Displaying publications 201 - 220 of 2045 in total

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  1. Rahman AA, Mohamad N, Imran MK, Ibrahim WP, Othman A, Aziz AA, et al.
    Malays J Med Sci, 2011 Oct;18(4):63-8.
    PMID: 22589674 MyJurnal
    No previous study has assessed the impact of childhood disability on parents and family in the context of Malaysia, and no instrument to measure this impact has previously been available. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the reliability of a Malay version of the PedsQL™ Family Impact Module that measures the impact of children with disabilities (CWD) on their parents and family in a Malaysian context.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  2. Odili JB, Noraziah A, Alkazemi B, Zarina M
    Sci Rep, 2022 Oct 15;12(1):17319.
    PMID: 36243886 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22242-9
    This paper presents the data description of the African buffalo optimization algorithm (ABO). ABO is a recently-designed optimization algorithm that is inspired by the migrant behaviour of African buffalos in the vast African landscape. Organizing their large herds that could be over a thousand buffalos using just two principal sounds, the /maaa/ and the /waaa/ calls present a good foundation for the development of an optimization algorithm. Since elaborate descriptions of the manual workings of optimization algorithms are rare in literature, this paper aims at solving this problem, hence it is our main contribution. It is our belief that elaborate manual description of the workings of optimization algorithms make it user-friendly and encourage reproducibility of the experimental procedures performed using this algorithm. Again, our ability to describe the algorithm's basic flow, stochastic and data generation processes in a language so simple that any non-expert can appreciate and use as well as the practical implementation of the popular benchmark Rosenbrock and Shekel Foxhole functions with the novel algorithm will assist the research community in benefiting maximally from the contributions of this novel algorithm. Finally, benchmarking the good experimental output of the ABO with those of the popular, highly effective and efficient Cuckoo Search and Flower Pollination Algorithm underscores the ABO as a worthy contribution to the existing body of population-based optimization algorithms.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  3. He S, Ding L, He K, Zheng B, Liu D, Zhang M, et al.
    BMC Psychiatry, 2022 Dec 29;22(1):834.
    PMID: 36581864 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-04487-w
    BACKGROUND: Although disturbances in biological rhythms are closely related to the onset of major depressive disorder (MDD), they are not commonly assessed in Chinese clinical practice. The Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (BRIAN) has been used to evaluate disturbances in biological rhythms in MDD. We aimed to assess and confirm the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the BRIAN (C-BRIAN) in patients with MDD.

    METHODS: A total of 120 patients with MDD and 40 age- and sex-matched controls were recruited consecutively. Reliability was estimated using Cronbach's alpha, the split-half coefficient, and the test-retest coefficient; test-retest reliability was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the construct validity of the scale. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) were used to check concurrent validity by evaluating the correlation between the C-BRIAN, PSQI, and MEQ.

    RESULTS: The overall Cronbach's α value was 0.898, indicating good internal consistency. The Guttman split-half coefficient was 0.792, indicating good split-half reliability. Moreover, the test-retest reliability for both the total and individual item score was excellent. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that construct validity was acceptable (χ2/df = 2.117, GFI = 0.80, AGFI = 0.87, CFI = 0.848, and RMSEA = 0.097). Furthermore, total BRIAN scores were found to be negatively correlated with MEQ (r = - 0.517, P 

    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  4. Ab Latif R, Mat Nor MZ
    Malays J Med Sci, 2020 Dec;27(6):115-127.
    PMID: 33447139 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2020.27.6.11
    Background: Concept mapping has been established as a learning strategy that encourages critical thinking and creativity among students, leading to the development of a concept mapping guideline designed to guide nurse educators in using this teaching strategy.

    Objectives: This paper illustrates the development of a guideline to build a concept mapping based-learning strategy. Called the Rusnani concept mapping (RCM) protocol guideline, it was adapted from the Mohd Afifi learning model (MoAFF) and the analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation (ADDIE) model, integrated with the Kemp model.

    Methods: This model uses the five phases of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. The validity of the guideline was determined by using content and face validity and the Delphi technique. Content validity for this RCM guideline was established using expert review. This formula suggested that if the content validity is greater than 70%, it shows good content validity, and if it is less than 70%, the content validity is low and it is advisable to recheck the content according to the objective of the study.

    Results: The reliability of the RCM was 0.816, showing that the RCM guideline has high reliability and validity.

    Conclusion: It is practical and acceptable for nurse educators to apply RCM as an effective and innovative teaching method to enhance the academic performance of their nursing students.

    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  5. Fairus FZ, Joseph LH, Omar B, Ahmad J, Sulaiman R
    Malays J Med Sci, 2016 Mar;23(2):21-7.
    PMID: 27547111 MyJurnal
    The understanding of vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) during walking and half-squatting is necessary and commonly utilised during the rehabilitation period. The purpose of this study was to establish measurement reproducibility of VGRF that reports the minimal detectable changes (MDC) during walking and half-squatting activity among healthy male adults.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  6. Bujang MA, Omar ED, Baharum NA
    Malays J Med Sci, 2018 Nov;25(6):85-99.
    PMID: 30914882 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2018.25.6.9
    Background: Reliability studies are commonly used in questionnaire development studies and questionnaire validation studies. This study reviews the sample size guideline for Cronbach's alpha test.

    Methods: Manual sample size calculation using Microsoft Excel software and sample size tables were tabulated based on a single coefficient alpha and the comparison of two coefficients alpha.

    Results: For a single coefficient alpha test, the approach by assuming the Cronbach's alpha coefficient equals to zero in the null hypothesis will yield a smaller sample size of less than 30 to achieve a minimum desired effect size of 0.7. However, setting the coefficient of Cronbach's alpha larger than zero in the null hypothesis could be necessary and this will yield larger sample size. For comparison of two coefficients of Cronbach's alpha, a larger sample size is needed when testing for smaller effect sizes.

    Conclusions: In the assessment of the internal consistency of an instrument, the present study proposed the Cronbach's alpha's coefficient to be set at 0.5 in the null hypothesis and hence larger sample size is needed. For comparison of two coefficients' of Cronbach's alpha, justification is needed whether testing for extremely low and extremely large effect sizes are scientifically necessary.

    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  7. Saeedi P, Skeaff SA, Wong JE, Skidmore PM
    Nutrients, 2016;8(5).
    PMID: 27164137 DOI: 10.3390/nu8050271
    The aim of this study was to assess the reproducibility and validity of a non-quantitative 28-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Children aged 9-10 years (n = 50) from three schools in Dunedin, New Zealand, completed the FFQ twice and a four-day estimated food diary (4DEFD) over a two-week period. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Spearman's correlation coefficients (SCC) were used to determine reproducibility and validity of the FFQ, respectively. Weekly intakes were estimated for each food item and aggregated into 23 food items/groups. More than half of the food items/groups (52.2%) had an ICC ≥0.5. The median SCC between FFQ administrations was 0.66 (ranging from 0.40 for processed meat to 0.82 for sweets and non-dairy drinks). Cross-classification analysis between the first FFQ and 4DEFD for ranking participants into thirds showed that breakfast cereals had the highest agreement (54.0%) and pasta the lowest (34.0%). In validity analyses, 70% of food items/groups had a SCC ≥0.3. Results indicate that the FFQ is a useful tool for ranking children according to food items/groups intake. The low respondent burden and relative simplicity of the FFQ makes it suitable for use in large cohort studies of 9-10 year-old children in New Zealand.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  8. Cheong AT, Sazlina SG
    Malays Fam Physician, 2015;10(2):36-44.
    PMID: 27099659 MyJurnal
    INTRODUCTION: Hill-Bone compliance to high blood pressure therapy scale (HBTS) is one of the useful scales in primary care settings. It has been tested in America, Africa and Turkey with variable validity and reliability. The aim of this paper was to determine the validity and reliability of the Malay version of HBTS (HBTS-M) for the Malaysian population.
    MATERIALS AND METHODS: HBTS comprises three subscales assessing compliance to medication, appointment and salt intake. The content validity of HBTS to the local population was agreed through consensus of expert panel. The 14 items used in the HBTS were adapted to reflect the local situations. It was translated into Malay and then back-translated into English. The translated version was piloted in 30 participants. This was followed by structural and predictive validity, and internal consistency testing in 262 patients with hypertension, who were on antihypertensive agent(s) for at least 1 year in two primary healthcare clinics in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Exploratory factor analyses and the correlation between HBTS-M total score and blood pressure were performed. The Cronbach's alpha was calculated accordingly.
    RESULTS: Factor analysis revealed a three-component structure represented by two components on medication adherence and one on salt intake adherence. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin statistic was 0.764. The variance explained by each factors were 23.6%, 10.4% and 9.8%, respectively. However, the internal consistency for each component was suboptimal with Cronbach's alpha of 0.64, 0.55 and 0.29, respectively. Although there were two components representing medication adherence, the theoretical concepts underlying each concept cannot be differentiated. In addition, there was no correlation between the HBTS-M total score and blood pressure.
    CONCLUSION: HBTS-M did not conform to the structural and predictive validity of the original scale. Its reliability on assessing medication and salt intake adherence would most probably to be suboptimal in the Malaysian primary care setting.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  9. Djojodibroto RD, Thomas PT, Kana KT, Hla M
    Med J Malaysia, 2014 Apr;69(2):60-3.
    PMID: 25241813 MyJurnal
    Some diseases may underlie finger clubbing. However, there is a dearth of information about early stage of finger clubbing because only few researchers have shown interest in it. We determined the Digital Index of normal, healthy subjects by using thread and manual Vernier calipers, the time used for the procedure, and its interrater reliability. The value of Digital Index was 8.86 ± 0.29 (Mean ± SD) with a range of 8.15 to 9.41. Interrater reliability was excellent with Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.966. Overall, the time taken to measure the Digital Index ranged from 21.93 to 68.80 minutes with an average of 35.97 ± 9.16 (Mean ± SD). Determining Digital Index need much time, but this can be overcome if we use Digital Index Quantitator (DIQ). Availability of DIQ in the hospital wards will be of much benefit. DIQ can also be used to accurately quantify the progression or regression of the clubbing process. This article proves that we need morphometry of digital clubbing as well as the correlation of the physical sign of clubbing with Digital Index.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  10. Al-Dubai S, Ganasegeran K, Barua A, Rizal A, Rampal K
    Ann Med Health Sci Res, 2014 Jul;4(Suppl 2):S104-7.
    PMID: 25184074 DOI: 10.4103/2141-9248.138023
    BACKGROUND: The 10-item version of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is a widely used tool to measure stress. The Malay version of the PSS-10 has been validated among Malaysian Medical Students. However, studies have not been conducted to assess its validity in occupational settings.
    AIM: The aim of this study is to assess the psychometric properties of the Malay version of the PSS-10 in two occupational setting in Malaysia.
    SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted among 191 medical residents and 513 railway workers. An exploratory factor analysis was performed using the principal component method with varimax rotation. Correlation analyses, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, Bartlett's test of Sphericity and Cronbach's alpha were obtained. Statistical analysis was carried out using statistical package for the social sciences version 16 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) software.
    RESULTS: Analysis yielded two factor structure of the Malay version of PSS-10 in both occupational groups. The two factors accounted for 59.2% and 64.8% of the variance in the medical residents and the railway workers respectively. Factor loadings were greater than 0.59 in both occupational groups. Cronbach's alpha co-efficient was 0.70 for medical residents and 0.71 for railway workers.
    CONCLUSION: The Malay version of PSS-10 had adequate psychometric properties and can be used to measure stress among occupational settings in Malaysia.
    KEYWORDS: Factor structure; Malaysia; Occupational; Perceived stress scale; Psychometric properties; Validity
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  11. Ong P
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:943403.
    PMID: 25298971 DOI: 10.1155/2014/943403
    Modification of the intensification and diversification approaches in the recently developed cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) is performed. The alteration involves the implementation of adaptive step size adjustment strategy, and thus enabling faster convergence to the global optimal solutions. The feasibility of the proposed algorithm is validated against benchmark optimization functions, where the obtained results demonstrate a marked improvement over the standard CSA, in all the cases.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  12. Huda AS, Taib S, Ghazali KH, Jadin MS
    ISA Trans, 2014 May;53(3):717-24.
    PMID: 24593986 DOI: 10.1016/j.isatra.2014.02.003
    Infrared thermography technology is one of the most effective non-destructive testing techniques for predictive faults diagnosis of electrical components. Faults in electrical system show overheating of components which is a common indicator of poor connection, overloading, load imbalance or any defect. Thermographic inspection is employed for finding such heat related problems before eventual failure of the system. However, an automatic diagnostic system based on artificial neural network reduces operating time, human efforts and also increases the reliability of system. In the present study, statistical features and artificial neural network (ANN) with confidence level analysis are utilized for inspection of electrical components and their thermal conditions are classified into two classes namely normal and overheated. All the features extracted from images do not produce good performance. Features having low performance reduce the diagnostic performance. The study reveals the performance of each feature individually for selecting the suitable feature set. In order to find the individual feature performance, each feature of thermal image was used as input for neural network and the classification of condition types were used as output target. The multilayered perceptron network using Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm was used as classifier. The performances were determined in terms of percentage of accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, false positive and false negative. After selecting the suitable features, the study introduces the intelligent diagnosis system using suitable features as inputs of neural network. Finally, confidence percentage and confidence level were used to find out the strength of the network outputs for condition monitoring. The experimental result shows that multilayered perceptron network produced 79.4% of testing accuracy with 43.60%, 12.60%, 21.40, 9.20% and 13.40% highest, high, moderate, low and lowest confidence level respectively.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  13. Saad R, Ahmad MZ, Abu MS, Jusoh MS
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:865495.
    PMID: 24782670 DOI: 10.1155/2014/865495
    Multicriteria decision making (MCDM) is one of the methods that popularly has been used in solving personnel selection problem. Alternatives, criteria, and weights are some of the fundamental aspects in MCDM that need to be defined clearly in order to achieve a good result. Apart from these aspects, fuzzy data has to take into consideration that it may arise from unobtainable and incomplete information. In this paper, we propose a new approach for personnel selection problem. The proposed approach is based on Hamming distance method with subjective and objective weights (HDMSOW's). In case of vagueness situation, fuzzy set theory is then incorporated onto the HDMSOW's. To determine the objective weight for each attribute, the fuzzy Shannon's entropy is considered. While for the subjective weight, it is aggregated into a comparable scale. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the HDMSOW's.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  14. Aboud H, Wagiran H, Hussin R, Ali H, Alajerami Y, Saeed MA
    Appl Radiat Isot, 2014 Aug;90:35-9.
    PMID: 24681645 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.01.012
    Characteristics of lithium potassium borate glasses with various copper concentrations are reported. The glasses were prepared by the melt quenching method and irradiated with photons to doses in the 0.5-4.0 Gy range. Glowing curves, dose response curves, reproducibility of the response, dose threshold, thermal fading and optical bleaching were studied.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  15. Alwan FM, Baharum A, Hassan GS
    PLoS One, 2013;8(8):e69716.
    PMID: 23936346 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069716
    The reliability of the electrical distribution system is a contemporary research field due to diverse applications of electricity in everyday life and diverse industries. However a few research papers exist in literature. This paper proposes a methodology for assessing the reliability of 33/11 Kilovolt high-power stations based on average time between failures. The objective of this paper is to find the optimal fit for the failure data via time between failures. We determine the parameter estimation for all components of the station. We also estimate the reliability value of each component and the reliability value of the system as a whole. The best fitting distribution for the time between failures is a three parameter Dagum distribution with a scale parameter [Formula: see text] and shape parameters [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Our analysis reveals that the reliability value decreased by 38.2% in each 30 days. We believe that the current paper is the first to address this issue and its analysis. Thus, the results obtained in this research reflect its originality. We also suggest the practicality of using these results for power systems for both the maintenance of power systems models and preventive maintenance models.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  16. Arifin N, Abu Osman NA, Wan Abas WA
    J Appl Biomech, 2014 Apr;30(2):300-4.
    PMID: 23878204 DOI: 10.1123/jab.2013-0130
    The measurements of postural balance often involve measurement error, which affects the analysis and interpretation of the outcomes. In most of the existing clinical rehabilitation research, the ability to produce reliable measures is a prerequisite for an accurate assessment of an intervention after a period of time. Although clinical balance assessment has been performed in previous study, none has determined the intrarater test-retest reliability of static and dynamic stability indexes during dominant single stance. In this study, one rater examined 20 healthy university students (female=12, male=8) in two sessions separated by 7 day intervals. Three stability indexes--the overall stability index (OSI), anterior/posterior stability index (APSI), and medial/ lateral stability index (MLSI) in static and dynamic conditions--were measured during single dominant stance. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error measurement (SEM) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated. Test-retest ICCs for OSI, APSI, and MLSI were 0.85, 0.78, and 0.84 during static condition and were 0.77, 0.77, and 0.65 during dynamic condition, respectively. We concluded that the postural stability assessment using Biodex stability system demonstrates good-to-excellent test-retest reliability over a 1 week time interval.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  17. Barman A
    Ann Acad Med Singap, 2008 Nov;37(11):957-63.
    PMID: 19082204
    INTRODUCTION: Setting, maintaining and re-evaluation of assessment standard periodically are important issues in medical education. The cut-off scores are often "pulled from the air" or set to an arbitrary percentage. A large number of methods/procedures used to set standard or cut score are described in literature. There is a high degree of uncertainty in performance standard set by using these methods. Standards set using the existing methods reflect the subjective judgment of the standard setters. This review is not to describe the existing standard setting methods/procedures but to narrate the validity, reliability, feasibility and legal issues relating to standard setting.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: This review is on some of the issues in standard setting based on the published articles of educational assessment researchers.

    RESULTS: Standard or cut-off score should be to determine whether the examinee attained the requirement to be certified competent. There is no perfect method to determine cut score on a test and none is agreed upon as the best method. Setting standard is not an exact science. Legitimacy of the standard is supported when performance standard is linked to the requirement of practice. Test-curriculum alignment and content validity are important for most educational test validity arguments.

    CONCLUSION: Representative percentage of must-know learning objectives in the curriculum may be the basis of test items and pass/fail marks. Practice analysis may help in identifying the must-know areas of curriculum. Cut score set by this procedure may give the credibility, validity, defensibility and comparability of the standard. Constructing the test items by subject experts and vetted by multi-disciplinary faculty members may ensure the reliability of the test as well as the standard.

    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  18. Ahmad M, Hamzah H, Sufliza Marsom E
    Talanta, 1998 Oct;47(2):275-83.
    PMID: 18967326
    An optical sensor for Hg(II) monitoring using a complex of zinc dithizonate immobilised on XAD 7 which is based on reflectance spectrophotometry has been developed in this study. Measurements were made using a kinetic approach whereby the reflectance signal is measured at a fixed time of 5 min. The sensor could be regenerated using a saturated solution of KCl in 1 M sulphuric acid. The sensor was found to have an optimum response at pH 3.0 with respective measurement repeatability and probe-to-probe reproducibility of 1.53% and 5.26%. A linear response was observed in the Hg(II) concentration range of 0.0-180.0 ppm with a calculated limit of detection (LOD) of 0.05 ppm. The results obtained for aqueous Hg(II) determination using this probe were found to be comparable with the well-established method of atomic absorption spectrometry.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  19. Yvonne-Tee GB, Rasool AH, Halim AS, Rahman AR
    Clin. Hemorheol. Microcirc., 2006;34(4):457-73.
    PMID: 16687786
    Given that functional abnormalities of the microcirculation are one of the primary abnormalities in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis, various noninvasive clinical tools have been developed recently to assess the microvascular function, particularly at the skin. The common techniques used to assess cutaneous microvascular function in vivo include capillaroscopy, venous occlusion plethysmography, and laser-Doppler instruments (laser-Doppler fluximetry and laser-Doppler imaging). These noninvasive techniques can be used as an early measure of functional abnormalities within the microvascular tree, predominantly in population at high risk for cardiovascular events. This review discusses some underlying application principle of these techniques, including its clinical significance, method reproducibility and limitations.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
  20. Bong CH, Lau TL, Ghani AA
    Water Sci Technol, 2013;67(2):395-403.
    PMID: 23168641 DOI: 10.2166/wst.2012.580
    The current study aims to verify the existing equations for incipient motion for a rigid rectangular channel. Data from experimental work on incipient motion from a rectangular flume with two different widths, namely 0.3 and 0.6 m, were compared with the critical velocity value predicted by the equations of Novak & Nalluri and El-Zaemey. The equation by El-Zaemey performed better with an average discrepancy ratio value of 1.06 compared with the equation by Novak & Nalluri with an average discrepancy ratio value of 0.87. However, as the sediment deposit thickness increased, the equation by El-Zaemey became less accurate. A plot on the Shields Diagram using the experimental data had shown the significant effect of the sediment deposit thickness where, as the deposit becomes thicker, the dimensionless shear stress θ value also increased. A new equation had been proposed by incorporating the sediment deposit thickness. The new equation gave improved prediction with an average discrepancy ratio value of 1.02.
    Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
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