 years old (58.5%), and lived in the district of Petaling, Selangor (29.5%). The overall mean (sd) MHLS was low, which is 101.3 (17.03) and was significantly associated with all determinants (p<0.05). Those with higher mean MHLS include females, Muslims, aged 21-40 years old, university graduates, had a monthly income of RM 5001 to RM 10000 and living in the district of Petaling, which is an urban centre in Selangor. Discussion: This is one of the most extensive state-wide level studies during the pandemic. Higher mean MHLS among females could be due to more sensitive recognition and perception of symptoms in females than males. Access to mental health information is now at one 's fingertip with the luxury of the internet and devices. A surge in internet usage among Malaysians was seen during the pandemic, mainly during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period. Subsequently, those in the younger age group, with higher monthly income, and living in urban areas have greater access to the mental health information on media, hence having higher MHLS. Furthermore, the higher the formal education level, the higher the mental health literacy as more information is known via greater exposure in higher institutions. Conclusion: The mental health literacy scores were low among the general population in Selangor during the pandemic. Hence, more mental health advocacy and awareness programs should be carried out

A somatic-mutational process recurrently duplicates germline susceptibility loci and tissue-specific super-enhancers in breast cancers

Somatic rearrangements contribute to the mutagenized landscape of cancer genomes. Here, we systematically interrogated rearrangements in 560 breast cancers by using a piecewise constant fitting approach. We identified 33 hotspots of large (>100 kb) tandem duplications, a mutational signature associated with homologous-recombination-repair deficiency. Notably, these tandem-duplication hotspots were enriched in breast cancer germline susceptibility loci (odds ratio (OR) = 4.28) and breast-specific 'super-enhancer' regulatory elements (OR = 3.54). These hotspots may be sites of selective susceptibility to double-strand-break damage due to high transcriptional activity or, through incrementally increasing copy number, may be sites of secondary selective pressure. The transcriptomic consequences ranged from strong individual oncogene effects to weak but quantifiable multigene expression effects. We thus present a somatic-rearrangement mutational process affecting coding sequences and noncoding regulatory elements and contributing a continuum of driver consequences, from modest to strong effects, thereby supporting a polygenic model of cancer development.DG is supported by the EU-FP7-SUPPRESSTEM project. SN-Z is funded by a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellowship (WT100183MA) and is a Wellcome Beit Fellow. For more information, please visit the publisher's website