A study on hygienic standard of food premises and microbiological quality of food in Kota Bharu

A cross sectional study was carried out to determine the total plate count, coliform and E. coli counts in 712 selected foods sample taken from 362 food premises in the area under the Municipal Jwisdiction of Kota Bharu. The foods were classified according to the groups. Standard method were used to determine the total plate count (TPC in CFU/gm), coliform count (CC in :M:PN/ml) and E. coli count in ( MPN/ml). Microbiological analysis of food samples showed that 34.08% of sample had unsatisfactory in total plate count, 47.8% in coliform count and 24.7% in E. coli count. E. coli count was detected more in staple foods as compared to snacks/ kuih. There was a significant difference of the satisfactory levels of microbiological analysis amongst different groups of food (P<0.001). This study was found to have overall relationship between microbiological findings of selected food examination and the hygiene score of food premises. Appropriate measures, such as education of food handlers in improving the hygienic practice, particularly by environmental health officers, public health inspectors and local authorities are needed in order to reduce the prevalence of food borne diseases

Tahap literasi komputer pelajar sekolah menengah di Kedah

Computer literacy has become the main agenda in today’s life. It has become one of the main sources for a country’s development. The main objective of the research is to measure the level of computer literacy among upper secondary school students in the state of Kedah. Moreover the research is to identify the relationship between parent’s level of education and income with student’s computer literacy. Furthermore the study also explores the relationship between student’s attitude and computer skill with computer literacy. Data was collected through the questionnaires distributed to 698 students from form four, form five and Lower Six in twelve secondary schools of seven provinces in Kedah state. Tools for measurement used in this study are Attitude Toward Computer Scale (ATCS), Computer Self – Efficiency Scale (CSES) and Minnesota Computer Literacy and Awareness Assessment Test (MCLAAT). To measure the objective and to examine the hypotheses of the study, tests such as mean, percentage, Chi Square and Cramer V are used. Significance level of 0.05 is used to accept or to reject the null hypothesis. Data is analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 12.0. The study finds that the student’s computer literacy level is moderately high with mean score of 66.67%. The overall findings conclude that there is a significance relationship between parent’s level of education and income with student’s computer literacy. However there is no significance relationship between student’s attitude and computer skill with computer literacy. The study suggests that schools should offer more computer related activities as to increase student’s computer literacy level

Psychological distress and quality of life of Malaysian infertile couples

Background: Infertility is an intense situation experienced by couples that causes emotional discomfort and worsening of their quality of life (QoL). The husband and wives of the infertile couples may reacted differently to stress.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving 100 infertile couples attending fertility clinics. Cases were selected by systematic random sampling. The severity of depression, anxiety and stress was measured using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and QoL was assessed with the Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQoL) questionnaire.Results: Multivariate analysis revealed that depression, anxiety and stress-related difficulties were reported at a higher level by wives (p<0.001). Total Ferti QoL scores were significantly higher in husbands (p<0.001). The female gender (wives) was the only significant variable associated with the severity of all three DASS-21 sub-scale scores (p <0.001) and considered as a high-risk factor for psychological distress. Poor Qol were significantly associated with wives (p<0.001), male cause of infertility (p=0.004), primary infertility (p=0.022) and previous history of receiving intrauterine insemination (IUI) (p =0.020).Conclusions: The wives of the infertile couples were at higher risk of developing psychological distress and had poor QoL than their husbands. The severity of the anxiety, depression and stress were adversely affected the QoL

Gender Differences: Motivations for performing physical exercise among adults in Shah Alam

AbstractFemales exhibit lower levels of physical exercise performance than males. It seems that gender factor motivates people differently, in performing regular exercise. Our objective was to determine the relationship between 21 motivating reasons for performing physical exercise and genders. We found that males showed significantly higher means score in two motivating reasons; to have a positive effect on the sex life (4.18±1.01, p<0.001) and more energy to go about the daily chores (4.62± .63, p= 0.027). No significant gender difference in the mean score for the other 19 motivating reasons.ConclusionBoth sexes were almost equally motivated in performing physical exercises

Coping skills and burnout among medical officers in a Malaysian tertiary hospital / Nur Faizah Ali … [et al.]

Burnout among doctors is hazardous, leading to stress which results in poor decision making and exposure to medical errors. This study aims to improve the knowledge gap of the issues of burnout and coping skills among medical officers. This study is a cross-sectional study involving 250 medical officers using universal sampling. Of the total 250 participants, 63 (25.2%) were burnout. The presence of burnout was significantly associated with dysfunctional coping skills (t=-4.96; p <0.001). Burnout is prevalent among medical officers. It is vital to take actions that can promote good mental health in the form of coping skills and resilience training

Burnout and Coping Skills amongst Medical Officers: A study in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia

Burnout among doctors is hazardous, leading to stress which results in poor decision making and exposure to medical errors.  This study aims to improve the knowledge gap of the issues of burnout and coping skills among medical officers. This study is a cross-sectional study involving 250 medical officers, using universal sampling. Of the total 250 participants, 63 (25.2%) were burnout. The presence of burnout was significantly associated with dysfunctional coping skills (t=-4.96; p &lt;0.001).  Burnout is prevalent among medical officers. It is vital to take actions that can promote good mental health in the form of coping skills and resilience training.Keywords: burnout; coping skills; doctors; medicaleISSN: 2398-4287 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs 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.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v4i12.1940  

MOTIVATION TO PHYSICAL EXERCISE: IS IT DIVERSE WITH DIFFERENT SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS PARTICULARLY THE GENDER?

Engagement in physical exercise differs with different socio demographic status. Females exhibit lower levels of physical exercise performance, it seems that their motivation to exercise is differ. Various types of motivation that influence exercise performance regularly were recognized.This study aims to determine the relationship between 21 motivating reasons and sociodemographic factors, concentrating more on the gender difference. Method: A study was conducted on 501 adults performing exercise. Participants were interviewed using a questionnaire comprises of 21 motivating reasons. Each reason was measured on a fivepoint scale as, strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The sum, and mean score of all the 21 reasons was used as the dependent variable versus each socio-demographic factor. The mean score of each item was used as the dependent variable versus gender. Results: Significant inverse correlations were detected between motivating reasons score with; age (r=-0.122, p=0.007), BMI (r=-0.091, p=0.042), and household income (r=-0.095, p=0.036). Unmarried or free of chronic diseases respondents showed, significantly higher motivating mean score (p=0.032, 0.010 respectively). No significant difference in the mean score with level of education and gender.However, males showed significantly higher means score in two motivating reasons to; have a positive effect on the sex life (4.18±1.01, p&lt;0.001), have more energy to go about the daily chores (4.62± .63, p= 0.027). No significant gender difference in the mean score for other motivating reasons. Conclusion: young, unmarried, lower income, lower BMI and no chronic illness individuals have higher motivating reasons. Both genders were almost equally motivated in performing exercises

MOTIVATION TO PHYSICAL EXERCISE: IS IT DIVERSE WITH DIFFERENT SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS PARTICULARLY THE GENDER?

Engagement in physical exercise differs with different socio demographic status. Females exhibit lower levels of physical exercise performance, it seems that their motivation to exercise is differ. Various types of motivation that influence exercise performance regularly were recognized.This study aims to determine the relationship between 21 motivating reasons and sociodemographic factors, concentrating more on the gender difference. Method: A study was conducted on 501 adults performing exercise. Participants were interviewed using a questionnaire comprises of 21 motivating reasons. Each reason was measured on a fivepoint scale as, strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The sum, and mean score of all the 21 reasons was used as the dependent variable versus each socio-demographic factor. The mean score of each item was used as the dependent variable versus gender. Results: Significant inverse correlations were detected between motivating reasons score with; age (r=-0.122, p=0.007), BMI (r=-0.091, p=0.042), and household income (r=-0.095, p=0.036). Unmarried or free of chronic diseases respondents showed, significantly higher motivating mean score (p=0.032, 0.010 respectively). No significant difference in the mean score with level of education and gender.However, males showed significantly higher means score in two motivating reasons to; have a positive effect on the sex life (4.18±1.01, p&lt;0.001), have more energy to go about the daily chores (4.62± .63, p= 0.027). No significant gender difference in the mean score for other motivating reasons. Conclusion: young, unmarried, lower income, lower BMI and no chronic illness individuals have higher motivating reasons. Both genders were almost equally motivated in performing exercises

Phase behaviour and formulation of palm oil esters o/w nanoemulsions stabilized by hydrocolloid gums for cosmeceuticals application

Palm oil esters (POEs) are wax esters derived from palm oil and cis-9-octadecen-1-ol. The excellent wetting behaviour of the esters without the oily feel make them have great potentials in the manufacture of cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical products. However, little is known about their phase behaviors in ternary systems. The purpose of this investigation was to construct phase diagram of the POEs and mixed surfactants and to consequently select nanoemulsions composition for further studies. The preparation and characterization of oil-in-water nanoemulsions stabilized by hydrocolloid gums were then studied. Two types of nonionic surfactants were selected, namely Tween 80 (T80) and Span 80 (S80). Ternary phase diagram of POEs:Tocotrienol/T80:S80 (80:20)/water system was constructed at 25.0 ± 0.5°C. The emulsification properties of 2 hydrocolloids gum (xanthan gum, carbopol ultrez 20 copolymer) were investigated. Gum dispersions were prepared in water (0.8%) and emulsified with 30% oil using a Polytron homogenizer. The flow curve of the emulsions always exhibited shear thinning behavior and obeys the power law viscosity. The emulsions with carbopol ultrez 20 copolymer was the most stable emulsions which composed of very small oil droplets (50% < 142.43 nm) with a narrow size distribution

Language and cross-cultural influences in the psychometric evaluation of the Malaysian FertiQoL

Introduction: FertiQoL questionnaire was developed and validated in 2011. It has been widely used and translated into many languages to measure QoL among infertile individuals. The use of translated psychometric tools is often subjected to cross-cultural variations. The objective of this study is to assess the psychometric properties of the Malaysian FertiQoL. Methods: A study was conducted among attendees of a public infertility clinic. Demographic details were collected and respondents answered the Malaysian FertiQoL. The questionnaire consists of 34 items. Factor analysis and internal consistency were analysed using SPSS v24. Results: Data from 175 respondents were analysed. Mean age is 32.1 ±3.8 SD with 56.6% female and 43.4% male. KMO index were 0.826 and significant Bartlett's test for sphericity. For Treatment domain, factor loadings for items T2 and T5 were < 0.32 but for all other items were acceptable between 0.32 - 0.80 with no cross loadings and Cronbach alpha for environment (0.717) and tolerability (0.660). For Core items, Q4, Q6 and Q14 loaded onto different domains and Q19 had poor factor loading. All other items were acceptable. Cronbach alpha for specific domains were emotional (0.788) mind-body (0.829), relational (0.639) and social (0.666). Cronbach alpha for emotional, relational, social improved to 0.857, 0.643 and 0.732 if Q4, Q6 and Q14 were omitted respectively. Conclusion: The study identified six items that affected the psychometric validity of the questionnaire and maybe explained by language or cross-cultural reasons. However, the Malaysian FertiQoL can still be useful to measure QoL in those with infertility