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Fulltext Data on technopreneurial intention among male and female university students: A comparison

Koe WL

Data Brief, 2020 Dec;33:106423.
PMID: 33102642 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.106423

The data presented were used to examine the level of technopreneurial intention and differences in intention between male and female university students. A total of 361 final-year students from a public university in Malaysia have participated in the data collection process through answering online questionnaire. The respondents were selected by using proportionate stratified sampling. Quantitative method was employed in data analysis process. Specifically, the software of IBM SPSS was used to perform descriptive analysis and independent sample t-test. Data have also been tested for internal consistency to ensure their reliability. Mean and standard deviation values for male and female student's technopreneurial intention were presented. In comparison, the data demonstrated that no difference existed between male and female student's technopreneurial intention. The data provided new information on university student's level of technopreneurial intention. It was useful for higher learning institutions and governmental agencies in designing technopreneurship development programs, particularly in the era of post-COVID19 pandemic which requires extensive use of technology in entrepreneurship.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Glossary for systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Nagendrababu V, Dilokthornsakul P, Jinatongthai P, Veettil SK, Pulikkotil SJ, Duncan HF, et al.

Int Endod J, 2020 Feb;53(2):232-249.
PMID: 31520403 DOI: 10.1111/iej.13217

A systematic review aims to answer a focussed research question through a structured review of the evidence, using a predefined methodology, which often includes a meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a statistical method used to combine the effect estimates from the individual studies included in a systematic review. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are positioned at the highest level in the hierarchy of clinical evidence. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement was introduced in 2009 to help authors improve the quality and reliability of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Recently, the volume of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in the field of Endodontology has increased; however, the quality of the published manuscripts has been reported to be sub-optimal, which does not take account of the systematic reviews that were rejected because of more obvious deficiencies. The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive glossary of terminology commonly used in systematic reviews and meta-analyses in an attempt to provide easily understood definitions and explanations to assist authors when reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses and to allow those wishing to read them to become better informed.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext Validation of the Malay version of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale for postnatal women in Kelantan, Malaysia

Abdul Kadir A, Nordin R, Ismail SB, Yaacob MJ, Wan Mustapha WMR

Asia Pac Fam Med, 2004;3(1&2):9-18.

Aim. Validation of the Malay version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS)
Methods. A validation study was done involving 52 mothers who were at 4-12 weeks post-delivery. The women completed the Malay versions of EPDS and the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). They were then assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). Psychiatric diagnoses were made based on ICD-10 criteria. The validity of EPDS was tested against this clinical diagnosis and the concurrent validity against the Malay version of 30-item GHQ and HDRS scores was also evaluated.
Results. The best cut-off score of the Malay version of EPDS was 11.5 with the sensitivity of 72.7% and specificity of 92.6 %.
Conclusion. The Malay version of EPDS is a valid and reliable screening tool for PND.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext Influence of inclined wall self-shading strategy on office building heat gain and energy performance in hot humid climate of Malaysia

Kandar MZ, Nimlyat PS, Abdullahi MG, Dodo YA

Heliyon, 2019 Jul;5(7):e02077.
PMID: 31360788 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02077

External shading geometry on buildings has been found to contribute substantially to reducing energy consumption for cooling. This study examines the effect of inclined wall self-shading strategy on heat gain in an office building. Field measurement of environmental variables such as ambient temperature, relative humidity, dew point, and wet bulb temperature was carried out in a case study inclined wall self-shading office building located in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The results of the validation of ApacheSim simulation software tool against the measured environmental variables indicated significant reliability having Pearson correlations ranging from 0.56 to 0.90. In establishing the relationship between different inclined wall strategies to the amount of heat gain, modification of the inclined wall self-shading projection (SSP) was modelled and experimented using ApacheSim simulation. Findings from the analysis revealed a relationship between heat gains into a building space and self-shading projection (SSP), as heat gains tend to reduce with increased SSP. From the findings, the optimum inclination angle of self-shading for effective heat gain reduction is based on a 45% self-shading projection. The application of inclined wall self-shading strategy in buildings would, therefore, bring about a reduction in heat gain, which invariably reduces energy consumption for cooling.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext Energy harvesting based routing protocol for underwater sensor networks

Khan A, Khan M, Ahmed S, Abd Rahman MA, Khan M

PLoS One, 2019;14(7):e0219459.
PMID: 31314772 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219459

Underwater sensor networks (UWSNs) are ad-hoc networks which are deployed at rivers, seas and oceans to explore and monitor the phenomena such as pollution control, seismic activities and petroleum mining etc. The sensor nodes of UWSNs have limited charging capabilities. UWSNs networks are generally operated under two deployment mechanisms i.e localization and non-localization based. However, in both the mechanisms, balanced energy utilization is a challenging issue. Inefficient usage of energy significantly affects stability period, packet delivery ratio, end-to-end delay, path loss and throughput of a network. To efficiently utilize and harvest energy, this paper present a novel scheme called EH-ARCUN (Energy Harvesting Analytical approach towards Reliability with Cooperation for UWSNs) based on cooperation with energy harvesting. The scheme employs Amplify-and-Forward (AF) technique at relay nodes for data forwarding and Fixed Combining Ratio (FCR) technique at destination node to select accurate signal. The proposed technique selects relay nodes among its neighbor nodes based on harvested energy level. Most cooperation-based UWSN routing techniques do not exhibit energy harvesting mechanism at the relay nodes. EH-ARCUN deploys piezoelectric energy harvesting at relay nodes to improve the working capabilities of sensors in UWSNs. The proposed scheme is an extension of our previously implemented routing scheme called ARCUN for UWSNs. Performance of the proposed scheme is compared with ARCUN and RACE (Reliability and Adaptive Cooperation for efficient Underwater sensor Networks) schemes in term of stability period, packet delivery ratio, network throughput and path loss. Extensive simulation results show that EH-ARCUN performs better than both previous schemes in terms of the considered parameters.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Highly sensitive and selective determination of malathion in vegetable extracts by an electrochemical sensor based on Cu-metal organic framework

Al'Abri AM, Abdul Halim SN, Abu Bakar NK, Saharin SM, Sherino B, Rashidi Nodeh H, et al.

J Environ Sci Health B, 2019;54(12):930-941.
PMID: 31407615 DOI: 10.1080/03601234.2019.1652072

This article demonstrates the first application of a copper-based porous coordination polymer (BTCA-P-Cu-CP) as a carbon paste electrode (CPE) modifier for the detection of malathion. The electrochemical behavior of BTCA-P-Cu-CP/CPE was explored using cyclic voltammetry (CV) while chrono-amperometry methods were applied for the analytical evaluation of the sensor performance. Under optimized conditions, the developed sensor exhibited high reproducibility, stability, and wide dynamic range (0.6-24 nM) with the limits of detection and sensitivity equal to 0.17 nM and 5.7 µAnMcm-1, respectively, based on inhibition signal measurement. Furthermore, the presence of common coexisting interfering species showed a minor change in signals (<4.4%). The developed sensor has been applied in the determination of malathion in spiked vegetable extracts. It exhibited promising results in term of fast and sensitive determination of malathion in real samples at trace level with recoveries of 91.0 to 104.4%. (RSDs < 5%, n = 3). A comparison of the two studied techniques showed that the HPLC technique is unable to detect malathion when the concentration is lower than 1.8 µM while 0.006 µM is detected with appropriate RSDs 0.2-5.2% (n = 3) by amperometric method. Due to the high sensitivity and selectivity, this new electrochemical sensor will be useful for monitoring trace malathion in real samples.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Validity and Reliability of a Nutrition Screening Tool in Identifying Malnutrition Among Hospitalized Adult Patients

Tah PC, Kee CC, Majid HA

Nutr Clin Pract, 2020 Oct;35(5):942-950.
PMID: 31556167 DOI: 10.1002/ncp.10416

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition among hospitalized patients is closely associated with various medical complications. This study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of a 3-Minute Nutrition Screening (3-MinNS) tool in identifying the risk of malnutrition among hospitalized patients that can be administered by healthcare professionals.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and December 2012. A total of 350 adult patients in a teaching hospital were screened for risk of malnutrition using 3-MinNS and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). To assess interrater reliability, each patient was screened for risk of malnutrition using 3-MinNS by 2 different nurses on 2 different occasions within 24 hours after admission. To assess the validity of 3-MinNS, the level of risk of malnutrition identified by the nurses using 3-MinNS was compared with the risk of malnutrition as assessed by a dietitian using SGA within 48 hours after the patients' enrolment into the study. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were calculated in detecting patients at risk of malnutrition. Interrater reliability was determined using κ statistics.
RESULTS: Using SGA, the estimated prevalence of moderate to severe malnutrition was 36.3% (127/350). There was 94% proportional agreement between 2 nurses using 3-MinNS, and interrater reliability was substantial (κ = 0.79, P < .001). The analysis showed that 3-MinNS had moderate sensitivity (61.4%-68.5%) but high specificity (95.1%).
CONCLUSIONS: The 3-MinNS is a reliable and valid screening tool for use by healthcare professionals for identifying newly admitted medical and surgical patients who are at risk of malnutrition.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext Transient Behavior in Variable Geometry Industrial Gas Turbines: A Comprehensive Overview of Pertinent Modeling Techniques

Hashmi MB, Lemma TA, Ahsan S, Rahman S

Entropy (Basel), 2021 Feb 22;23(2).
PMID: 33671488 DOI: 10.3390/e23020250

Generally, industrial gas turbines (IGT) face transient behavior during start-up, load change, shutdown and variations in ambient conditions. These transient conditions shift engine thermal equilibrium from one steady state to another steady state. In turn, various aero-thermal and mechanical stresses are developed that are adverse for engine's reliability, availability, and overall health. The transient behavior needs to be accurately predicted since it is highly related to low cycle fatigue and early failures, especially in the hot regions of the gas turbine. In the present paper, several critical aspects related to transient behavior and its modeling are reviewed and studied from the point of view of identifying potential research gaps within the context of fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) under dynamic conditions. Among the considered topics are, (i) general transient regimes and pertinent model formulation techniques, (ii) control mechanism for part-load operation, (iii) developing a database of variable geometry inlet guide vanes (VIGVs) and variable bleed valves (VBVs) schedules along with selection framework, and (iv) data compilation of shaft's polar moment of inertia for different types of engine's configurations. This comprehensive literature document, considering all the aspects of transient behavior and its associated modeling techniques will serve as an anchor point for the future researchers, gas turbine operators and design engineers for effective prognostics, FDD and predictive condition monitoring for variable geometry IGT.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext FLA-SLA aware cloud collation formation using fuzzy preference relationship multi-decision approach for federated cloud

Vadla, Pradeep Kumar, Kolla, Bhanu Prakash, Perumal, Thinagaran

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2020;28(1):117-140.
MyJurnal

Cloud Computing provides a solution to enterprise applications in resolving their services at all level of Software, Platform, and Infrastructure. The current demand of resources for large enterprises and their specific requirement to solve critical issues of services to their clients like avoiding resources contention, vendor lock-in problems and achieving high QoS (Quality of Service) made them move towards the federated cloud. The reliability of the cloud has become a challenge for cloud providers to provide resources at an instance request satisfying all SLA (Service Level Agreement) requirements for different consumer applications. To have better collation among cloud providers, FLA (Federated Level Agreement) are given much importance to get consensus in terms of various KPI’s (Key Performance Indicator’s) of the individual cloud providers. This paper proposes an FLASLA Aware Cloud Collation Formation algorithm (FS-ACCF) considering both FLA and SLA as major features affecting the collation formation to satisfy consumer request instantly. In FS-ACCF algorithm, fuzzy preference relationship multi-decision approach was used to validate the preferences among cloud providers for forming collation and gaining maximum profit. Finally, the results of FS-ACCF were compared with S-ACCF (SLA Aware Collation Formation) algorithm for 6 to 10 consecutive requests of cloud consumers with varied VM configurations for different SLA parameters like response time, process time and availability.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext Rasch Model analysis of the Beck Depression Inventory-ii among Malaysian school students

Ahmad Zamri Khairani, Nor Shafrin Ahmad, Aziah Ismail, Rahimi Che Aman

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2020;16(1):221-229.
MyJurnal

Introduction: This study examines the psychometric characteristics of a translated version of the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI – II) among Malaysian school students. Methods: The sample consisted of 257 boys and 302 girls. This study employed WINSTEPS 3.74 to provide statistics and other information from Rasch Model analysis, namely, the fit statistics, dimensionality analysis, rating scale analysis, reliability and separation indices, differential item func- tioning analysis, and distribution of items difficulty and students’ ability. Results: Rating scale analysis showed that category 2 and category 3 of the ratings were not different. Meanwhile, Item 19 did not fit the model’s expectations; and thus, it was omitted from further analyses. The scale demonstrated a high person reliability and a high person separation index. There were no items demonstrating gender DIF. The school students endorsed feeling guilty as the least severe symptom of depression, while committing suicide as the most serious symptom. Conclusion: In general, the BDI-II demonstrated acceptable properties in measuring depression symptoms among school students.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext Development of a valid and reliable software customization model for SaaS quality through iterative method: perspectives from academia

Ali AQ, Md Sultan AB, Abd Ghani AA, Zulzalil H

PeerJ Comput Sci, 2020;6:e294.
PMID: 33816945 DOI: 10.7717/peerj-cs.294

Despite the benefits of standardization, the customization of Software as a Service (SaaS) application is also essential because of the many unique requirements of customers. This study, therefore, focuses on the development of a valid and reliable software customization model for SaaS quality that consists of (1) generic software customization types and a list of common practices for each customization type in the SaaS multi-tenant context, and (2) key quality attributes of SaaS applications associated with customization. The study was divided into three phases: the conceptualization of the model, analysis of its validity using SaaS academic-derived expertise, and evaluation of its reliability by submitting it to an internal consistency reliability test conducted by software-engineer researchers. The model was initially devised based on six customization approaches, 46 customization practices, and 13 quality attributes in the SaaS multi-tenant context. Subsequently, its content was validated over two rounds of testing after which one approach and 14 practices were removed and 20 practices were reformulated. The internal consistency reliability study was thereafter conducted by 34 software engineer researchers. All constructs of the content-validated model were found to be reliable in this study. The final version of the model consists of 6 constructs and 44 items. These six constructs and their associated items are as follows: (1) Configuration (eight items), (2) Composition (four items), (3) Extension (six items), 4) Integration (eight items), (5) Modification (five items), and (6) SaaS quality (13 items). The results of the study may contribute to enhancing the capability of empirically analyzing the impact of software customization on SaaS quality by benefiting from all resultant constructs and items.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext The Development and Assessment of Modified Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence Scale among Malaysian Single Electronic Cigarette Users

Rahman AU, Mohamed MHN, Jamshed S, Mahmood S, Iftikhar Baig MA

J Pharm Bioallied Sci, 2020 Nov;12(Suppl 2):S671-S675.
PMID: 33828359 DOI: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_245_19

Background: The Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence (FTND) is the most widely used scale for assessing nicotine dependence on conventional tobacco cigarettes (TCGs). But the FTND does not evaluate the subject's nicotine dependence to electronic cigarette (EC).
Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and assess an equivalent modified FTND scale that measures the nicotine dependency via EC.
Materials and Methods: The investigator developed the equivalent modified FTND scale that scores identical to the original scale, that is, 0-10. The developed scale piloted among 15 EC single users, that is, use only EC verified by carbon monoxide (CO) level of <8ppm. The assessment of the scale was done among 69 EC single users and observed for 1 year to determine their nicotine status.
Results: The modified scale revealed an acceptable Cronbach α value of 0.725. Further test-retest reliability of the scale showed a satisfactory Spearman's rank correlation coefficient value of 0.730 (P > 0.05). A 1-year observation showed that of 69 single users, 11 single users completely stopped nicotine intake, 24 remained as EC single users, 15 shifted to dual-use, and 19 relapsed to TCG. Surprisingly, the EC users who completely stopped nicotine intake after 1 year had a low average nicotine dependence value of 3 that was measured by the modified FTND scale at the baseline.
Conclusion: The modified FTND scale precisely identifies the physical dependence to nicotine via EC. Therefore, as per this study results the modified FTND scale can be applied in any EC-related studies to assess nicotine dependency via EC.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Detection of ploidy and chromosomal aberrations in commercial oil palm using high-throughput SNP markers

Ngoot-Chin T, Zulkifli MA, van de Weg E, Zaki NM, Serdari NM, Mustaffa S, et al.

Planta, 2021 Feb 05;253(2):63.
PMID: 33544231 DOI: 10.1007/s00425-021-03567-7

MAIN CONCLUSION: Karyotyping using high-density genome-wide SNP markers identified various chromosomal aberrations in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) with supporting evidence from the 2C DNA content measurements (determined using FCM) and chromosome counts. Oil palm produces a quarter of the world's total vegetable oil. In line with its global importance, an initiative to sequence the oil palm genome was carried out successfully, producing huge amounts of sequence information, allowing SNP discovery. High-capacity SNP genotyping platforms have been widely used for marker-trait association studies in oil palm. Besides genotyping, a SNP array is also an attractive tool for understanding aberrations in chromosome inheritance. Exploiting this, the present study utilized chromosome-wide SNP allelic distributions to determine the ploidy composition of over 1,000 oil palms from a commercial F1 family, including 197 derived from twin-embryo seeds. Our method consisted of an inspection of the allelic intensity ratio using SNP markers. For palms with a shifted or abnormal distribution ratio, the SNP allelic frequencies were plotted along the pseudo-chromosomes. This method proved to be efficient in identifying whole genome duplication (triploids) and aneuploidy. We also detected several loss of heterozygosity regions which may indicate small chromosomal deletions and/or inheritance of identical by descent regions from both parents. The SNP analysis was validated by flow cytometry and chromosome counts. The triploids were all derived from twin-embryo seeds. This is the first report on the efficiency and reliability of SNP array data for karyotyping oil palm chromosomes, as an alternative to the conventional cytogenetic technique. Information on the ploidy composition and chromosomal structural variation can help to better understand the genetic makeup of samples and lead to a more robust interpretation of the genomic data in marker-trait association analyses.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Using Contemporary Psychometric Methods to Construct and Validate Scores on a Short-Form Version of the Psychological Strain Scales

Huen JMY, Zhang J, Osman A, Lew B, Yip PSF

J Affect Disord, 2021 02 15;281:1-8.
PMID: 33278765 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.11.069

BACKGROUND: The 40-item Psychological Strain Scales (PSS) was developed to measure four dimensions of psychological strains based on the Strain Theory of Suicide. Although the PSS has been increasingly used in recent years, the dimensionality and scoring of the PSS remained to be thoroughly examined using the Item Response Theory (IRT) approach.
METHODS: Data came from a large sample of 11,412 Chinese undergraduate students. A bifactor-IRT model, specifying one general strain factor and four specific strains factors, was examined for fit to the sample data. A detailed item analysis, with analysis of the differential item functioning (DIF) of the items across gender, was undertaken to evaluate the dimensionality of the PSS. The associations among the PSS scale scores with scores on the concurrent measures, assessing psychache and suicidal behaviors, were examined.
RESULTS: IRT-derived specific bifactor indices showed that the PSS was unidimensional, and thus the PSS total scores should be reported. Unidimensional subset of 5 items identified (Item 9, Item 12, Item 14, Item 16, and Item 20), using bifactor-IRT modeling and incremental validation, were selected to construct a potential short form of the PSS (PSS-SF). The PSS-SF scale scores demonstrated strong psychometric properties and associations with scores on the concurrent measures assessing relevant constructs.
LIMITATIONS: This study used cross-sectional data from a non-clinical sample of Chinese undergraduate students.
CONCLUSIONS: The PSS-SF should be considered as a unidimensional instrument with potential in enhancing our understanding and measurement of psychological strains with reduced response burden.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext Employer roles and responsibilities in occupational safety and health (OSH) implementation in Malaysia

Mohd Esa Baruji, Sudin, Sham Xahary, Siti Zainatul Arafah, Nuraida Waslee, Siti Nasyrah Ibrahim, Nur Hidayana Abdullah, et al.

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2018;15(1):49-55.
MyJurnal

communication, full compliance and good behavior) as among the crucial elements required to be possessed by the principal employers in three sectors, namely manufacturing, public services and construction. In relation to this, this paper will describe the development and validation of instruments prior to the measurement of principal employers’ roles and responsibilities in the implementation of OSH. Three assessment tools were developed, namely the Benchmarking Interview, Questionnaire and Workplace Inspection. Fifteen companies were selected for the benchmarking interview, 50 employers conveniently selected for the survey interview (covering three sectors) and 90 employers selected for the workplace inspection (30 respondents for each sector). The development of benchmarking interview and workplace inspection scores are briefly discussed while the main focus is on the validation of the survey constructs (or items). The reliability check on 53 items representing four elements (i.e., Commitment, Communication, Compliance, Behaviour) of employers’ roles and responsibilities in the implementation of OSH showed that the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient is more than 0.90 which indicates that the internal consistency is extremely reliable. It also indicates that the set of items in each element are closely related and well understood by the respondents. Validity check on the items based on the Rasch measurement infit and outfit mean square statistics and standardized z-score found that nine items had misfitting values and finally corrected for further analysis. This study had shown that a valid and reliable instruments are important in ensuring that accurate and precise findings are obtained in measuring the roles and responsibilities of principal employer in the implementation of OSH.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext My-VRBQ: translation and preliminary validation of the vestibular rehabilitation benefit questionnaire (VRBQ)

Nurul Nabila Binti Mohtar, Wan Ahmad Wan Aslynn, Mohd Normani Zakaria, Nor Haniza Abdul Wahat, Nurul Syarida Bt Mohd Sakeri

International Journal of Allied Health Sciences, 2019;3(2):595-604.
MyJurnal

The purpose of this study was to translate and adapt the Vestibular Rehabilitation Benefit Questionnaire (VRBQ) into Malay (My-VRBQ). This is to add on to the limited number of
vestibular questionnaire available in Malay version. After the permission from the original
author was obtained, the process of adaptation began with forward-translation by the author with
audiological background and a linguistic expert. Then, the process of backward translation into
English were completed by three bilinguals who were proficient in both Malay and English. The final version of the draft was evaluated for its content validity, which was conducted by five professionals with audiological or speech pathology backgrounds. Additionally, its face validity was determine amongst 32 respondents with diverse backgrounds. Ten participants diagnosed with vestibular problems were recruited in the My-VRBQ for internal consistency validation process. They were enlisted from two hospitals in the East Coast of Malaysia. Based on the comments and
suggestions made by the validators; some changes in terms of the appropriateness of the instructions, items and the sentence structure were made. In the consistency analysis, the My-VRBQ revealed good internal consistency based on Cronbach alpha values (0.77 to 0.96). A translated and validated My-VRBQ has the potential to be used clinically to document vestibular rehabilitation benefits. Nevertheless, future studies are encouraged to further support the present study findings.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Commercial kitchenware glass as a potential thermoluminescent media for retrospective dosimetry

Wahib NB, Khandaker MU, Aqilah Binti Mohamad Ramli N, Sani SFA, Bradley DA

Appl Radiat Isot, 2019 Jun;148:218-224.
PMID: 31003071 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.04.001

Study has been made of the thermoluminescence (TL) yield of various glass-based commercial kitchenware (Reko-China, Skoja-France, Godis-China, Glass Tum-Malaysia, Lodrat-France). Interest focuses on their potential for retrospective dosimetry. Use was made of a60Co gamma-ray irradiator, delivering doses in the range 2-10 Gy. Results for the various media show all the glassware brands to yield linearity of response against dose, with a lower limit of detection of ∼0.06 and ∼0.08 Gy for loose and compact powdered samples. Among all of the brands under study, the Lodrat glassware provides the greatest sensitivity, at 6.0 E+02 nC g-1 Gy-1 and 1.5E+03 nC g-1 Gy-1 for compact- and loose-powdered forms respectively. This is sufficiently sensitive to allow its use as a TL material for accident dosimetry (2 Gy being the threshold dose for the onset of a number of deterministic biological effects, including skin erythema and sterility). Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses have been conducted, showing the presence of a number of impurities (including C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca and Br). Fading of the irradiated glasses show the amount of better than 3% and 5% of the stored energy for both loose and compact powdered samples within 9 days post irradiation. As such, commercial kitchenware glass has the potential to act as relatively good TL material for gamma radiation dosimetry at accident levels. This is the first endeavour reporting the TL properties of low cost commercial kitchenware glasses for gamma-ray doses in the few Gy range, literature existing for doses from 8 Gy to 200 Gy.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext A Finite Element Model for Dynamic Analysis of Triple-Layer Composite Plates with Layers Connected by Shear Connectors Subjected to Moving Load

Nguyen HN, Nguyen TY, Tran KV, Tran TT, Nguyen TT, Phan VD, et al.

Materials (Basel), 2019 Feb 16;12(4).
PMID: 30781542 DOI: 10.3390/ma12040598

Triple-layered composite plates are created by joining three composite layers using shear connectors. These layers, which are assumed to be always in contact and able to move relatively to each other during deformation, could be the same or different in geometric dimensions and material. They are applied in various engineering fields such as ship-building, aircraft wing manufacturing, etc. However, there are only a few publications regarding the calculation of this kind of plate. This paper proposes novel equations, which utilize Mindlin's theory and finite element modelling to simulate the forced vibration of triple-layered composite plates with layers connected by shear connectors subjected to a moving load. Moreover, a Matlab computation program is introduced to verify the reliability of the proposed equations, as well as the influence of some parameters, such as boundary conditions, the rigidity of the shear connector, thickness-to-length ratio, and the moving load velocity on the dynamic response of the composite plate.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Hypernasality in singing among children with cleft palate: a preliminary study

Peter S, Abdul Rahman ZA, Pillai S

Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 2019 Oct;48(10):1317-1322.
PMID: 31014926 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijom.2019.03.896

The aim of this study was to document differences in hypernasality during speaking and singing among children with cleft palate and to compare nasality score ratings of trained and untrained listeners. Twenty subjects with cleft palate aged between 7 and 12 years participated in this study. Audio recordings were made of the children reading a passage and singing a common local song, both in the Malay language. The degree of hypernasality was judged through perceptual assessment. Three trained listeners (a speech therapist, a classical singer, and a linguistic expert - all academicians) and two untrained listeners (a cleft volunteer worker and a national high school teacher) assessed the recordings using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability for hypernasality in both speaking and singing were verified using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). A significant reduction in hypernasality was observed during singing as compared to speaking, indicating that hypernasality reduces when a child with cleft palate sings. The act of singing significantly reduces hypernasality. The outcome of this study suggests that children with cleft palate would benefit from singing exercises to ultimately reduce hypernasality. However, future research is needed to objectively measure nasality in singing compared to speaking.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results
Fulltext Reliability and Validity of the Malay Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ-M) among Overweight and Obese Adults

Abdul Basir SM, Abdul Manaf Z, Ahmad M, Abdul Kadir NB, Ismail WNK, Mat Ludin AF, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 01 24;18(3).
PMID: 33498903 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18031021

The Mindful Eating Questionnaire is a reliable tool for the assessment of mindful eating behavior among the general population. This study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of The Malay Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ-M) in a sample of overweight and obese adults. This is a cross-sectional survey which involved 144 overweight and obese adults in a selected public university. After linguistic validation of the Malay version of the MEQ, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation was performed on the scale constructs. The psychometric properties of the MEQ were assessed through Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analysis. The EFA of the MEQ produced a seven-dimensional model (58.8% of overall variances). The concurrent validity analysis between total MEQ scores and total Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) scores indicated a weak non-significant correlation (p = 0.679). The internal consistency reliability of the MEQ was reasonable (Cronbach's α = 0.64). The agreement stability of the MEQ over eight weeks was poor (ICC = 0.10). In conclusion, the psychometric properties of the Malay-translated MEQ are acceptable through construct validity and internal consistency reliability tests. This instrument may be used for assessing mindful eating habits in the Malaysian population, especially among overweight and obese adults.

Matched MeSH terms: Reproducibility of Results

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