Kajian terhadap kemudahgunaan perkhidmatan portal U-Assist di kalangan pelajar Universiti Utara Malaysia

The ‘U-Assist Portal’ is an online platform specifically designed for UUM students to access for information and apply for various related services offered by U-Assist, UUM. The centre was established in 2013 and with it the inauguration of the portal service that has been in use actively by students. The main aim behind the set-up of the online service is to facilitate and provide fast and efficient services to the students. Since the advent of technology evolves at a very fast rate, reviews and updates have to be undertaken by the centre so as to ensure that the portal remains relevant and useful by taking into account the consumer feedbacks, functionality and efficiency of the systems. Thus, the objective of this study is to assess the ‘U-Assist Portal’ level of usage by the students. The study approach is quantitative and uses psychometric instruments adapted from International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) (1985). A total of 180 respondents participated in this psychometric test. On the whole, the results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between productivity, completeness and functionality with U-Assist portal level of usage. The study concluded with some suggestions on how to further enhance the U-Assist Portal system

Effect of prostaglandin E2 injection on the structural properties of the rat patellar tendon

Background: Increased tendon production of the inflammatory mediator prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) has been suggested to be a potential etiologic agent in the development of tendinopathy. Repeated injection of PGE2 into tendon has been proposed as a potential animal model for studying treatments for tendinopathy. In contrast, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) which inhibit PGE2 production and are commonly prescribed in treating tendinopathy have been shown to impair the healing of tendon after acute injury in animal models. The contradictory literature suggests the need to better define the functional effects of PGE2 on tendon. Our objective was to characterize the effects of PGE2 injection on the biomechanical and biochemical properties of tendon and the activity of the animals. Our hypothesis was that weekly PGE2 injection to the rat patellar tendon would lead to inferior biomechanical properties. Methods: Forty rats were divided equally into four groups. Three groups were followed for 4 weeks with the following peritendinous injection procedures: No injection (control), 4 weekly injections of saline (saline), 4 weekly injections of 800 ng PGE2 (PGE2-4 wks). The fourth group received 4 weekly injections of 800 ng PGE2 initially and was followed for a total of 8 weeks. All animals were injected bilaterally. The main outcome measurements included: the structural and material properties of the patellar tendon under tensile loading to failure, tendo

Targeting Therapeutics to Bone by Conjugation with Bisphosphonates

Bisphosphonates target and bind avidly to the mineral (hydroxyapatite) found in bone. This targeting ability has been exploited to design and prepare bisphosphonate conjugate prodrugs to deliver a wide variety of drug molecules selectively  to bones. It is important that conjugates be stable in the blood stream and that conjugate that is not taken up by bone is eliminated rapidly. The prodrugs should release active drug at a rate appropriate so as to provide efficacy. Radiolabelling is the best method to quantify and evaluate pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, bone uptake and release of the active drug(s). Recent reports have described bisphosphonate conjugates derived from the antiresorptive drug, alendronic acid and anabolic prostanoid drugs that effectively deliver prostaglandins and prostaglandin EP4 receptor agonists to bone and show enhanced anabolic efficacy and tolerability compared to the drugs alone. These conjugate drugs can be dosed infrequently (weekly or bimonthly) whereas the free drugs must be dosed daily

A Waveguide Based Acoustic Microscope with Application to the Evaluation of Bone

A new ultrasonic scanning system has been developed which is capable of accurate velocity measurements with high spatial resolution. This performance is achieved while using relatively low frequencies to minimize the cost of the instrument. A waveguide detector is used in place of the normal focused ultrasonic transducer. The waveguide receiver makes it possible to provide the needed spatial resolution without limitations imposed by the finite aperture of the transducer. An increase in the complexity of the signal processing required and reduced throughput of the instrument results from this approach. However, these disadvantages are amply compensated by the ability to investigate materials with high attenuation and low wave velocities. These measurements are not possible with traditional acoustic microscopes.</p

The effect of material on bipolar membrane fuel cell performance: a review

Bipolar membrane fuel cell (BPMFC) was firstly discovered in 2000 that composed of two-layered ionic conducting membranes. The importance of BPMC development is its ability to humidify the cell when operating at a high current density that eliminates the use of the external humidification system. It is able to self-humidify the cell because of water formation at the intermediate layer from the reaction of hydrogen ion (H+) with hydroxide ion (OH-). Up to now, there is no commercial bipolar membrane (BPM) in water formation configuration for the fuel cell humidifying purpose. Thus, the researcher had come out with a composition of proton exchange membrane with anion exchange membrane by the hotpressing method that allows them to carry the proton and anion simultaneously in a single cell. There are a few of polymeric-based PEM and AEM material had been selected for developing BPM such as Nafion, FumaPEM FAA3, quaternary ammonium polysulfone (QAPSF), and quaternary ammonium poly(phenylene)oxide (QAPPO). This review aims to determine the effect of material selection and design for developing BPM toward its performance in fuel cell based on published works. Besides, the potentialities of polymeric-based material are discussed, pointing out the main positive and negative effect of this BPM for fuel cell applications. As a case study, the use of different types of PEM and AEM material for BPM is particularly stressed, pointing out the main properties for its applications in BPMFC