BACKGROUND: The urinary iodine micromethod (UIMM) is a modification of the conventional method and its performance needs evaluation.
METHODS: UIMM performance was evaluated using the method validation and 2008 Iodine Deficiency Disorders survey data obtained from four urinary iodine (UI) laboratories. Method acceptability tests and Sigma quality metrics were determined using total allowable errors (TEas) set by two external quality assurance (EQA) providers.
RESULTS: UIMM obeyed various method acceptability test criteria with some discrepancies at low concentrations. Method validation data calculated against the UI Quality Program (TUIQP) TEas showed that the Sigma metrics were at 2.75, 1.80, and 3.80 for 51±15.50 µg/L, 108±32.40 µg/L, and 149±38.60 µg/L UI, respectively. External quality control (EQC) data showed that the performance of the laboratories was within Sigma metrics of 0.85-1.12, 1.57-4.36, and 1.46-4.98 at 46.91±7.05 µg/L, 135.14±13.53 µg/L, and 238.58±17.90 µg/L, respectively. No laboratory showed a calculated total error (TEcalc)
A study was carried out on the concentration of REEs (Dy, Sm, Eu,Yb, Lu, La and Ce) that are present in the core marine sediments of East Malaysia from three locations at South China Sea and one location each at Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea. The sediment samples were collected at a depth of between 49 and 109 m, dried, and crushed to powdery form. The entire core sediments prepared for Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) were weighted approximately 0.0500 g to 0.1000 g for short irradiation and 0.1500 g to 0.2000 g for long irradiation. The samples were irradiated with a thermal neutron flux of 4.0×10(12) cm(-2) s(-1) in a TRIGA Mark II research reactor operated at 750 kW. Blank samples and standard reference materials SL-1 were also irradiated for calibration and quality control purposes. It was found that the concentration of REEs varies in the range from 0.11 to 36.84 mg/kg. The chondrite-normalized REEs for different stations suggest that all the REEs are from similar origins. There was no significant REEs contamination as the enrichment factors normalized for Fe fall in the range of 0.42-2.82.
A method for determining shell in palm kernel cake (PKC) is described. This simple and rapid method requires little pretreatment compared with the method currently used in PKC trade, in which the sample undergoes defatting, acid and alkali digestion, and washing, before a chloroform-alcohol solution is used to separate the shells. In the proposed method, only defatting the sample is required. The shells are separated by the density difference between the shell and PKC in a potassium iodide solution. Recoveries of at least 93% were obtained, and the correlation coefficient between the actual shell content and the determined shell content was 0.999, with gradients of 0.97 and 0.98 for fine and coarse shell, respectively.
The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2011 was a nationally representative household survey of non-institutionalized Malaysian population who were residing in Malaysia for at least 2 weeks prior to data collection. The aim of the survey was to provide health related community–based data and information to support Ministry of Health, Malaysia, in reviewing health priorities, programme strategies and activities, and planning for allocation of resources. There were twelve research scopes included in the survey. The sample size was calculated based on the requirement for each scope. A two-stage stratified sampling was adopted in the survey. The methods for data collection were via the questionnaire, clinical examination, and biochemical analysis. Quality controls were also instituted to ensure collection of high quality data. The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2011 (NHMS 2011) adopted an appropriate methodology for a population survey and all the necessary steps were taken to ensure valid and reliable findings.
Study name: National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS-2011)
Two hundred and sixty four samples of ready -to-eat foods (RTE) were obtained over a period of six months (April to September 2005) from 33 school hostel kitchens and canteens previously implicated in food poisoning outbreaks from 2000 to 2004. Sampling was done by food technologists and assistant environmental health ofhcers from various districts in Pahang while microbiological analysis was carried out at the Mentakab Food Quality Control Laboratory. The objective of the study was to obtain a comprehensive picture on the microbiological status of the foods that may have accounted for food poisoning outbreaks at school hostels and canteens in Pahang. Each food sample was analyzed for Total Plate Count (TPC), Salmonella, Coliform, Escheria coli, Staphylococcus aerus and Bacillus cereus. lt was found that none of the ready-to-eat foods sampled contained Salmonella although hve samples contained Bacillus cereus , four samples contained Staphylococcus aerus. High Coliform Counts were found in 15 food samples while Escheria coli was detected in two samples. Overall, it was found that 10.2 % of the samples had unsatisfactory counts.
Introduction: A clear concept and understanding about the measure and the measuring tools is essential for good practice of assessment. Assessors need to have information about the full range of assessment tools inclusive of psychometric validity and purpose of its use. Subjective inferences drawn from the readily available data as numbers of summative scores over the years and statistical evidences of reliability and validity of assessment tools used to measure student’s performance are good sources of feedback for competent assessment program. It also provides meaningful evaluation of learning and teaching in medical education. Method: A retrospective study of 119 candidates was carried out to analyze the summative assessment scores of their certifying examination of Masters of Surgery in School of Medical Sciences (SMS) at Universiti Sains Malaysia. Subjective judgment of raw data followed by internal consistency as reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity as constructs of individual assessment tool was analyzed. Finally each assessment tool as a measure of written or clinical construct was evaluated against six aspects of Messick’s criteria for quality control. Result: The correlation coefficient for validity and Cronbach’s alpha for reliability was evaluated for clinical measures. However, the test of internal reliability was not possible for essay being the only measure in written construct of summative assessment in surgery. All measures of clinical construct were found highly reliable with Cronbach’s alpha between 0.962-0.979. Long case and the short cases have shown excellent correlations (r=0.959 at p
Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia) is one of the most popular tropical herbal plants as it is believed to enhance virility and sexual prowess. This study looked examined chromatographic fingerprint of Tongkat Ali roots and its products generated using online solid phase-extraction liquid chromatography (SPE-LC) combined with chemometric approaches. The aim was to determine its quality. Pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) technique was used prior to online SPE-LC using polystyrene divinyl benzene (PSDVB) and C18 columns. Seventeen Tongkat Ali roots and 10 products (capsules) were analysed. Chromatographic dataset was subjected to chemometric techniques, namely cluster analysis (CA), discriminant analysis (DA) and principal component analysis (PCA) using 37 selected peaks. The samples were grouped into three clusters based on their quality. The PCA resulted in 11 latent factors describing 90.8% of the whole variance. Pattern matching analysis showed no significant difference (p>0.05) between the roots and products within the same CA grouping. The findings showed the combination of chromatographic fingerprint and chemometric techniques provided comprehensive evaluation for efficient quality control of Tongkat Ali formulation.
An extremely sensitive and simple gas chromatography with mass spectrometry method was developed and completely validated for the analysis of five process-related impurities, viz., 4-hydroxy-l-phenylglycine, 4-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, methyl-4-hydroxyphenylacetate, and 2-[4-{(2RS)-2-hydroxy-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]propoxy}phenyl]acetonitrile, in atenolol. The separation of impurities was accomplished on a BPX-5 column with dimensions of 50 m × 0.25 mm i.d. and 0.25 μm film thickness. The method validation was performed following International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines in which the method was capable to quantitate 4-hydroxy-l-phenylglycine, 4-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid at 0.3 ppm, and methyl-4-hydroxyphenylacetate and 2-[4-{(2RS)-2-hydroxy-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]propoxy}phenyl]acetonitrile at 0.35 ppm with respect to 10 mg/mL of atenolol. The method was linear over the concentration range of 0.3-10 ppm for 4-hydroxy-l-phenylglycine, 4-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, and 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, and 0.35-10 ppm for methyl-4-hydroxyphenylacetate and 2-[4-{(2RS)-2-hydroxy-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]propoxy}phenyl]acetonitrile. The correlation coefficient in each case was found ≥0.998. The repeatability and recovery values were acceptable, and found between 89.38% and 105.60% for all five impurities under optimized operating conditions. The method developed here is simple, selective, and sensitive with apparently better resolution than the reported methods. Hence, the method is a straightforward and good quality control tool for the quantitation of selected impurities at trace concentrations in atenolol.
Patient radiation dose and image quality are primary issues in the conduct of nuclear medicine (NM) procedures. A range of protocols are currently used in image acquisition and analysis of quality control (QC) tests, with National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) methods and protocols widely accepted in providing an accurate description, measurement and report of γ-camera performance parameters. However, no standard software is available for image analysis. Present study compares vendor QC software analysis and three types of software freely downloadable from the internet: NMQC, NM Toolkit and ImageJ-NM Toolkit software. These were used for image analysis of QC tests of γ-cameras based on NEMA protocols including non-uniformity evaluation. Ten non-uniformity QC images were obtained using a dual head γ-camera installed in Trieste General Hospital and then analyzed. Excel analysis was used as the baseline calculation for the non-uniformity test according to NEMA procedures. The results of non-uniformity analysis showed good agreement between the independent types of software and Excel calculations (the average differences were 0.3%, 2.9%, 1.3% and 1.6% for the Useful Field of View (UFOV) integral, UFOV differential, Central Field of View (CFOV) integral and CFOV differential, respectively), while significant differences were detected following analysis using the company QC software when compared with Excel analysis (the average differences were 14.6%, 20.7%, 25.7% and 31.9% for the UFOV integral, UFOV differential, CFOV integral and CFOV differential, respectively). Compared to use of Excel calculations use of NMQC software was found to be in close accord. Variation in results obtained using the three types of software and γ-camera QC software was due to the use of different pixel sizes. It is important to conduct independent analyses tests in addition to using the vendor QC software in order to determine the differences between values.
Percentage of haemolysis is widely used as a quality parameter to assess red blood cell viability in blood banking. In certain blood banks, serum potassium level is used due to the unavailability of the former test. The relationship between these two tests, however, is still unclear. The objective of this study is to determine the association between haemolysis measured using two different methods for quality control. Methods: A total of forty-four samples of packed red cell in citrate-phosphate-dextrose with optisol were randomly selected from donation drives. Nine millilitres of blood was collected weekly starting from day-2 of storage, followed by day-7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 for assessment of red blood cell haemolysis by measuring serum potassium level and percentage of haemolysis.Results: These two parameters were correlated significantly with a positive moderate linear relationship on day 7, 21 and 28 with r = 0.393, 0.448 and 0.425, respectively and p-values less than 0.01. The linear regression analysis showed there was a significant regression equation which could be used to predict the serum potassium level from the percentage of haemolysis. Conclusion: There were significant increases in the percentage of haemolysis and serum potassium level in the packed red cell units with storage. The serum potassium level would be able to be predicted from the percentage of haemolysis using the regression equations on day 7, 21 and 28. The serum potassium measurement could be used as an alternative test to the percentage of haemolysis before issuing blood.
Tea is one of the world's most popular beverages, with several health benefits. Polyphenols are the predominant constituents to account for its health benefits. Despite the well-known benefits of tea on health, the uniqueness of its aroma, taste, and features is an added value that contribute to the increased popularity of this beverage worldwide, and they are associated with the alterations in the metabolites during tea processing and cultivation. The manufacturing of tea consists of several stages with various processes as withering, fixing, rolling, fermentation and drying. The classification into tea types is according to such processing. The high-quality production of the various tea classes also depends on agricultural conditions, such as shading, plucking, climate, and soil composition. Metabolomics is well recognized as an effective tool for evaluating the quality of tea products. Applications in controlling the quality of tea products and adulterant detection are discussed in this review.
We advise that only clinically validated HPV assays which have fulfilled internationally accepted performance criteria be used for primary cervical screening. Further, assays should be demonstrated to be fit for purpose in the laboratory in which they will ultimately be performed, and quality materials manuals and frameworks will be helpful in this endeavor. Importantly, there is a fundamental shortage of well validated, low-cost, low complexity HPV tests that have demonstrated utility in a near-patient setting; representing a significant challenge and focus for future development in order to reach the WHO's goal of eliminating cervical cancer.
The agricultural industry has made a tremendous contribution to the foundations of civilization. Basic essentials such as food, beverages, clothes and domestic materials are enriched by the agricultural industry. However, the traditional method in agriculture cultivation is labor-intensive and inadequate to meet the accelerating nature of human demands. This scenario raises the need to explore state-of-the-art crop cultivation and harvesting technologies. In this regard, optics and photonics technologies have proven to be effective solutions. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of three photonic techniques, namely imaging, spectroscopy and spectral imaging, in a comparative manner for agriculture applications. Essentially, the spectral imaging technique is a robust solution which combines the benefits of both imaging and spectroscopy but faces the risk of underutilization. This review also comprehends the practicality of all three techniques by presenting existing examples in agricultural applications. Furthermore, the potential of these techniques is reviewed and critiqued by looking into agricultural activities involving palm oil, rubber, and agro-food crops. All the possible issues and challenges in implementing the photonic techniques in agriculture are given prominence with a few selective recommendations. The highlighted insights in this review will hopefully lead to an increased effort in the development of photonics applications for the future agricultural industry.
The burden of food contamination and food wastage has significantly contributed to the increased prevalence of foodborne disease and food insecurity all over the world. Due to this, there is an urgent need to develop a smarter food traceability system. Recent advancements in biosensors that are easy-to-use, rapid yet selective, sensitive, and cost-effective have shown great promise to meet the critical demand for onsite and immediate diagnosis and treatment of food safety and quality control (i.e. point-of-care technology). This review article focuses on the recent development of different biosensors for food safety and quality monitoring. In general, the application of biosensors in agriculture (i.e. pre-harvest stage) for early detection and routine control of plant infections or stress is discussed. Afterward, a more detailed advancement of biosensors in the past five years within the food supply chain (i.e. post-harvest stage) to detect different types of food contaminants and smart food packaging is highlighted. A section that discusses perspectives for the development of biosensors in the future is also mentioned.
Quality control standardizations of the various medicinal plants used in traditional medicine is becoming more important today in view of the commercialization of formulations based on these plants. An attempt at standardization of Cassia spectabilis leaf has been carried out with respect to authenticity, assay and chemical constituent analysis. The authentication involved many parameters, including gross morphology, microscopy of the leaves and functional group analysis by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The assay part of standardization involved determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extract which could help assess the chemical effects and establish curative values. The MIC of the C. spectabilis leaf extracts was investigated using the Broth Dilution Method. The extracts showed a MIC value of 6.25 mg/mL, independent of the extraction time. The chemical constituent aspect of standardization involves quantification of the main chemical components in C. spectabilis. The GCMS method used for quantification of 2,4-(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione in the extract was rapid, accurate, precise, linear (R(2) = 0.8685), rugged and robust. Hence this method was suitable for quantification of this component in C. spectabilis. The standardization of C. spectabilis is needed to facilitate marketing of medicinal plants, with a view to promoting the export of valuable Malaysian Traditional Medicinal plants such as C. spectabilis.
Soap is the most useful things which we use our everyday life in various cleansing and cosmetics purposes. Jatropha oil is nonedible oil which has more benefits to soap making. It has also cosmetics and medicinal properties. But the presence of toxic Phorbol esters in Jatropha oil is the main constrains to use it. So it is necessary to search a more suitable method for detoxifying the Jatropha oil before the use as the main ingredient of soap production. This review implies a more suitable method for removing phorbol esters from Jatropha oil. Several parameters such as the % yield of pure Jatropha oil soap, TFM value of soap, total alkali content, free caustic alkalinity content, pH, the antimicrobial activity, and CMC value of general soap should be taken into consideration for soap from detoxified Jatropha oil.
Sunway Medical Centre (SunMed) implemented Six Sigma, measurement uncertainty, and risk management after the CLSI EP23 Individualized Quality Control Plan approach. Despite the differences in all three approaches, each implementation was beneficial to the laboratory, and none was in conflict with another approach. A synthesis of these approaches, built on a solid foundation of quality control planning, can help build a strong quality management system for the entire laboratory.
Determining the level of customer satisfaction in cleanliness regarding a product or service is a significant aspect of businesses. However, the availability of feedback tools for consumers to evaluate the cleanliness of a restaurant is a crucial issue as several aspects of cleanliness need to be evaluated collectively. To overcome this issue, this study designed a survey instrument based on the standard form used for grading the food premises and transformed it into a seven Likert scale questionnaire and consists of seven questions. This study employed fuzzy conjoint analysis to measure the level of satisfaction in cleanliness in food premises. This pilot study recruited 30 students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Seremban 3. The student's perception was represented by the scores calculated based on their degree of similarities and corresponding levels of satisfaction, whereby, only scores with the highest degree of similarity were selected. Furthermore, this study identified the aspects of hygiene that assessed based on the customers' satisfaction upon visiting the premises. The results indicated that the fuzzy conjoint analysis produced a similar outcome as the statistical mean, thus, was useful for the evaluation of customer satisfaction on the cleanliness of food premises.
Poor information quality (IQ) must be understood as a business problem rather than systems problem. In health care organization, what is required is an effective quality management that continuously manages and reviews the factors influencing IQ in health information systems (HIS) so as to achieve the desired outcomes. Hence, in order to understand the issues of information quality management (IQM) practices in health care organizations, a more holistic evaluation study should be undertaken to investigate the IQM practices in health care organizations. It is the aim of this paper to identify the significant evaluation criteria that influence the production of good IQ in HIS.