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Objective: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is a significant public health problem. HIV infection through blood transfusion remains at the top of any other risk exposure because blood carries a much higher level of HIV than other routes of infection. The aim of this study was to describe the seroprevalence of HIV infection from 2010 to 2019 among donors screened at the transfusion medicine unit in Northeastern Malaysia. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on voluntary blood donors at the Transfusion Medicine Unit, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, from January 2011 to December 2019. Data such as age, gender, marital status, frequency of donations, and serological results were obtained from the computer system of the blood bank and analyzed. Results: A total of 98,874 individuals donated blood and were screened for HIV infections. Only 29 donors were positive for HIV. Therefore, the overall seroprevalence of HIV infection in blood donors was only 0.03% in the nine consecutive years. The trend of HIV infection among our donors decreased initially but increased again from 2014 to 2019. Conclusion: The prevalence in Northeastern Malaysia province was low compared with previous studies conducted in other regions worldwide. The application of standard operating procedures, with updated equipment, and planning for the use of molecular methods are necessary for the blood transfusion service to monitor transfusiontransmitted infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inpatient hyperglycaemia is common and associated with poor outcomes such as increased mortality and prolonged hospital stay. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of inpatient hyperglycaemia and glycaemic control in Putrajaya Hospital, Malaysia. Secondary objectives were to compare the length of stay (LOS), 30-day readmission rate, and death between controlled and uncontrolled glycaemic groups. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between 1 July and 31 December 2019 among patients in medical wards who had a blood glucose (BG) level of > 7.8 mmol/L and stayed in the wards for ≥ 24 h. We retrieved information on demographics, diabetes history and BG profiles. The definition of controlled glycaemic status is when ≥ 80% of BG readings were between 4.0 mmol/L and 10.0 mmol/L during the hospital stay. Results: The prevalence of inpatient hyperglycaemia was 55.2%. There were 841 patients who met the eligibility criteria; their mean age was 60 (13.8) years old. Most (79.4%) of the patients were Malay and 53.9% were male. There were 452 (53.7%) patients in the uncontrolled group. They were younger and admitted with more kidney complications compared to those in the controlled group. The median LOS for both groups was 3 (2) days. The uncontrolled group showed a higher percentage of readmission within 30 days (7.5% versus 4.6 %) and death during admission (3.3% versus 1.6 %) (P = 0.100 and P = 0.082). Conclusion: The prevalence of inpatient hyperglycaemia was high. More than half of them had uncontrolled BG. Both groups had a similar average length of stay. The 30-day readmission rate and death during admission were higher in the uncontrolled group, although statistically not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conversations regarding fate are not a recent development, they have been deliberated upon since the era of Prophet Muḥammad PBUH. However, the philosophy of fate in today’s world has been mixed with the secular and liberalshaped values and ideas that are the challenge of thought born of Western civilization. The understanding of the concept of destiny has been influenced by various ideologies of thought and culture, especially from Western philosophy. One of them is the philosophy of fatalism which talks about the fate and destiny of the individual. The understanding of destiny for Muslims is crucial since it is a component related to the Islamic Creed (Aqidah) and part of the pillars of faith. Therefore, this article’s objective is to identify the distinctions between the fatalism and destiny ideologies by Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (w. 505 H). This article uses a qualitative design by analyzing the content of al-Qur’ān thematically based on themes, as well as documents and writings of Western studies. However, the results of the study showed that the Qur’ān documents the debate surrounding the ideology of fatalism and that there are distinctions between fatalism’s ideology and Islam’s view of destiny. This article’s implication is to present a thorough comprehension of both philosophies to prevent misconceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aimed to examine the construct verification of the knowledge on the Noor evidence-based medicine (EBM) questionnaire using the Rasch measurement model. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among ninety healthcare professionals working in a government hospital. The Rasch model was used to investigate the distribution of statistics, unidimensionality, polarity, misfit, and Wright map. Results: The Rasch analysis showed that the 15 items had high reliability of items at 0.96, while reliability for persons were 0.81. Item K15 is a misfit (PtMea Corr=0.22, outfit MnSq=1.95, outfit z-std=5.00, infit MnSq=1.63, infit z-std=3.60); the item does not contribute to the construction of scale but not degrading. Three items (K1, K14, and K9) can easily be answered even by low ability respondents. Conclusions: The Noor EBM questionnaire knowledge is robust with excellent psychometric properties that can be used for both research and clinical purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Niemann–Pick disease (NPD) is a heterogeneous group of lysosomal storage disorders with autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. There are 4 types of NPD. Patients with NPD type B generally have better prognosis, allowing them to survive into adulthood. They have a widespread clinical presentation, affecting multiple organs but rarely neurological involvement. Here, we describe the case of a 38-year-old woman with unexplained hepatosplenomegaly and young hypertensive intracranial bleed. Evaluation for young hypertension further revealed a nonfunctional bilateral adrenal mass and gross hepatosplenomegaly. NPD was confirmed through dried blood spot investigation. It showed low activity of acid sphingomyelinase and genetic testing also detected 2 pathogenic mutations. She is being managed by a multidisciplinary team for supportive treatment that includes regular symptoms monitoring and genetic counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Talent management practices are an important process for an organisation to maintain and secure excellent staffing for a long time due to sustainable organisation performance. However, in ensuring the preparation of quality and excellent succession staff in development, there are still weaknesses that need to be taken into account by the organisation for that purpose, which include in academic library. Previous studies claimed that among the factors were limited program development related to talent management, the role of libraries and librarianship proficiency, and job insecurity issues. Therefore, this article aims to explore Talent Management Practices (TMP) and Job performance (JP) among Academic librarians (AL) in Malaysia. A proposed framework discovered in this paper is five (5) main areas of TMP namely: job competency (JC), job environment (JE), job reward (JR), job training (JT), and job development (JD). This paper is explored through an analysis of the critically relevant literature and found that the need for talent management development programs, librarian competencies, and job rewards have a relationship in creating important conditions for encouraging librarians to show good career performance in organisations. It is believed that this paper will provide relevant information on positive work behaviors that will assist libraries and universities in providing effective services to benefit students and academic staff in academic and research pro-grams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing and understanding the sentiments of social media documents on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram has become a very important task at present. Analyzing the sentiment of these documents gives meaningful knowledge about the user opinions, which will help understand the overall view on these platforms. The problem of sentiment analysis (SA) can be regarded as a classification problem in which the text is classified as positive, negative, or neutral. This paper aims to give an intensive, but not exhaustive, review of the main concepts of SA and the state-of-the-art techniques; other aims are to make a comparative study of their performances, the main applications of SA as well as the limitations and the future directions for SA. Based on our analysis, researchers have utilized three main approaches for SA, namely lexicon/rules, machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL). The performance of lexicon/rules-based models typically falls within the range of 55–85%. ML models, on the other hand, generally exhibit performance ranging from 55% to 90%, while DL models tend to achieve higher performance, ranging from 70% to 95%. These ranges are estimated and may be higher or lower depending on various factors, including the quality of the datasets, the chosen model architecture, the preprocessing techniques employed, as well as the quality and coverage of the lexicon utilized. Moreover, to further enhance models' performance, researchers have delved into the implementation of hybrid models and optimization techniques which have demonstrated an ability to enhance the overall performance of SA models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoglycemia is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. Patients may present with any kind of symptoms, either autonomic or neuroglycopenic. Here, we report a case of a 70-year-old man with type 2 diabetes mellitus with a newly diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma presenting with recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia. The insulin treatment was withheld initially. However, the patient's diabetic control worsened after starting treatment for his hepatocellular carcinoma. Hence, the insulin treatment was resumed. This case highlighted the challenge in balancing the management of hypoglycaemia and poor diabetic control in a patient who has diabetes mellitus and hepatocellular carcinoma. Primary care practitioners need to have high clinical suspicion to monitor these patients to prevent hypoglycemia and manage them accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic left a huge impact on people, not only on the way of life, socioeconomic structure, but also changed the landscape of human resource management in the public and private sectors. Various measures have been taken by the Malaysian government including the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) which controls and limits the movement of people as proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) including the order to close the operations of government offices and less interested sectors. Next, the Work from Home (BDR) policy was introduced to the public and private sectors. The objective of this study is to identify the effectiveness factors of BDR during the COVID-19 pandemic on Administrative and Diplomatic Officers (PTD) in the Public Service Department (JPA). The aforementioned factors will be evaluated based on the modified TAM Theory model. Data collection using a quantitative method on 187 respondents consisting of PTD Grades 41-44 at JPA. The results of the study show that the factors of BDR effectiveness during this pandemic are significant with all its constructs namely Individual Attitude, Technological Equipment, Time Management and Environment. However, only the Individual Attitude construct was found to have a significant relationship with the gender demographics of the respondents. In summary, this study provides information on aspects that are considered important by the majority of respondents in studying the effectiveness of a program (BDR). So, it is appropriate that these four factors be used as a basis in formulating the implementation policy related to BDR in the future to ensure the success and sustainability of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse donor reactions (ADR) are common to occur during the blood donation process. The most common is vasovagal reactions (VVR) and it cause negative impact in the donor return rate. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of VVR among blood donors and to study its associated factors, at Hospital University Sains Malaysia (USM). This retrospective case-control study was conducted from June 2018, until June 2021. Data was extracted from the blood bank database system and from donor adverse reaction form. Donors who developed adverse donor reactions were chosen and without VVR were chosen at random as controls. A total of 159 donors, out of 35 134 donors were reported to have VVR which resulted in an overall prevalence of 0.45 %. Dizziness or mild VVR were the most frequently observed adverse reactions, accounting for approximately 87/159 (54.7 %) of all adverse reactions. Multiple logistic regression (MLR) analysis showed VVR were significantly associated with age, female gender, first-time donor, and 450 ml volume of blood collected. The prevalence of vasovagal reactions among blood donors in this study was low which was similar to a few previous studies. Although it was low, still it is very important to reduce risks to a minimum so that the donor return rate could be maintained. The information regarding its associated factors can be used to identify high-risk donors to prevent the incidence in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of deep learning, numerous models have been proposed for human activity recognition to achieve state‐of‐the‐art recognition on wearable sensor data. Despite the improved accuracy achieved by previous deep learning models, activity recognition remains a challenge. This challenge is often attributed to the complexity of some specific activity patterns. Existing deep learning models proposed to address this have often recorded high overall recognition accuracy, while low recall and precision are often recorded on some individual activities due to the complexity of their patterns. Some existing models that have focused on tackling these issues are always bulky and complex. Since most embedded systems have resource constraints in terms of their processor, memory and battery capacity, it is paramount to propose efficient lightweight activity recognition models that require limited resources consumption, and still capable of achieving state‐of‐the‐art recognition of activities, with high individual recall and precision. This research proposes a high performance, low footprint deep learning model with a squeeze and excitation block to address this challenge. The squeeze and excitation block consist of a global average‐pooling layer and two fully connected layers, which were placed to extract the flattened features in the model, with best‐fit reduction ratios in the squeeze and excitation block. The squeeze and excitation block served as channel‐wise attention, which adjusted the weight of each channel to build more robust representations, which enabled our network to become more responsive to essential features while suppressing less important ones. By using the best‐fit reduction ratio in the squeeze and excitation block, the parameters of the fully connected layer were reduced, which helped the model increase responsiveness to essential features. Experiments on three publicly available datasets (PAMAP2, WISDM, and UCI‐HAR) showed that the proposed model outperformed existing state‐of‐the‐art with fewer parameters and increased the recall and precision of some individual activities compared to the baseline, and the existing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pemphigus foliaceus is a benign variety of pemphigus group. It is a rare autoimmune blistering disease that affects the skin without mucosal involvement. It can present in endemic and sporadic form; whereby endemic form is common in Brazil and Tunisia, known as fogo selvagem. There was no previous case reported in Malaysia. We report a case of a 43-year-old man, who presented with generalized extensive blisters and vesicles that form crust and scale. The full evaluation established the diagnosis of pemphigus foliaceous. Delay in diagnosis can lead to poor outcomes. Primary care practitioners should be aware of this since the condition can mimic eczema, specifically photodermatitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocomposite is extensively implemented in orthopaedics and dentistry since multiple materials blends can be utilised by capitalising on their radical compatibility. Bioactive glasses (BG) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) have excellent bioactive, osteoconductive, and osteogenic features due to the resemblance of their inorganic constituents with bone or dental tissue. In this study, sol–gel BG was incorporated with β-TCP for potential application in dental tissue engineering. A 40/60 composition ratio of BG/β-TCP powder was homogeneously mixed in a zirconia planetary ball mixer and sieved to obtain particle size of less than 50 μm. The BG/β-TCP powder composite was characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), laser diffraction particle size analyser, and in vitro biological characteristics were observed by soaking the BG/β-TCP composite in simulated body fluid (SBF) and exposing the Saos-2 cells towards conditioned medium. The XRD analysis identified the presence of whitlockite (ICCD 00–009-0169) and combeite (ICDD 96–900-7722) crystalline phase in the composite structure. The pH tends to be in the range of 7.7 to 8.0 throughout the study period, and SEM exhibited the hydroxyapatite (HA) formation on the surface after 1 day when immersed in SBF. Based on in vitro investigation, the BG/β-TCP composite presented enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation. In this preliminary study, in vitro HA formation ability, and cell proliferation properties may have considered the BG/β-TCP biocomposite as a potential for bone and dental tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the influence of intestinal microbiota has been shown in many diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, colorectal cancer, and aging, investigations are still scarce on its role in altering the nature of other infective organisms. Here we studied the association and interaction of Blastocystis sp. and human intestinal microbiota. In this study, we investigated the gut microbiome of Blastocystis sp.-free and Blastocystis sp. ST3-infected individuals who are symptomatic and asymptomatic. We tested if the expression of phenotype and pathogenic characteristics of Blastocystis sp. ST3 was influenced by the alteration of its accompanying microbiota. Blastocystis sp. ST3 infection alters bacterial composition. Its presence in asymptomatic individuals showed a significant effect on microbial richness compared to symptomatic ones. Inferred metagenomic findings suggest that colonization of Blastocystis sp. ST3 could contribute to the alteration of microbial functions. For the first time, we demonstrate the influence of bacteria on Blastocystis sp. pathogenicity. When Blastocystis sp. isolated from a symptomatic individual was co-cultured with bacterial suspension of Blastocystis sp. from an asymptomatic individual, the parasite demonstrated increased growth and reduced potential pathogenic expressions. This study also reveals that Blastocystis sp. infection could influence microbial functions without much effect on the microbiota diversity itself. Our results also demonstrate evidence on the influential role of gut microbiota in altering the characteristics of the parasite, which becomes the basis for the contradictory findings on the parasite's pathogenic role seen across different studies. Our study provides evidence that asymptomatic Blastocystis sp. in a human gut can be triggered to show pathogenic characteristics when influenced by the intestinal microbiota. Author summary: Single-cell eukaryotes in the intestinal microbiota are increasingly gaining attention for their ability to influence microbiota composition. Blastocystis sp. is no exception. This study for the first time demonstrates gut microbiota alteration due to the colonization of Blastocystis sp. ST 3 in symptomatic and asymptomatic conditions. Colonization of Blastocystis sp. ST3, regardless of symptoms, significantly alters the diversity and microbiota composition. The abundance of Prevotella sp. was significantly elevated in symptomatic Blastocystis sp. carriage. Inferred metagenomic findings revealed that predicted metabolic functions were altered in Blastocystis sp. carriage in symptomatic and asymptomatic conditions. The current study demonstrates a bidirectional influence that seems to be crucial in Blastocystis sp.–microbiota interaction. Altering the accompanying microbiota of a symptomatic Blastocystis sp. with bacterial suspension from an asymptomatic condition resulted in the protozoan exhibiting asymptomatic characteristics. This implies, for the first time the effect of accompanying microbiota on Blastocystis sp. phenotypic characteristics. The findings lead to a postulation that a harmless protozoan parasite can be turned harmful by its accompanying microbiota in the gut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful buy-in and support for management of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) should acknowledge the existing cultural ecosystem services and their connections to the well-being of local communities to gain positive perceptions. It is necessary to engage local stakeholders, especially among the youths, to explore governance complexities of MPAs and how to better understand cultural ecosystem services. Thus, this qualitative study investigated the perceptions of youths on cultural ecosystem services using a visual method, namely photovoice, as part of the participatory research in a newly established MPA of Tun Mustapha Park, Sabah. Three themes were identified in the process, namely social, economic, and environment. The engagement demonstrated the value of using the participatory approach, which yielded important insights of youths as a part of the community, which included the need for additional livelihood means post-establishment of MPA and issues of degradation of the marine environment. This paper contributed to the MPA governance literature specifically on the empirical youth perception which has been underrepresented as well as the employment of visual participatory methods to encourage better expression among the youths towards their living environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a cross-sectional study describing on Group B Streptococcus(GBS) serotypes, virulence gene distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility in non-pregnant adults from two major hospitals on East-coast Malaysia. The patients' clinical information was reviewed, while serotyping and virulence gene detection for the GBS isolates (n = 75) were conducted by PCR. GBS serotypes III and Ia were the most common, followed by serotypes II and IV. The majority of GBS (n = 65; 86.7%) presented with virulence genes such as cylE, scpB, lmb, hylE and bca. Skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) (n = 50; 66.7%) were the most common clinical diagnosis, with 90% of those diagnosed had underlying diabetes mellitus (DM). GBS serotype Ia and the virulence genes cylE and scpB were common in SSTI. Good sensitivity towards penicillin, erythromycin and clindamycin were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). COVID-19 is highly contagious, making it a threat to healthcare workers, including those working in mortuaries. Therefore, it is important to determine if the cause of death (COD) could be identified using limited autopsy, diagnostic tests and post-mortem imaging modalities instead of full autopsy. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of post-mortem imaging, specifically post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) at determining the COD during a pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 172 subjects with suspected or unknown COVID-19 status brought in dead to the institute's mortuary during the pandemic in Malaysia. PMCT images reported by forensic radiologists and their agreement with conventional autopsy findings by forensic pathologists regarding COD were analysed to look at the effectiveness of PMCT in determining COD during a pandemic. Results: Analysis showed that 78.7% (133) of cases reported by forensic radiologists concurred with the COD certified by forensic pathologists. Of these cases, 85 (63.9%) had undergone only external examination and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) COVID-19 testing, meaning that imaging was the sole method used to determine the COD besides history from available medical records and the investigating police officer. Conclusion: PMCT can be used as a complement to medicolegal autopsies in pandemic contexts, as it provides significant information on the possible COD without jeopardising the safety of mortuary health care workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Flavonoids are natural compounds in plants. They play a critical role in plant growth and pathogen defense. Due to their health benefits, flavonoids have gained much attention as potent therapeutic agents. However, the low abundance of flavonoids in nature has limited their exploitation. Hence, this study aimed to enhance flavonoid production by silencing the cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) enzyme using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats interference (CRISPRi) technology. Our results showed that the C4H-silenced tobacco cells had a lower NtC4H expression level compared to wild-type. This was concurred by the flavonoid analysis, where the accumulation of C4H's substrate in the C4H-silenced cells was significantly higher than in the wild-type. Our findings provide valuable insight into the future development of CRISPRi to manipulate plant metabolite biosynthesis. Flavonoids are an important class of natural compounds present in plants. However, despite various known biological activities and therapeutic potential, the low abundance of flavonoids in nature limits their development for industrial applications. In this study, we aimed to enhance flavonoid production by silencing cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H), an enzyme involved in the branch point of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats interference (CRISPRi) approach. We designed three sgRNAs targeting the promoter region of NtC4H and cloned them into a CRISPRi construct. After being introduced into Nicotiana tabacum cell suspension culture, the transformed cells were sampled for qPCR and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses. Sixteen of 21 cell lines showed PCR-positive, confirming the presence of the CRISPRi transgene. The NtC4H transcript in the transgenic cells was 0.44-fold lower than in the wild-type. In contrast, the flavonoid-related genes in the other branching pathways, such as Nt4CL and NtCHS, in the C4H-silenced cells showed higher expression than wild-type. The upregulation of these genes increased their respective products, including pinostrobin, naringenin, and chlorogenic acid. This study provides valuable insight into the future development of CRISPRi-based metabolic engineering to suppress target genes in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus has recently been identified as a mediator of neurodegeneration. However, the molecular mechanisms have not been clearly elucidated. We aimed to investigate insulin resistance associated with neurodegenerative events in zebrafish larvae. Methods: Larvae aged 72 h-post-fertilization (hpf) were induced to insulin resistance by immersion in 250 nM insulin and were then reinduced with 100 nM insulin at 96 hpf. This model was validated by a glucose levels assay, qPCR analysis of selected genes (akt, pepck, zglut3 and claudin-5a) and Oil Red-O (ORO) staining of the yolk sac for lipid distribution. The association of insulin resistance and neurodegeneration was validated by malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) assays, and by integrating next-generation sequencing with database for annotation, visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID). Results: There was a significant increase in glucose levels at 180 min in the insulin-resistant group. However, it decreased at 400 min after the re-challenge. Insulin-signaling mediators, akt and pepck, were showed significantly downregulated up to 400 min after insulin immersion (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, claudin-5a assessed blood–brain barrier (BBB) integrity and showed significant deterioration after 400 min of post-insulin immersion. ORO staining remarked the increase in yolk sac size in the insulin-resistant group. After the confirmation of insulin resistance, MDA levels increased significantly in the insulin-resistant group compared to the control group in the following parameters. Furthermore, dysregulated MAPK- and Wnt/Ca2+-signaling pathways were observed in the insulin-resistant group, disrupting energy metabolism and causing BBB injury. Conclusions: We conclude that the insulin-resistant zebrafish larvae alter the metabolic physiology associated with neurodegeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Bottom cathode of SMFC-C1 leads to an apparent overshoot phenomenon. • Partially exposed cathode to the air effectively reduces concentration loss. • High pH differences between anodic and cathodic regions improve SMFC performance. • Wicking air cathode minimizes SMFC internal resistance due to large electrode spacing. Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFC) are a potential alternative for benthic sediment remediation in bioelectricity generation. The cathodic oxygen reduction rate is an important limiting factor in SMFC. This study aims to evaluate the effects of submerged and floating cathodes on bioelectricity generation and benthic nutrient removal in SMFC. Based on the generated current density, SMFC with a wick-air cathode, 10 cm from the top sediment surface and partially submerged in water and exposed to air (SMFC-CW) was found to be superior to those with bottom cathode, 1 cm from the top sediment surface (SMFC-C1), a middle cathode, 5 cm from the top sediment surface (SMFC-C5), and a floating cathode, 10 cm from the top sediment surface and placed under the overlying surface water (SMFC-C10). In the polarization test, SMFC-CW contributed to the lowest concentration loss with a maximum current density of 236.4 mA/m2. The overshoot phenomenon in SMFC-C1 is not a good indicator of the SMFC system, despite the generation of a high maximum power density. This study has shown that a large pH difference between the anodic and cathodic regions in SMFC-CW is important for bioelectricity generation as it was observed that the internal resistance of SMFCs changes. SMFC-CW showed the largest reduction in phosphate concentration, from 0.61 mg/L to 0.14 mg/L. These results provide a simple strategy for sustainable bioelectricity generation in SMFC systems while remediating benthic sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Provide an overview of NMG as a cyber-physical system and power balance methods. • Comprehensive review of hierarchical EMS for NMG and bidirectional PX scenarios. • Discuss the future hierarchical EMS trends for NMGs. A networked microgrid (NMG) is a novel cyber-physical system that provides power to urban and rural communities. The benefits of NMG that coupled with hierarchical energy management system (EMS) include increased renewable energy utilization, reliability, system efficiency, and flexibility in inter-microgrid (MG) power exchange (PX). Nevertheless, achieving secure and optimal NMG operation would require hierarchical EMS strategies that can manage uncertainties such as renewable generation fluctuations, load variation, energy prices, and flexible bidirectional PX. This paper outlines the NMG concept and various power balance methods. Subsequently, a comprehensive review of hierarchical EMS designs for NMG is presented. Four NMG models are introduced, and a comparison of various EMS strategies based on objectives, constraints, and optimization methods is also elaborated. Additionally, this paper addresses flexible bidirectional power flow between multiple MGs and the utility grid (UG) within three PX scenarios (MG-to-MG, MG-to-UG, and UG-to-MG). The advantages and challenges of hierarchical EMS for NMG with bidirectional power flow are also discussed considering grid stability, economic viability, and environmental impact. Finally, future research directions for enhancing the NMG model for optimal inter-MG PX are established. It highlights the efficient hierarchical EMS strategies and optimization algorithms for more reliable, affordable, and sustainable NMG operation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food safety issues associated with aquatic food products become more important with the increasing consumption and followed by its ongoing challenges. The objective of this paper is to review the food safety hazards and health risks related to aquatic food products for the Southeast Asian region. These hazards can be categorized as microplastics (MPs) hazard, biological hazards (pathogenic bacteria, biogenic amines, viruses, parasites), and chemical hazards (antimicrobial, formaldehyde, heavy metal). In different Southeast Asian countries, the potential health risks of aquatic food products brought by food hazards to consumers were at different intensity and classes. Among all these hazards, pathogenic bacteria, antimicrobials, and heavy metal were a particular concern in the Southeast Asian region. With environmental changes, evolving consumption patterns, and the globalization of trade, new food safety challenges are created, which put forward higher requirements on food technologies, food safety regulations, and international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 16.2% of livebirths in 2017 were affected by hyperglycemia in pregnancy, with 85.1% due to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Daily blood glucose monitoring compared with alternate day testing in mild GDM is associated with similar pregnancy outcomes. Data are sparse on the ideal frequency for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in mild GDM for glycemic control. A higher HbA1c at late pregnancy is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. We sought to evaluate three days compared to one day per week of four-point self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) controlled by lifestyle changes for glycemic control. Methods: This randomized trial was conducted from February–December 2018. A total of 106 women with lifestyle-controlled GDM were randomized to three days (SMBG3) or one day (SMBG1) per week of four-point (fasting and two-hours post-meal) SMBG. The primary outcome was the change in the HbA1c level at recruitment and 36-weeks gestation within and across trial arms. The student t-test was used for between-arm analyses and a paired t-test for within-arm analyses. Results: The HbA1c level through pregnancy increased significantly in both trial arms: mean increase of 0.21% ± 0.26%, p < 0.001 (SMBG3), and 0.19% ± 0.24%, p < 0.001 (SMBG1), but the 0.02% difference across trial arms was not significant (p = 0.79). Maternal weight gain (3.1 ± 2.1 kg vs. 3.3 ± 3.0 kg, p = 0.72), cesarean delivery (24/52 (48%) vs. 23/53 (43%), RR 1.06, 95% CI: 0.69–1.62, p = 0.77), neonatal birthweight (3.1 ± 0.4 kg vs. 3.0 ± 0.4 kg, p = 0.53) and neonatal intensive care unit admission (4/52 (8%) vs. 3/53 (6%), RR 1.36, 95% CI: 0.32–5.78, p = 0.68) were not significantly different for SMBG3 vs. SMBG1, respectively. Other maternal and neonatal secondary outcomes were not significantly different. Conclusion: In mild GDM, three days compared to one day per week showed a similar HbA1c levels change at 36-weeks gestation. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were also not significantly different. Less frequent monitoring of SMBG as a standard of care in mild GDM deserves further study and consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a conceptual paper that examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning and education, with a focus on the Orang Asli community. In Malaysia, the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of Coronavirus forced schools to close down and operate only through online classes (PdPR). Although this move was important for preventing the spread of COVID-19 among school children, the latter were confronted with the limitations of home-based online learning. This paper focuses on the Orang Asli and the challenges they faced pertaining to online learning (PdPR) during the pandemic. It will also suggest solutions to those problems based on the Orang Asli’s traditional knowledge. This paper also attempts to develop an alternative solution using a novel concept known as the AKH-I model. This model addresses societal problems by analysing issues and solutions from both Islamic and contemporary perspectives. AKH-I guides key-players to take up their role as khalifah in addressing and engaging social issues by understanding them from the anthropological perspective whilst adhering to Islamic and moral principles, such as shariah-compliance, noble and righteous deeds, as well as spiritual guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues which are consist in learning disability context for the blind comprises several aspects such as; teachers did not teach the Quran by using the Quran in braille, have not mastered in Quran Braille code, have not basic learning on the Quran and alphabetical character. This article attempts to find out the issues and challenges of learning disabilities experienced by Muslim Blind Community in Malaysia. The study also aims to solve problems on learning disabilities among Muslim blind community in Malaysia by using braille approach. This study undertakes an analysis of people with learning disabilities based on issues and challenges as the main sources of reference by adopting the document analysis method. Therefore, this study used a qualitative method with a protocol of observation and analysis of several sources to get data and information. The outcome of this article suggests that the Malaysia government needs to make improvements in order to enhance the quality of education for people with learning disabilities and create a special education program for them. This paper clarifies that the methods and point solutions to the problems faced by this kind of people is considered as a new issue and supposed to be handled by government and private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal Action Localization (TAL) is an important task of various computer vision topics such as video understanding, summarization, and analysis. In the real world, the videos are long untrimmed and contain multiple actions, where the temporal boundaries annotations are required in the fully-supervised learning setting for classification and localization tasks. Since the annotation task is costly and time-consuming, the trend is moving toward the weakly-supervised setting, which depends on the video-level labels only without any additional information, and this approach is called weakly-supervised Temporal Action Localization (WTAL). In this survey, we review the concepts, strategies, and techniques related to the WTAL in order to clarify all aspects of the problem and review the state-of-the-art frameworks of WTAL according to their challenges. Furthermore, a comparison of models' performance and results based on benchmark datasets is presented. Finally, we summarize the future works to allow the researchers to improve the model's performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out to determine the nutritional value and digestibility of total mixed ration (TMR) Napier silage with different Azolla filiculoides meal inclusion percentages. Samples of Azolla were cultivated in the tank with the media from 1.0 g/L dilution of sheep manure. Inclusion of 0% (control), 6% (T1), 10% (T2), 16% (T3), and 23% (T4) A. filiculoides meal was used to replace the proportion of Napier silage and soybean meal according to treatments with four replicates. All treatments were analyzed to determine the nutritional composition, and in vitro gas production was recorded for 96 h. In contrast, in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), and metabolizable energy (ME) of each TMR mixture were determined using the published equation. As a result, only T4 had shown a significant difference (p<0.05) in crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) compared to other treatments. Values of dry matter (DM), CP, and ash of the TMRs were not affected on T1, T2, T3, and control. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were increased significantly at T3 and T4 compared to other treatments even though higher (p<0.05) acid detergent lignin (ADL) as replacement of 5.0% Napier silage and 1.0% soybean meal had shown a competitive value in their nutritional compared to the common TMR for ruminants. Therefore, a fermentation process was suggested to degrade indigestible components of A. filiculoides to enhance the potential of this species as an alternative feed source for a ruminant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Group O blood donor is more readily available and is frequently used as a universal red cell donor and emergency O whole blood (EM O) for exchange transfusion in neonates. Sera from group O donors contains two separable haemolysin antibodies, anti-A and anti-B, and a cross-reacting antibody called anti-A, B (mostly IgG). The presence of haemolysins in the donors may lead to haemolysis in the recipients. Objectives: This study aims to determine the prevalence of anti-A and anti B haemolysins and titer among group O donors that we screened for emergency group O (EM O) whole blood.Methodology: A cross sectional study was done to determine the prevalence of anti-A and anti B haemolysin and titer among group O blood donors screened for EM O whole blood for exchange transfusion in neonates at a teaching hospital from January to December 2018. Samples of 350 voluntary group O regular donors were selected for ABO antibodies titration and haemolysin test using the conventional tube technique at room temperature. Donors were screened for titer of 1:50 and 1:100 only. ABO antibody titer of ≥1:100 was considered as a high titer and not suitable for exchange transfusion. Titer of ≤1:50 were labeled as EM O whole blood and will be suitable for exchange transfusion. Results: A total of 350 group O blood donors were screened for the anti A and anti B haemolysin and titer. The majority of blood group O donors were male (n=215, 61%) and were age from 18-30 years old (51%). Malay was the predominant group (83%). About 52.9% of the donors were low titer (≤1:50), and 47.1% were high titer (≥1:100). Low titer was seen predominantly among male donors (61.8%). The prevalence of haemolysins in group O donors was 5.4% (n=19). Anti A and anti B haemolysins were seen in 0.57% and 2.28% of the donors, respectively, while donors having both A and B haemolysins in their sera was 2.57%. Conclusion: Prevalence of anti-A and anti-B haemolysins were low among group O blood donors. However, a significant percentage of group O donors have high titer of anti-A or anti-B. Therefore, despite the labour intensiveness of haemolysis titration technique and the frequent transfusion of group O blood for exchange transfusion, there is the need to routinely screen our donors for haemolysins in order to identify those posing the greatest risk to recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article differs in explaining the economic activities in Kuala Lumpur by highlighting the development of the textile business in this city. Policy of western colonialism has resulted in British taking control of Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang by combining the four states under an administration known as the Federated Malay States (FMS) in 1896. Federated Malay States (FMS) was controlled by the British not only as a center of raw material supply, in fact as a colonial marketplace. Kuala Lumpur also received the effects of this merger because Kuala Lumpur is one of the six districts in Selangor. Although Kuala Lumpur is often highlighted as the center of mining activities, this situation did not prevent existence of various economic activities such as textile business as soon as Kuala Lumpur was declared the capital of Selangor and center of British administration. The importance of textile business activities is not measured in terms of quantity or amount of capital, but rather assessed in terms of its importance in meeting the needs of local people in the context of development in Kuala Lumpur during that period. British administration has also encouraged the emergence of textile -based businesses such as sewing garments. This opportunity has been used by companies such as John Little and Robinson from Singapore to penetrate the market in Kuala Lumpur by supplying garments to the residents. Hence, the presence of foreign companies has become a basis for the development of textile-related business activities in Kuala Lumpur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Heavy metals exposure through the consumption of seafood are an environmental issue of concern. Biomonitoring of whole blood heavy metals concentration give an insight on the total internal body burden. The level of heavy metals of an individual are interrelated to the genetic polymorphism of glutathione S-tranferases (GSTs). This study aims to determine the association between blood arsenic (BAs), blood cadmium (BCd) and blood lead (BPb) concentration as reported in previous report and polymorphic variants of GST genes. Methods: Sixty three adult respondents were recruited along the coastal area of Melaka through purposive sampling in February 2016. Blood samples were collected through venipuncture procedure by certified personnel in EDTA tubes. The inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrumentation was used to analyse the blood heavy metals concentration. DNA was extracted from the whole blood samples. The polymorphic variants of GSTM1 and GSTT1 were analysed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and polymorphic variants of GSTP1 were analysed by polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: The BAs, BCd and BPb median (IQR) concentrations detected were 0.076 (0.059 -- 0.107), 1.204 (0.670 -- 2.094) and 0.076 (0.038-0.138) (µg/L) respectively. The prevalence of genetic polymorphism in GSTM1 and GSTT1 of 63.5% and 38.1% were observed. The number of respondents who have both deleted genes for GSTM1 and GSTT1 was 17 (27%). The frequency of genetic polymorphism in GSTP1 was 55.5%, in which 29 (46.0%) of the respondents were having the heterozygous (Ile/Val) polymorphism while the other 6 (9.5%) respondents were having the homozygous mutant (Val/Val). Conclusion: The polymorphic GST gene variations were not statistically linked to heavy metal concentrations. Respondents with the Val/Val genotype in GSTP1 and both GSTM1 and GSTT1 deletions, had a greater median of BAs and BPb [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Peninsular Malaysia, barn owls (Tyto javanica javanica) have been utilized as biological control of rats since the 1960s. In this study, the impact of introduced barn owls on rat populations in an oil palm plantation in Sabah, Malaysia, were studied. There were three treatment areas in this study: T1 (barn owl area) was an oil palm plot where no rodenticides were applied and rat control relied solely on predation of the introduced barn owls, T2 was an oil palm plot where one fixed baiting campaign was carried out per year, and T3 was an oil palm plot where two fixed baiting campaigns were carried out per year. Rat abundance and fresh fruit bunch (FFB) damage were assessed monthly throughout the four-year study period. The dominant species at all treatment areas was the House rat, Rattus rattus diardii. Both rat abundance and FFB damage were higher in the first year of study at all three treatment areas. FFB damage was lowest at T3 compared to the other two treatment areas throughout the entire study period, probably due to the intensive baiting carried out at T3. FFB damage at T1 was comparable to FFB damage at T2 (with the exception of the first year of study). Additionally, FFB damage at T1 after the first year was frequently below the 5% FFB damage threshold level. The results of this study indicate that introduced barn owl control of rat pests was sufficient for at least three years and perhaps more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cutaneous horns are not malignant per se. It is a rare, dark keratinized protrusion on the surface of the skin. The incidence and prevalence in general population is unknown. However, most cases occur in elderly aged 60 years and older. Case Report: We reported an interesting case of an 80-year-old man who developed a giant cutaneous horn on a forearm which was gradually increasing in size over seven years. He was referred to our primary care clinic by a doctor who is involved in humanitarian mission in an old folk's home who noticed a hornlike projection growth over his forearm. He was then referred to orthopedic department and underwent an excisional biopsy with adequate margin. Histology findings reported as prominent epithelial hyperplasia marked by hyperkeratosis and papillomatosis which indicates the lesion is caused by verruca vulgaris or a common wart. Such warts are usually benign which is caused by subtypes of human papilloma virus that are not associated with malignant transformatio n. Conclusions: This is a rare case of giant cutaneous horn located on forearm of an elderly man. It's highlighted that giant cutaneous horn is not always associated with malignancy especially when they are slow growing over a period of time. It also highlights the role of biopsies for skin lesions of uncertain aetiologies. In this case, it helped us to rule out squamous cell carcinoma, which can be a more locally invasive and destructive. Hence, early referral for excisional biosy and histopathological studies is mandatory for all cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microgrid is a developed form of a distribution system, which is integrated with a set of different types of distributed generation (DG) to supply local demand. In spite of that microgrids have many advantages as they increase reliability, raise efficiency, decrease feeder losses and voltage sag correction. However, there are many technical challenges faced, one of them is the protection of microgrid. Conventional protections have been made for radial distribution systems configuration. Where supplying source has one direction and the power flow is defined. The DG penetration converts the distribution network to a multi sources system causes a bidirectional power flow. Also, the most of DG uses a DC to AC converter which limit the fault current level. Therefore, a suitable protection scheme for microgrid ought to be designed to protect a microgrid from any disturbances may occur for both modes of operation grid-connected and islanded. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the challenges and problems facing microgrid protection. As well as the most strategies to date are presented with a discussion of their basic principles of operation to solve these problems. Finally, some conclusions and suggestions for microgrid protection in the future are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seagrasses and bare sediment represent alternative stable states, with sediment resuspension being a key driver of system stability via the Seagrass–Sediment–Light (SSL) feedback. We explore the SSL feedback by quantifying the sediment stabilization by seagrass, and using these measurements to calculate under which conditions seagrass ends up in a turbid environment. We quantified in‐situ sediment resuspension velocity thresholds (ucr) for Zostera marina growing in medium to fine sand, using a field flume inducing near‐bed wave motion. ucr was determined for full length shoots, shoots clipped to 0.08 m, and removed shoots. We found that rhizomes did not influence ucr of the top sediment layer. Overall, ucr was linearly related to blade area, which became independent for sediment type when normalizing ucr for the resuspension threshold after shoot removal. Comparing measured ucr against natural wave conditions showed that the seagrass meadow at the study site is currently stable. Exploring the effects of changing hydrodynamic conditions revealed that effects of increasing storminess has limited influence on sediment resuspension and thus the SSL‐feedback. Increasing mean wind velocity had a stronger influence on SSL‐feedback dynamics by causing more frequent exceedance of ucr. The response of seagrasses to increasing wind pressure depends on bay topography. A fully exposed Z. marina meadow under low initial turbidity pressure trended toward bistability, as turbidity pressure increased mainly on bare sediments. The study site and a fully exposed Z. marina meadow under high initial turbidity pressure saw an increase in turbidity across all blade areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to determine the effects of feeding outdoor-grown hydroponics maize sprouts (HMS) on the growth performance and digestibility of nutrients in goats. Three treatment groups (n = 5), group T1 (control), were fed 500 g concentrate, and Napier grass; T2, 500 g concentrate, and HMS, while T3 had sole feeding of HMS using a completely randomized design. The results showed that HMS had a better feed nutritive composition with the lower concentration of indigestible fibre (P<0.05) and higher concentration of crude protein (12.28%) compared to Napier grass (7.22%) (P<0.05). Goats in T1 and T2 fed with concentrate had a higher average daily gain (ADG) of 79 g/day and 48 g/ day rivalling goats fed with HMS (44 g/day) (P<0.05). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly better (P<0.05) in goats in T1 and T2 compared to T3. Goats in groups T1 and T2 showed significantly higher dry matter digestibility (69.27% and 63.95%, respectively) and crude protein digestibility (71.89% and 72.28%, respectively) compared to group T3. Sole feeding of HMS exerted a minor impact on growth performance in the animals. However, the HMS could potentially replace the conventionally planted sprouts in conjunction with commercial concentrate to improve the growth performance of the small ruminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify the chemical composition of hydroponic maize fodder (HMF) from two varieties of maize grains (popcorn and feed corn). A completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications was used in which popcorn was irrigated with clean tap water (T1) and nutrient solution (T2); feed corn irrigated with clean tap water (T3) and nutrient solution (T4). Seven-days green fodders were sampled for chemical analysis. The crude protein (CP) content was the highest at 7.48% in T4 compared to popcorn (P<0.05) and T3 (P>0.05). Treatment 3 showed the highest dry matter content as 94.42% (P>0.05) and organic matter content observed as 98.29% especially compared with T1 (P<0.05). The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents of feed corn were insignificantly different, but T3 was observed as 67.66% and 41.55%, respectively, which were higher than T1 (P<0.05). Although feed corn had better nutritional value than popcorn, popcorn showed a 7% higher germination rate than feed corn (P<0.05). As a result, the total yield of 1.5 kg hydroponic maize fodder per kg feed corn was lower than popcorn (2.5 kg per kg grains). Hence, popcorn was used to grow HMF with the open-air hydroponic system. HMF showed better feed nutritive composition than conventionally planted Napier grass. A lower concentration of indigestible fiber (P<0.05) and a higher concentration of crude protein (12.28%) was observed in HMF compared to CP in Napier grass (7.22%) (P<0.05). In conclusion, the open-air hydroponics system can be an alternative method among smallholders by replacing conventionally planted fodder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī is considered one of the prominent Muslim thinkers and scholars in the traditional Muslim world. He has produced numerous intellectual sources comprehensively. This paper aims to analyze Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī’s views on dealing with the scientific exegesis. This was investigated from his thoughtful and broad understanding of its principle and underlying purpose. The essential understanding of the principle of scientific exegesis was analytically discussed in his magnum opus; Jewels of the Qur’ān. To reach a representative conclusion, this study undertakes an analysis of the al-Ghazālī view, promotes intellectual discourse, and venerated exegesis as the main sources of reference by adopting the document analysis method. The finding shows that Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī’s discussion on scientific exegesis emphasized on relevance to contemporary practice and the modern context of Islam. It set forth an important framework and methodology for the integration of the Quran and science. This leads to the collaboration between two branches of knowledge and has come to be known as ‘scientific exegesis’ that the Qur’ān contains verses that point to scientific discoveries such as the roundness of the earth; the orbit of the earth around the sun; and the uniqueness of human fingerprints. It will provide students, educators, researchers, and scholars with a resource for understanding and responding to faithful Islamic sciences issues that are of concern to contemporary Islam and to society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the methodology used by Salah Abdul Fattah al-Khalidi in his abridgement of al-Tabari’s exegesis, Jami’ al-Bayan ‘an Ta’wil Ay al-Quran: Taqrib Wa Tahzib. This article presents some examples of the methods he used in this discipline, in approximation, in transmission and brevity, as well as comparison to the original exegesis. This qualitative research is designed using a content analysis approach. This article shows that the methods of Salah al-Khalidi are almost completely different from others who shortened this great exegesis, as the corpus of Taqrib Wa Tazhib is considered as an approximation and refinement of al-Tabari, the Jami’ al-Bayan ‘an Ta’wil Ay al-Quran. It does not shorten or diminish its explicit meaning, but nonetheless is a picture of abridgment, unless the Taqrib Wa Tahzib is broader and more comprehensive. It does not require many deletions, and preserves what was stated in the original exegesis with clarification formed from understanding and simplification of al-Tabari’s work. Indeed, Salah al-Khalidi affirmed this matter at the beginning of the Taqrib Wa Tahzib and not omitting is evidence of Salah Khalidi’s honesty and credibility in transmission and discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding maternal morbidity and its determinants can help identify opportunities to prevent obstetric complications and improvements for maternal health. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) and the associated factors. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Koshi Hospital, Nepal, from January to March 2020. All women who met the inclusion criteria of age ≥18 years of age, Morang residents of Nepalese nationality, had received routine antenatal care, and given birth at Koshi Hospital were recruited consecutively. The World Health Organization criteria were used to identify the women with SMM. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. Overall, 346 women were recruited. Findings: The prevalence of SMM was 6.6%. Among the SMM cases, the most frequently occurring SMM conditions were hypertensive disorders (12, 56.5%), hemorrhagic disorders (6, 26.1%), and severe management indicators (8, 34.8%). Women with no or primary education (adjusted odds ratio: 0.10, 95% confidence interval: 0.01, 0.76) decreased the odds of SMM compared to secondary education. Conclusion: The approximately 7% prevalence of SMM correlated with global studies. Maternal education was significantly associated with SMM. If referral hospitals were aware of the expected prevalence of potentially life-threatening maternal conditions, they could plan to avert future reproductive complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the last two decades, there has been significant growth in public, political, and academic awareness of polygamy. Polygamous families have distinct household problems, usually stemming from jealousy between co-wives over the husband's affections and resources. This study aimed to ascertain the psychological impact of polygamous marriage on women and children worldwide.Methods: A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Google Scholar, and ProQuest using search terms such as "marriage" and "polygamy." Studies published from the inception of the respective databases until April 2021 were retrieved to assess their eligibility for inclusion in this study. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist was used for data extraction and the quality assessment of the included studies. The generic inverse variance and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using RevMan software.Results: There were 24 studies fulfilling the eligibility criteria, and 23 studies had a low risk of bias. The pooled meta-analysis showed women in polygamous marriages had a 2.25 (95% CI: 1.20, 4.20) higher chance of experiencing depression than in monogamous marriages. Children with polygamous parents had a significantly higher Global Severity Index with a mean difference of 0.21 (95% CI: 0.10, 0.33) than those with monogamous parents.Conclusions: The psychological impact of polygamous marriage on women and children was found to be relatively higher than monogamous marriage. Awareness of the proper practices for polygamy should be strengthened so that its adverse effects can be minimized. The agencies involved in polygamous practices should broaden and enhance their understanding of the correct practice of polygamy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three hydrophobic-tailed imine compounds containing linear alkyl, branched alkyl and phenyl groups adjacent to the imine bond namely N-propylidenehexadecanehydrazide (PHH-L), N'-(2,2-dimethylpropylidene)hexadecanehydrazide (DMPHH-B) and N-phenylpropionalidene hexadecanehydrazide (PPHH-A), respectively were successfully synthesized with good yields and high purity. Inhibition properties were evaluated with the corrosion of carbon steel in 1 M HCl solution by electrochemical measurements and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray (SEM-EDX). Potentiodynamic polarization measurement indicates that the synthesized inhibitors were effective mixed-type inhibitors and adsorbed on the carbon steel surface following the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with the free energy of adsorption, ΔGoads values ranging from −37.9 kJ mol−1 to −39.5 kJ mol−1 by mixed absorption involving both physisorption and chemisorption. Impedance spectroscopic analysis revealed that the inhibitors reduced the corrosion process by a charge-transfer process. SEM-EDX analysis revealed that the corrosion damage of the carbon steel surface was reduced in the presence of the inhibitors containing linear alkyl (PHH-L) and phenyl (PPHH-A) groups. In contrast, DMPHH-B, a compound with a branched alkyl group increased corrosion damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perlis was seldom in the limelight since it was part of Kedah. From the 14th to 17th century, seven generations of the Kedah Sultanate had thrived in Kota Si Puteh (in Kubang Pasu District) since it was located approximately three miles from the border of Perlis or 18 to 19 miles if the distance is measured from Perlis river to Kuala Perlis beach. This article will discuss the modernisation and socioeconomic development during the reign of Raja Syed Alwi Jamalullail in Perlis between 1905 to 1943. The objectives of this research is to discuss how Raja Syed Alwi managed to restore the economic problems of Perlis once he ascended the throne. The objective of this article is to discuss the socio-economic development during his reign. The methodology of the study is a qualitative method based on historical discipline. This study found that during the reign of Raja Syed Alwi Jamalullail, there was a process of modernisation and some development in socioeconomic aspects. Although in the early stages of his reign he had faced financial issues, he managed to solve those problems, formed the Perlis State Council Meeting and planned some socio-economic developments that led to modernisation for the state of Perlis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]