Introduction : The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) of breast cancer survivors based on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.
Methods : A cross-sectional study was performed on 125 breast cancer survivors from the outpatient clinics. FACT-B (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast) questionnaire was used to assess survivors’ QOL.
Results : Survivors with low body mass index (BMI) (underweight) were found to have the lowest overall QOL. Those who were overweight had a higher overall QOL, and those who were normal-weight had the highest QOL. Low educational level, being underweight and low monthly household income were significantly associated with lower overall QOL Tamoxifen use and employment status were significantly associated with QOL in some domains. Time since diagnosis to QOL interview was significantly associated with greater scores in emotional well-being (EWB). Multiple linear regression indicated that age, marital status, monthly household income, surgery and histological grade were indicative of the patients QOL.
Conclusion : The four primary factors related to better QOL were high educational level, high income, normal body weight and greater duration from the time of diagnosis to the time of interview. Age, marital status, income, lumpectomy and histological grade were indicative of the patient QOL.
Study site: Oncology and Surgical clinics; Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
MeSH terms: Breast Neoplasms; Cross-Sectional Studies; Hospitals, University; Humans; Malaysia; Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; Quality of Life; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tamoxifen; Mastectomy, Segmental; Body Mass Index; Linear Models; Marital Status; Survivors; Overweight
Introduction : AIDS stigma and incorrect HIV/AIDS information among health care workers will influence the quality of care received by persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst nurses in the Hospital University Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) with the objective of determining their knowledge and attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS and Universal Precautions (UP).
Methods : A total of 450 female nurses were recruited in this study and data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire.
Results : A total of 393 female nurses had completed the questionnaires and majority of them were Malays (95.4%) with mean age of 28.4±3.9 years old. The mean duration of work in the hospital was 6.2±3.6 years. The study results showed a satisfactory level of good knowledge among nurses (69%) and this is statistically significant (p
MeSH terms: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Attitude; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Personnel; Hospitals, University; Malaysia; Nurses; Surveys and Questionnaires; Universities; Universal Precautions; Social Stigma
Introduction : It is no doubt that the success of any health organization depends so closely on its managerial functions. To achieve this, the leader or manager as the core strategist of its organization must in all time be updated with the latest evidence-based information so that he or she can be easily operationalized his or her management function in more effective and sustainable manners. It depends largely on scientific literatures that published relevant articles within this scope. Unfortunately, management topics related to health care system is scattered published and this has indirectly affect manager to access the latest scientific documents.
Methods : We examined the practice of well known international journal in health care namely New England Medical Journal (NEMJ) on its role in propagating latest health management topics to its prospective clients.
Results : The result showed that a total of 31% health management topics were published throughout 2007 out of 1140 articles appeared. Of these, about 33% were confined to general health administration. The remaining articles were related to healthcare delivery practices (24%), medical ethics and legal matters (17% each), and manpower issues and training (9%).
Conclusion : Focus on managerial related articles relatively low as compared to clinical and other evidence-based medicine that clearly dominated health management issues.
MeSH terms: Delivery of Health Care; Ethics, Medical; Female; Male; New England; Organizations; Prospective Studies; Evidence-Based Medicine; Disease Management
Introduction : Social problems among adolescents are on the increasing trend. Their involvement in different kinds of high risk behaviours could lead them into juvenile delinquency. Early adolescence is the stage where they are easily influenced. However, this is the period where they should be captured for health prevention enhancement.
Objectives : A cross-sectional study was carried out to identify factors associated with risk taking behaviours involving form one adolescents in selected secondary schools in Johor Bharu.
Methods : Using self administered questionnaires, a total of 280 respondents were recruited via multi-stage sampling.
Results : The prevalence of risk taking behaviour among respondents was 66.8%. Going to video games and karaoke centres was the most popular risk taking behaviour (46.8%) to be followed by truancy (30.7%). Among all the factors studied, being male (AOR=4.5, 95% CI 2.39-8.4), Malay (AOR=7.5, 95% CI 3.30-17.19), and having negative perception towards teachers (AOR 0.3, 95% CI 0.16-0.65) were risk factors for such behaviour among respondents. However, coming from an intact family (AOR=0.1), 95% CI 0.02-0.47) was found to be protective against risk taking behaviour.
Conclusion : Intact family structure and having positive perception towards teachers were found to be protective against risk taking behaviours among adolescents.
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Juvenile Delinquency; Male; Surveys and Questionnaires; Risk Factors; Risk-Taking; Schools; Social Problems; Prevalence; Video Games
Introduction : Despite the number of information generated by researchers, cardiovascular diseases problem has not clearly declined and perhaps in certain situation it is gradually increasing, affecting people who are previously at low risk. There is a tendency to believe that favourable outcomes can always be expected once intervention activities, like exercise promotion, are carried out, but practical experience gives rise to serious doubt.
Methods : A greater understanding of the socialization mechanisms operating in the adoption of physical activity in CVD control and allow specific exercise prescriptions for communitybased prevention and control is important. This paper highlighted the author’s feeling about controlling chronic diseases by mean of community intervention.
Results : This analysis has strongly believed that the important impetus of any community intervention approach should be oriented in the form of “from people to people”.
Conclusion : More emphasis needs to be placed on effective management and parameters for assessment of its management success.
MeSH terms: Adoption; Cardiovascular Diseases; Chronic Disease; Emotions; Health Promotion; Motor Activity; Research Personnel; Residence Characteristics; Socialization; Disease Management
Introduction : Nursing is an occupation associated with high risk of developing back pain due to their nature of work practices. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of back pain among nurses working in government health clinics and hospitals in Port Dickson and the factors associated with it.
Methods : A cross sectional study was conducted involving 126 nurses working in government health clinics and district hospital in Port Dickson. They were universally sampled. A selfadministered questionnaire, assessing personal and socio-demographic characteristics, back pain, work factors and psychosocial factors.
Results :The prevalence of back pain among nurses was 79.4% and factors that showed significant association were workplace (p=0.026) and carried heavy load (p=0.043).
Conclusion : Where one work and nature of work one does has been shown in this study to be important issues to be considered in helping to manage back pain related to work. It is also recommended that staff need to be encouraged to do exercise to strengthen the back muscles, increase spinal flexibility and blood circulation to the spine as well as need to be reminded regarding ergonomic adjustment at work.
MeSH terms: Ambulatory Care Facilities; Back Pain; Cross-Sectional Studies; Hospitals, District; Humans; Malaysia; Nurses; Surveys and Questionnaires; Work; Prevalence
Introduction : Family Health Development Division is one of the earliest divisions in Public Health Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia. The division has progressed each year with the extension and expansion of the scopes of services since the establishment of Maternal and Child Health Unit in 1956. The services currently include school children, adolescent, adult and elderly health and also known as life-course perspective: from womb to tomb.
Objectives : The objective is to elaborate and explain the reformation of primary health care services implemented in the past and present.
Methods : The methodology applied is compilation, data review and comparison from annual report, action plan report, articles, speeches, specialists and stake holder view.
Results : The focus of Primary Health Care Service is covering health promotion, disease prevention, early detection and treatment, acute disease care, disease limitation and rehabilitation, clinical support services and teleprimary care. The reformation is caused by factors such as globalization, modernization, growth of health market, emergence and re-emergence of diseases, and development of medical technology. Three health fields that have underwent and under going reformation are concept and wellness practise in primary healthcare, primary healthcare clinical support services development and primary healthcare informatics development. The outcome of these reformations is the increment of service quality and outstanding services for patients and health staffs.
Conclusion : Health reformation in primary healthcare is greatly needed to give excellent services for primary health care for today and future.
MeSH terms: Child Health; Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Child; Delivery of Health Care; Family Health; Health Promotion; Humans; Malaysia; Primary Health Care; Public Health; Social Change; Specialization; Review; Internationality
Thirteen solid waste samples labeled as scales were collected from a storage area of a crude oil production industry and were analysed for radionuclides concentrations. The radium-226 and radium- 228 concentrations were found to be unexpectedly low, i.e. less than 20 Bqkg. However, six samples were found to contain 7 to 2240 Bq/kg 60 Co. Thus, besides naturally occurring radionuclides, there is a possibility to find artificial radionuclides in solid wastes from crude oil production industry.
MeSH terms: Oil and Gas Industry; Petroleum; Radioisotopes; Radium; Spectrometry, Gamma; Solid Waste
Effects of organoclay concentration on the properties of radiation crosslinked natural rubber (NR)/ ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/clay nanocomposites were investigated. The NR/EVA blend with a ratio of 40/60 was melt blended with different concentration of either dodecyl ammonium montmorillonite (DDA-MMT) or dimethyl dihydrogenated tallow quarternary ammonium montmorillonite (C20A). Composite of NR/EVA blend with unmodified clay (Na-MMT) was also prepared for comparison purposes. The composites were irradiated with electron beam (EB) at an optimum irradiation dose. The formation of radiation-induced crosslinking depends on the type and concentration of the organoclay used in the preparation of nanocomposites as measured by gel content. Changes in the interlayer distance of the silicate layers with the increase of organoclay concentration were shown by the XRD results. Variation in the tensile properties of the nanocomposites with the increase of organoclay concentration depends on the formation of crosslinking as well as reinforcement effect of the organoclay. Improvement in thermal stability of the NR/EVA blend was also observed with the presence of organoclay.
Production of carbon dioxide from degraded woods especially Karas or Aquilariella Malaccensis using integrated pyrolysis-combustion is important for radiocarbon dating application. The effects of pyrolysis temperatures (300-400 0 C), retention times (20-35 minutes) and flow rates of argon (400- 1000 ml/min) on the production of carbon dioxide were studied. The experiments were arranged according to a 2 3 response surface central composite statistical design (CSD). This response surface methodology (RSM) was used to assess factor interactions and empirical models regarding carbon dioxide yield. The optimized yield of carbon dioxide was 82.57% for Karas and the optimum reaction conditions are 300 0 C of pyrolysis temperature, 20 minutes retention time and 982ml/min flow rates of argon. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were conducted to assess the morphological characteristics of the woods and to look at the potential crystalline structure produced after the process took place, respectively.
At present, research in composite materials is being directed at using natural fibres instead of synthetic fibres. Kenaf which is extensively grown in the Far East including Malaysia, has been identified as a bast (stem) fibre with significant market potential. In this work, long and random kenaf fibres (non-woven mat form) were used in the as-received condition and alkalized with a 0.06M NaOH solution. They were combined with polypropylene thin sheets, sandwiched between layers of kenaf fibres and hot-pressed to form natural fibre composites. The mechanical properties of the composites were investigated to observe the effect of fibre alignment, fibre treatment and pre-irradiation method used. A general trend was observed whereby alkalized and long fibre composites gave higher flexural modulus and flexural strength compared with random mat and untreated fibres. The long fibre composites also gave a higher work of fracture. However, the correlation between fibre surface treatment and the work of fracture was less clear. Pre-irradiation on the polypropylene pellets and fibres before the composite is manufactured showed significant improvement on the flexural modulus and flexural strength. The bond performance test performed on the treated composites demonstrated good bonding and interfacial adhesion between the fibre and matrix. However, the method of moulding used need to be improved to optimize the performance of the composites.
A study to determine the influence of soil water status on the physiology of rice plant Oryza sativa var. MR220 after panicle initiation stage was carried out at Ladang Merdeka Mulong Lating in the Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (KADA) area, Kelantan. Five water management treatments imposed on direct seeded rice were; T1. Continuous flooding, T2. Early flooding up to panicle initiation stage followed by saturated (F55-saturated), T3. Early flooding for the first month followed by saturated (F-30 saturated), T4. Continuous saturated, and T5. Continuous field capacity condition throughout the growth stage. The treatments were arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates. In-situ stomatal conductance measurement was carried out at 68 DAS (days after seeding) and the elemental analysis of soil and plant samples was carried out using the Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Results from this study showed significant differences between treatments for soil moisture content and plant moisture content, but no significance different in leaf stomatal conductance. Rice plant moisture, soil moisture and leaf stomatal conductance showed no interaction. Early flooding up to panicle initiation stage followed by saturated (T2: F55-saturated) resulted in higher plant moisture content. Soil plant transfer coefficient was highest in continuous saturated (T4) for nitrogen, early flooding for the first month followed by saturated (T3: F-30 saturated) for potassium, continuous field capacity condition throughout the growth stage (T5) for magnesium, and continuous flooding (T1) for sodium.
The linear and the mass attenuation coefficients of Rhizophora spp. wood in the photon energy range of 11.22 - 28.43 keV were determined. This was done by studying the attenuation of x-ray fluorescent (XRF) photons from selenium, molybdenum, silver and tin targets. Both the Kα and Kβ peaks were utilised. The results were compared with theoretical values for average breast tissues for youngage, middle-age and old-age groups calculated by using a XCOM computer programme. The mass attenuation coefficient of Rhizophora spp. was found to be close to that of the calculated young-age breast in this photon energy range.
Clay has been regarded as very important natural industrial materials. All these industries exploit the properties that clay can be molded into any shape and fired to dry without losing its form. A study was carried out on clay samples from eight sites in the north-eastern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The study was accomplished by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The x-ray diffraction spectra obtained enable the determination of the lattice spacing associated with the types of clay and nonclay minerals present in the samples. Results of the study shows that the major components of clay minerals present in all samples studied are kaolinite and illite. The presence of kaolinite is confirmed by firing test in which the kaolinite diffraction peaks disappeared upon heating the samples at 600 o C. The presence of non-clay minerals such as quartz, mica, feldspar and chlorite are also observed.
The measurements of absorbed dose rate in air around amang plant buildings were carried out using a scintillation detector. It was found that the mean radiation levels at seven amang plants were in the range of 1.6 – 5.5 µGy h -1. The individual maximum value measured was 56 µGy h -1. The annual dose to a worker transporting the minerals to the plant was estimated to be 1.5 mSv y -1.
A Monte Carlo simulation of the Malaysian nuclear reactor has been performed using MCNP Version 5 code. The purpose of the work is the determination of the multiplication factor (k eff ) for TRIGA Mark II research reactor in Malaysia based on Monte Carlo method. This work has been performed to calculate the value of k eff for two cases, which are the control rod either fully withdrawn or fully inserted to construct a complete model of the TRIGA Mark II PUSPATI Reactor (RTP). The RTP core was modeled as close as possible to the real core and the results of k eff from MCNP5 were obtained. When the control-fuel rods were fully inserted, the k eff value indicates the RTP reactor was in the subcritical condition with a value of 0.98370 ± 0.00054. When the control-fuel rods were fully withdrawn the value of k eff value indicates the RTP reactor is in the supercritical condition, that is 1.10773 ± 0.00083.
MeSH terms: Malaysia; Monte Carlo Method; Nuclear Reactors; Research
A study to measure the concentrations of long-lived radionuclides of the uranium and thorium series in naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) wastes was carried out using gamma spectrometry and neutron activation analysis methods. It was found that radionuclides in the NORM wastes of the oil/gas production and ores/minerals processing industries were not in equilibrium. The 226 Ra/ 238 U and 228 Ra/ 232 Th ratios were between 0.001 and 2220 indicating that the concentrations of daughters radionuclides ( 226 Ra, 228 Ra) were very low or very high compared to the parent radionuclides ( 238 U, 232 Th) in the NORM wastes.
Developments of computer technology and image processing have shifted conventional industrial radiography application to industrial digital radiography (IDR) system. In this study, two types of IDR modules for non destructive testing (NDT), namely drum- and laser- type film digitizer with 50 μm pixel pitch have been evaluated for NDT applications. The modulation transfer function (MTF) and noise power spectrum (NPS) measurement were adapted to evaluate the image quality of IDR images. Results shown the averaged MTF for drum- and laser- type film digitizer at 20% modulation were 6.15 cycles/mm and 6.55 cycles/mm respectively. For NPS measurement and calculation, the result obtained shows that drum type film digitizer produced higher noise then laser type film digitizer. The study shows that the laser type film digitizer is the best system to be used for film digitization purposes because the MTF result shows that it modulates better than drum type and has the lowest and stable NPS.
Atmospheric Pollution due to airborne particle is a major concern to many cities in the Southeast Asian region, including Kuala Lumpur. Within the last six years air particulate samples have been collected from a site in Kuala Lumpur and measured for their PM10, PM2.5 and elemental concentrations. The results showed that the daily PM10 (
MeSH terms: Air Pollutants; Cities; Particulate Matter
Al-Si/SiC composites with the fraction of 5 and 15 wt. % fine SiC particles were fabricated using stir casting process by which SiC powders were poured into aluminium melt and cast in a stainless steel mould to form ingot. Characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed the presence of constituent and intermetallic materials in the composites. Microstructure study revealed that both fine and course particles scattered in the Al-Si matrix. The characterization of thermal properties showed that the thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion decreased with the increase in SiC content. The conductivity and expansion behavior is correlated to the microstructure and weight fraction of the SiC particles. Meanwhile, the hardness of the composite increased with the increasing of SiC particles in the composites.