Organisational commitment in Malaysian public sector

This paper describes a research project that aims to determine the level of civil servants’ organisational commitment and the factors associated with it. The instruments used to measure organisational commitment, empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication were adapted from Allen and Meyer (1990), Spreitzer (1995), Hackman and Oldham (1975), and Downs and Hazen (1977). The findings demonstrated that civil servants appeared to have a higher level of affective commitment with mean value of 3.88 compared to continuance 3.58 and normative commitment 2.92. The study also found that civil servants were psychologically empowered in the department with mean value of 3.71, had experienced a variable opportunity in job with mean 3.51 and were reported to be satisfied with the existing communication in the department with mean value of 3.68. Research findings also showed that there is a correlation between organisational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitment) with empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication variables. The stepwise regression exhibited that empowerment variable is the most dominant predictor of civil servants’ organisational commitment. Meanwhile, organisational communication variable appeared to be the most significant factor to influence civil servants’ affective commitment. Civil servants with continuance commitment were found to be best predicted by empowerment variable. Finally, civil servants with normative commitment tend to be mostly influenced by job characteristics variable

Therapeutic activity of crude ethanolic extract of Artemisia herba alba against Trypanosoma evansi in rabbits

The present work was conducted to evaluate the antitrypanosomal efficacy of crude ethanolic extract (CEE) of the aerial parts of Artemisia herba alba against Trypanosoma evansi infection in an animal model. The results indicated low levels of parasitaemia in rabbits administered with crude ethanolic extract (CEE) compared to those from the negative control group. Similarly, there was also haematologically significant difference (p<0.05) where low mean levels of packed cell volume (PCV) was observed in Groups 1-4 respectively. In contrast, there was no statistically significant difference in almost all investigated parameters between positive control and treatment groups of animals. In conclusion, both CEE of A. herba-alba and Berenil® showed relatively a parasitaemia and normal haematological values in infected rabbits, thereby confirming their antiparasitic properties

Organisational Commitment in Malaysian Public Sector

This paper describes a research project that aims to determine the level of civil servants’ organisational commitment and the factors associated with it. The instruments used to measure organisational commitment, empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication were adapted from Allen and Meyer (1990), Spreitzer (1995), Hackman and Oldham (1975), and Downs and Hazen (1977). The findings demonstrated that civil servants appeared to have a higher level of affective commitment with mean value of 3.88 compared to continuance 3.58 and normative commitment 2.92. The study also found that civil servants were psychologically empowered in the department with mean value of 3.71, had experienced a variable opportunity in job with mean 3.51 and were reported to be satisfied with the existing communication in the department with mean value of 3.68. Research findings also showed that there is a correlation between organisational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitment) with empowerment, job characteristics, and organisational communication variables. The stepwise regression exhibited that empowerment variable is the most dominant predictor of civil servants’ organisational commitment. Meanwhile, organisational communication variable appeared to be the most significant factor to influence civil servants’ affective commitment. Civil servants with continuance commitment were found to be best predicted by empowerment variable. Finally, civil servants with normative commitment tend to be mostly influenced by job characteristics variable.

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Jangkitan trypanosoma lewisi pada tikus liar

Sejumlah 23 ekor tikus liar Rattus rattus diardii yang diperolehi dari kawasan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur telah digunakan bagi menentukan beberapa aspek jangkitan parasit Trypanosoma lewisi pada tikus ini. Caletan darah segar, caletan darah nipis terwarna dan teknik lapisan darah berbuih berkuantitatif (QBC) telah dilakukan untuk menentukan parasitemia dan prevalens jangkitan parasit. Serum tikus juga telah diperolehi bagi menentukan titer antibodi IgM dan IgG menggunakan teknik antibodi berpendar imun. Adalah didapati bahawa prevalens jangkitan parasit adalah 21.7% (5/23) dan parasitemia keseluruhan pada tikus yang terjangkit adalah rendah dan puncak parasitemia tidak melebihi lima peratus. Bilangan parasit berkurangan secara perlahan-perlahan dan parasit lenyap dari edaran darah pada minggu kelapan. Sepanjang tempoh jangkitan, peringkat-peringkat parasit berikut telah muncul dan dikenalpasti iaitu metasiklik tripomastigot awal yang diikuti dengan peringkat pra-pembahagian epimastigot, peringkat pembahagian belahan-dua tak sekata epimastigot, peringkat pembahagian belahan-berganda tak sekata epimastigot dan peringkat 'rosette', peringkat perantara dan diakhiri dengan peringkat dewasa. Semua tikus yang terjangkit dan beberapa yang lain yang tidak terjangkit mempunyai IgM dan IgG terhadap parasit ini. Apabila tikus-tikus ini diberikan jangkitan cabaran dengan parasit T. evansi yang lebih ganas, titer IgM dan IgG didapati meningkat tetapi walau bagaimanapun, peningkatan titer ini tidak menghalang kematian tikus. Didapati juga antiserum terhadap T. lewisi menunjukkan gerakbalas silang yang nyata terhadap antigen T. evansi. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa corak jangkitan alamiah T. lewisi pada tikus liar R. rattus diardii adalah tidak patogenik namun begitu ia melibatkan gerakabalas keimunan yang membawa kepada pembentukan IgM dan IgG. Antibodi yang terbentuk terhadap T. lewisi adalah bersifat spesifik dan tidak dapat memberi perlindungan terhadap jangkitan T. evansi

Cloning and characterization of the 5S rRNA genes from Eimeria spp. (Pengklonan dan pencirian gen 5S rRNA daripada Eimeria spp.)

Abstract Poultry coccidiosis is an economically important disease worldwide. It is caused by intracellular protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria (phylum Apicomplexa). Traditional methods of relying on disease pathology or oocyst morphology have limitations particularly in detecting minor contaminating populations of Eimeria in chicken. Therefore, a DNA-based test using ribosomal RNA (rRNA) was chosen to identify a molecular marker to enable faster and more sensitive identification of a particular species. The 5S rRNA gene was chosen because of its high degree of conservation, ubiquity and the relative ease with which it can be cloned. The 5S rRNA genes from Eimeria spp. were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using purified DNAs of the sporozoites. TA Cloning method was used to clone the PCR products (600-900 bp) into plasmid vector pCR 2.1 (3.9 kb) and transformed into Escherichia coli strain TOP10F&apos;. Recombinant plasmids with size of 4.6 -4.8 kb were found. Clones containing the inserts of the appropriate size were sequenced by automated sequencing whereby M13 forward and reverse primers were used. The 5S rRNA genes from the seven Eimeria species were successfully sequenced. The sequences obtained were then sent to the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) program and results showed that all sequences were identical to the 5S rRNA gene from other organism. Sequences of 726, 738, 697, 673, 732 and 931 bp were each shown by E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. praecox, E. maxima, E. brunetti and E. necatrix whilst E. mitis has two sequences of 710 and 592 bp. For each species, at least 2 clones of PCR-generated fragments were sequenced. The results indicated that the presence of unique amplified DNA segments could be exploited as molecular markers to identify Eimeria species of the chicken

Surveillance of aedes vectors in selected agricultural, fogging-free and dengue-prone areas in Peninsular Malaysia

Distributions of Aedes vectors in fifteen study sites comprising of ag-ricultural, fogging-free and dengue-prone areas in Peninsular Malaysia were investigated using ovitraps during January and May 2016 placed indiscriminately inside and outside human premises in all study sites. Cheras, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, a dengue-prone area showed the highest ovitrap index (OI) (96.00%) while the lowest OI (64.00%) was found in both Padang Serai, Kedah and Temerloh, Pahang, fogging-free residential areas. Aedes albopictus was the most dominant species in all study sites while Ae. aegypti was captured in only five study sites. Mean number of larvae per recovered ovitrap among various species is significantly different for all types of areas except for oil palm planta-tions. The existence of Ae. aegypti in a few and Ae. albopictus in all study sites suggest their roles in the current and forthcoming transmission of dengue virus in these study sites. © 2019, SEAMEO TROPMED Network. All rights reserved

Mosquito Larval Surveillance in a Rice Field in Tanjung Karang, Selangor, Malaysia

Mosquito larval surveillance was carried out in a rice field in Tanjung Karang, Selangor, Malaysia to determine the diversity of breeding habitats of mosquito larvae and species composition of those mosquito larvae that bred in positive habitats within the study area. From 215 potential mosquito breeding habitats inspected, 93.90% outdoor containers and 6.10% indoor containers were positive with mosquito breeding. Artificial containers (71.95%) were favorable breeding habitats of mosquito larvae compared to natural containers (28.05%). Only Aedes albopictus Skuse (80.80%) and Culex quinquefasciatus Say (19.20%) larvae were collected from all positive breeding habitats. This result shows that Ae. albopictus is a predominant outdoor breeder in the study area and could also invade indoors. It is crucial to identify the mosquito species available in the study area and their habitats to ensure the effectiveness of vector control strategies conducted so that the transmission of any mosquito-borne diseases could be avoided or lessened

DOES BELIEF IN HUMAN EVOLUTION ENTAIL KUFR

© 2020 by the Joint Publication Board of Zygon Nuh Ha Mim Keller, a contemporary Muslim theologian, argues against the compatibility of evolution and Islam. In this article we intend to critically evaluate his position in which he advances three separate arguments. First, he criticizes the science of evolution. Second, he demonstrates the metaphysical problems with naturalism and the role of chance in the enterprise of evolution. Third, he contends that evolution and the creationist narrative in Islamic scripture is irresolvable. Given these points, Keller concludes that believing in human evolution takes one outside the fold of Islam (kufr). After reviewing each of these points we argue that his claims are unwarranted because of other possibilities which Keller may have not considered. In effect, we argue that believing in evolution doesn\u27t necessarily or definitively entail kufr