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Application of Remote Sensing on the Dispersion and Concentration of Total Suspended Sediment Offshore Langat Estuary

Othman A.K., Othman J., Sharifah Mastura S.A.

Sains Malaysiana, 2004;33.

This paper focuses on Langat River basin which is experiencing fast pace land use changes and accelerated soil erosion associated with land clearing and earthwork activities. Land use changes detected from Landsat imageries from 1989-1999 show that urban expansion is the most active, i.e. recording an expansion of 180% over that time period. The major land use reduction is the tropical dipterocarp rainforest located along the upper catchment of the Langat River and the mangrove forest found along Kuala Langat in the west. The 11% decline in the trend of the forest over that decade is anticipated to contribute in the near future. Results from logistic regression on the casual factors of rapid land use changes are attributed to three significant variables namely transport accessibility, population dynamics and agriculture. The eroded material due to land use changes enters into the Langat River systems as suspended sediments and contributed as non point source of pollution. Some finer sediment is being discharged offshore forming sediment plumes at the river estuary. Sediment plumes detected by Landsat TM imageries were analysed. It is found that the dispersion was not extensive and generally the suspended solids existed at low concentration (varying from 10-50 mg/l). This result is unexpected considering the rapid land use and land cover change that is occurring within the basins. These are mainly due to the loss of sediments during flooding into flood plain and active dredging of the river channels.
Fulltext Deriving partial differential equation for the value of Salam contract with credit risk

Hisham, A.F.B., Jaffar, M.M., Othman, J.

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2017;25(3):775-786.
MyJurnal

There are many research papers on implementing the salam structure in the financial system. This
study introduces a mathematical model of salam contract with credit risk that can be used as an Islamic financial derivative. It explores the properties of salam contract and the credit model that represents it, that is, the structural model with the default event on maturity of the salam contract.
Choice of noxious facilities: case of a solid waste incinerator versus a sanitary landfill in Malaysia

Othman J, Khee PC

Waste Manag Res, 2014 May;32(5):454-7.
PMID: 24595362 DOI: 10.1177/0734242X14523662

A choice experiment analysis was conducted to estimate the preference for specific waste disposal technologies in Malaysia. The study found that there were no significant differences between the choice of a sanitary landfill or an incinerator. What matters is whether any disposal technology would lead to obvious social benefits. A waste disposal plan which is well linked or integrated with the community will ensure its acceptance. Local authorities will be challenged to identify solid waste disposal sites that are technically appropriate and also socially desirable.
Employing a CGE model in analysing the environmental and economy-wide impacts of CO2emission abatement policies in Malaysia

Yahoo M, Othman J

Sci Total Environ, 2017 Apr 15;584-585:234-243.
PMID: 28152460 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.164

The impact of global warming has received much international attention in recent decades. To meet climate-change mitigation targets, environmental policy instruments have been designed to transform the way goods and services are produced as well as alter consumption patterns. The government of Malaysia is strongly committed to reducing CO2gas emissions as a proportion of GDP by 40% from 2005 levels by the year 2020. This study evaluates the economy-wide impacts of implementing two different types of CO2emission abatement policies in Malaysia using market-based (imposing a carbon tax) and command-and-control mechanism (sectoral emission standards). The policy simulations conducted involve the removal of the subsidy on petroleum products by the government. A carbon emission tax in conjunction with the revenue neutrality assumption is seen to be more effective than a command-and-control policy as it provides a double dividend. This is apparent as changes in consumption patterns lead to welfare enhancements while contributing to reductions in CO2emissions. The simulation results show that the production of renewable energies is stepped up when the imposition of carbon tax and removal of the subsidy is augmented by revenue recycling. This study provides an economy-wide assessment that compares two important tools for assisting environment policy makers evaluate carbon emission abatement initiatives in Malaysia.
Fulltext Lecturers' readiness for EMI in Malaysia higher education

Lo YY, Othman J

PLoS One, 2023;18(7):e0284491.
PMID: 37494373 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284491

The current study aims to examine lecturer readiness for English Medium Instruction (EMI) in higher educational institutions and the contextual influences of gender, age, academic qualification, teaching experience, EMI course teaching involvement, and EMI training. A quantitative research design was employed, and a survey questionnaire was completed by 227 lecturers (out of 250 invited participants) from private universities in Klang Valley, Malaysia to gauge self-ratings of personal knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes in educating EMI courses. The collected data were subsequently analysed via the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27.0 software before revealing the findings from the inferential statistics of the t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on lecturers' gender, age, academic qualification, teaching experience, EMI course teaching involvement, and EMI training. Resultantly, the important role of lecturers' knowledge, understanding, skills, abilities, and attitudes was highlighted to further enhance intercultural communicative competence in managing the increasingly diversified student body in EMI classrooms.
Fulltext Effective triaging in Putrajaya health clinic

Mohd Said N, Othman J, Hairi F

Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2002;2(2):58-62.
MyJurnal

Malaysia's healthcare delivery system in Vision 2020 will be recognized as one of the world’s best. Putrajaya Health Clinic is our first paperless health clinic in Malaysia that incorporates the Health Information System (HIS). This system cuts across programmes and sections in the operational work process in the clinic with the ultimate aim of achieving a paperless status. This clinic provides a comprehensive health care service at the point of contact and focuses on wellness, clientfriendly, seamless and borderless care with e]§‘icient use of resources and towards high a quality of service. This health clinic which seesthe majority of the attendance being well persons, through the immunization programme, antenatal, postnatal, family planning, school health, and well clinics for child and adult, will continue to extend and further expand its services to include geriatric, ill mental, occupational and rehabilitative care. The e-government within Putrajaya will facilitate the use of an
appointment system, which can be done through e—mail, fax, telephone or walk-in. Information and
communication technology will also facilitate the promotion of health education for individuals and communities. To facilitate efective streaming or screening of clients/attendees, a simple triage system is introduced. Prompt, short and accurate is the rule for triaging, thus providing timely and ejfective care. New information and communication technologies will allow healthcare providers to adopt a more virtual, more integrated and more distributed approach in the delivery of health services. It was documented that the average contact time at the triage counter in Putrajaya Health Clinic was 1.16 minutes, i.e. the shortest among other services provided here.
Transboundary smoke haze pollution in Malaysia: inpatient health impacts and economic valuation

Othman J, Sahani M, Mahmud M, Ahmad MK

Environ Pollut, 2014 Jun;189:194-201.
PMID: 24682070 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.03.010

This study assessed the economic value of health impacts of transboundary smoke haze pollution in Kuala Lumpur and adjacent areas in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Daily inpatient data from 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009 for 14 haze-related illnesses were collected from four hospitals. On average, there were 19 hazy days each year during which the air pollution levels were within the Lower Moderate to Hazardous categories. No seasonal variation in inpatient cases was observed. A smoke haze occurrence was associated with an increase in inpatient cases by 2.4 per 10,000 populations each year, representing an increase of 31 percent from normal days. The average annual economic loss due to the inpatient health impact of haze was valued at MYR273,000 ($91,000 USD).
Fulltext Malaysia's approach in handling COVID-19 onslaught: Report on the Movement Control Order (MCO) and targeted screening to reduce community infection rate and impact on public health and economy

Aziz NA, Othman J, Lugova H, Suleiman A

J Infect Public Health, 2020 Dec;13(12):1823-1829.
PMID: 32896496 DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.08.007

Malaysia recorded its first case of COVID-19 on January 24th, 2020 with a stable number of reported cases until March 2020, where there was an exponential spike due to a massive religious gathering in Kuala Lumpur. This caused Malaysia to be the hardest hit COVID-19 country in South East Asia at the time. In order to curb the transmission and better managed the clusters, Malaysia imposed the Movement Control Order (MCO) which is now in its fourth phase. The MCO together with targeted screening have slowed the spread of COVID-19 epidemic. The government has also provided three economic stimulus packages in order to cushion the impact of the shrinking economy. Nonetheless, early studies have shown that the MCO would greatly affect the lower and medium income groups, together with small and medium businesses.
Public health status of Myanmar refugees in South East Asia: A Malaysian case study

Mohd Hanapi IR, Sahimin N, Lewis JW, Lau YL, Othman J, Tedong PA, et al.

Trop Biomed, 2021 Dec 01;38(4):594-604.
PMID: 35001926 DOI: 10.47665/tb.38.4.103

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports over 80 million people are displaced worldwide with approximately 26.3 million categorized as refugees and over a million residing temporarily in South East Asia. Despite the lack of national legislative framework in place for refugees and asylum seekers (RAS), Malaysia hosts approximately 178,140 as registered with UNHCR and the majority originate from Myanmar. In this review, we examine refugees from South East Asia, particularly from Myanmar that have contributed to the largest influx of refugees to this region with a focus on their health status. The present study traces barriers to the health care of refugees in the country of asylum and also the challenges faced by these communities in accessing health services.
Determining interfacial tension and critical micelle concentrations of surfactants from atomistic molecular simulations

Cárdenas H, Kamrul-Bahrin MAH, Seddon D, Othman J, Cabral JT, Mejía A, et al.

J Colloid Interface Sci, 2024 Jul 08;674:1071-1082.
PMID: 39013277 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.07.002

Hypothesis Atomistically-detailed models of surfactants provide quantitative information on the molecular interactions and spatial distributions at fluid interfaces. Hence, it should be possible to extract from this information, macroscopical thermophysical properties such as interfacial tension, critical micelle concentrations and the relationship between these properties and the bulk fluid surfactant concentrations. Simulations and Experiments Molecular-scale interfacial of systems containing n-dodecyl β-glucoside (APG12) are simulated using classical molecular dynamics. The bulk phases and the corresponding interfacial regions are all explicitly detailed using an all-atom force field (PCFF+). During the simulation, the behaviour of the interface is analyzed geometrically to obtain an approximated value of the critical micelle concentration (CMC) in terms of the surfactant area number density and the interfacial tension is assessed through the analysis of the forces amongst molecules. New experimental determinations are reported for the surface tension of APG12 at the water/air and at the water/n-decane interfaces. Findings We showcase the application of a thermodynamic framework that inter-relates interfacial tensions, surface densities, CMCs and bulk surfactant concentrations, which allows the in silico quantitative prediction of interfacial tension isotherms.
Fulltext An extendable optical fibre probe survey meter for naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) and other weak emitters

Zubair HT, Bradley DA, Khairina MD, Oresegun A, Basaif A, Othman J, et al.

Sci Rep, 2023 Jul 24;13(1):11918.
PMID: 37488183 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39180-9

We have developed a radioluminescence-based survey meter for use in industries in which there is involvement in naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), also in support of those needing to detect other weak emitters of radiation. The functionality of the system confronts particular shortcomings of the handheld survey meters that are currently being made use of. The device couples a LYSO:Ce scintillator with a photodetector via a polymer optical fibre waveguide, allowing for "intrinsically safe" inspection within pipework, separators, valves and other such component pieces. The small-diameter optical fibre probe is electrically passive, immune to electromagnetic interference, and chemically inert. The readout circuit is entirely incorporated within a handheld casing housing a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) detection circuit and a microprocessor circuit connected to an LCD display. A 15 m long flexible PMMA optical fibre waveguide is butt coupled to an ABS plastic probe that retains the LYSO:Ce scintillator. Initial tests have included the use of lab-based mixed gamma-ray sources, measurements being made in concert with a reference conventional GM survey-meter. Characterization, via NORM sources at a decontamination facility, has shown useful sensitivity, covering the dose-rate range 0.10- to 28 µSv h-1 (R-squared 0.966), extending to 80 µSv/h as demonstrated in use of a Cs-137 source. The system is shown to provide an effective tool for detection of radioactivity within hard to access locations, in particular for sources emitting at low radiation levels, down to values that approach background.
Fulltext Development of an indoor air quality checklist for risk assessment of indoor air pollutants by semiquantitative score in nonindustrial workplaces

Syazwan A, Rafee BM, Hafizan J, Azman A, Nizar A, Izwyn Z, et al.

Risk Manag Healthc Policy, 2012;5:17-23.
PMID: 22570579 DOI: 10.2147/RMHP.S26567

To meet the current diversified health needs in workplaces, especially in nonindustrial workplaces in developing countries, an indoor air quality (IAQ) component of a participatory occupational safety and health survey should be included.
Fulltext Analysis of indoor air pollutants checklist using environmetric technique for health risk assessment of sick building complaint in nonindustrial workplace

Syazwan A, Rafee BM, Juahir H, Azman A, Nizar A, Izwyn Z, et al.

Drug Healthc Patient Saf, 2012;4:107-26.
PMID: 23055779 DOI: 10.2147/DHPS.S33400

To analyze and characterize a multidisciplinary, integrated indoor air quality checklist for evaluating the health risk of building occupants in a nonindustrial workplace setting.
Health-related quality of life amongst children with chronic kidney disease in Malaysia: performance of the Bahasa Melayu version of the PedsQL 3.0 ESRD Module : (PedsQL 3.0 VerBATIM: version in Bahasa Melayu. Translated for use in Malaysia)

Bakar KA, Muhamad NA, Sarpin MA, Shaharudin S, Sidhu S, Yap SL, et al.

Pediatr Nephrol, 2023 Jun;38(6):1897-1905.
PMID: 36272027 DOI: 10.1007/s00467-022-05774-0

BACKGROUND: The PedsQL 3.0 End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Module is a well-accepted instrument internationally but it is not available in the local language. We aimed to validate the Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) version and determine the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores amongst children with CKD in Malaysia.
METHODS: The source questionnaire in English was translated into Bahasa Melayu. Linguistic validation guidelines by the MAPI Research Institute were followed. The already validated Bahasa Melayu PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales was used for comparison. Sociodemographic data were collected during the interview. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25.0.
RESULTS: Sixty-nine children aged 8 to 18 with CKD stages 4 and 5, with or without dialysis, and their caregivers were recruited. Mean age was 12.62 ± 2.77 (SD). Evaluation of the PedsQL 3.0 ESRD Module Bahasa Melayu version demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha 0.82). There was good agreement between child self-report and parent proxy report in all domains; average intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were 0.78, 95% CI (0.71, 0.84). Scores obtained from Generic 4.0 scales correlated with the disease-specific ESRD 3.0 scale, Spearman's rho = 0.32, p = 0.007. The Kruskal-Wallis H test indicated that there were no significant differences between stages of CKD and their respective mean HRQoL score, χ2(2) = 2.88, p = 0.236.
CONCLUSIONS: The PedsQL 3.0 ESRD Module Bahasa Melayu version is a reliable and feasible tool for cross-cultural adaptation. A longer prospective study may help better illustrate the quality of life in this group of children.

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