Digital Commons Network^™

Hypohydration During Prolonged Exercise In The Heat / Ler Hui Yin, Hui Yin Ler

Student Works (2010-2019)

This thesis investigated the effect of hypohydration during prolonged exercise in the heat and the adjustments in the thermoregulatory and cardiovascular control. Four inter-related studies were undertaken. Study One was an observational field study designed to determine the hydration status and practices of elite Kenyan runners (n=11) during competitive distance running events in a tropical environment. Our results show that the elite endurance runners completed their races in warm, very humid climatic conditions with ~3% body weight (BW) loss. They completed their races as the fast finishers in this present study but ran slower than they were capable because of …

Developing A Model Of Patient Values In Medical Decision Making: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Insulin Initiation In Type 2 Diabetes / Lee Yew Kong, Yew Kong Lee

Student Works (2010-2019)

Developing a model of patient values in medical decision making: A qualitative inquiry into insulin initiation in type 2 diabetes Background: Shared decision making (SDM) is a medical decision making model where at least two parties (for example, patient and doctor) share information and values in order to build consensus on the preferred treatment to implement. Patient values are the most mentioned element in definitions of SDM. However, there is no agreed definition of patient values in both SDM and the larger field of medical decision making. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a model of patient values using insulin …

Characterisation And Evaluation Of Pregelatinised Sago Starch As Direct Compression Materials / Riyanto Teguh Widodo, Riyanto Teguh Widodo

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study aimed to produce new directly compressible materials from a local sago starch. The sago starch was pregelatinised at 65°C with four different heating times followed by oven drying. The pregelatinised sago starches (PS) were evaluated as directly compressible materials including their properties at molecular, particle and powder level in addition to their functional properties in directly compressible Paracetamol tablet formulations. Analysis of FT-IR and 13CNMR spectra revealed that pregelatinisation did not alter the chemical structure of sago starch. XR-D patterns of sago starch showed characteristics of C-type while PS exhibited A-type, as the degree of crystallinity decreased with …

Comparing Job Satisfcation Among Registered Nurses In An Iranian Hospital And A Malaysian Hospital / Narges Atefi, Narges Atefi

Student Works (2010-2019)

Job satisfaction is a critical factor in health care. Strong empirical evidence supports a causal relationship between job satisfaction, patient safety and quality of care. A sequential explanatory mixed-methodology based on Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory was employed to identify the factors which influence job satisfaction among Malaysian and Iranian nurses. Proportionate samples of 416 nurses from one large hospital in Malaysia and 397 nurses from a large hospital in Iran were recruited in the initial quantitative phase. A Modified Index of Work Satisfaction (MIOWS) questionnaire consisting of nine components (autonomy, task requirement, work interaction, professional development, supportive nursing management, decisionmaking, professional …

The Effectiveness Of Applying Different Permissible Exposure Limits In Preserving Hearing Threshold Level Among Automobile Industry Workers: An Intervention Study / Balachandar A/L S. Sayapathi, S.Balachandar Sayapathi

Student Works (2010-2019)

Introduction The occurrence of occupational noise-induced hearing loss has doubled from 120 million to 250 million in a decade. Countries such as Malaysia, India and the US are adopting 90 dBA as the permissible exposure limit. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of applying 85 and 90 dBA in preserving hearing thresholds and preventing the development of temporary threshold shifts. Methodology In this intervention study, 203 participants from two factories in an automobile industry were exposed to noise levels above the action level of 85 dBA in Factory 1 and 80 dBA in Factory 2, where …

Development Of A Multiplex Pcr Detection System And Identification Of Binding Peptides For Human Plasmodium Species / Chew Ching Hoong, Ching Hoong Chew

Student Works (2010-2019)

Malaria is one of the most serious global health challenges. Approximately 3.3 billion people live in malaria-endemic areas and the disease threatens the lives of more than one-third of the world’s population. Malaria is caused by an eukaryotic protozoa Plasmodium and transmitted through the bite of female Anopheles mosquito. The known causative agents of human malaria include Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale, and recently included P. knowlesi which is recognized as a zoonotic parasite. Malaria is a treatable disease, however the disease can become severe, leading to morbidity if untreated, especially for infections by two potential fatal …

A Legal Analysis On Law And Policy On Conservation Of Forest In Peninsular Malaysia / Adzidah Binti Yaakob, Adzidah Yaakob

Student Works (2010-2019)

Forest performs multiple functions and requires a diligent commitment to its conservation. This green cover in Peninsular Malaysia, although accounting for only a small percentage of the land area, shelters a unique range of biodiversity living within it. Nonetheless, this natural resource of Peninsular Malaysia appears to be dwindling, mostly as a result of the actions of humankind, even though this green cover is governed by sets of laws. The protected area, a status secured by the law, is apparently easily excised from the government gazette, and the status of permanent forest use is changed to non-permanent forest use, for …

Secure Hardware Resource Monitoring, Usage Optimization And Affirmation For Database Operations In Virtualized Cloud Environment / Tan Chee Heng, Chee Heng Tan

Student Works (2010-2019)

Hardware resource management is an important topic in Information Technology (IT) industry. This is due to the increasing demand of computing power by ever-evolving applications, especially those which are Service Level Agreement (SLA)-bound. Undeniably, hardware cost has reduced significantly in recent time. However this does not translate into saving in capital and operational costs of businesses as the computing resource requirement from new applications overwhelms the reduction in hardware cost. Hence, cloud computing paradigm evolved from conventional grid and utility computing, to provide for the aggressive computational demands. To better serve the hosting in cloud environments, particularly in industries where …

Bone Age Assessment Using Hand And Clavicle X-Ray Images / Marjan Mansourvar, Marjan Mansourvar

Student Works (2010-2019)

Bone age assessment (BAA) is a method for evaluating the level of skeletal maturity to estimate the actual age of a person. It is usually performed manually by comparing an X-ray image of a left hand-wrist with an atlas, which contains a collection of images of known persons in the clinical procedure. The manual methods are based on analyzing special regions of the images of the hand bones or the whole bones of the images. Both approaches are prone to observation variability, time-consuming, and decision made on bone age is subjective. As a result, there is a pressing need to …

Human Trafficking Policy Implementation: A Case Study Of Malaysia / Wan Nur Ibtisam Wan Ismail, Wan Nur Ibtisam Wan Ismail

Student Works (2010-2019)

Human trafficking is a complex global crime that exploits women, men and children. Due to the seriousness of the crime, Malaysia enacted the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act in 2007. Despite considering human trafficking to be a priority area for action through the enactment of the 2007 Act, Malaysia is still struggling in translating the intent of the policy into actual implementation. Hence, the study attempts to provide an understanding of human trafficking in Malaysia through the policy implementation lens. It analyses how human trafficking policy is being translated by bureaucratic implementers into action. The study adopts …

The Physical Environment As A Three-Dimensional Textbook For Environmental Education In Malaysian Primary Schools / Kong Seng Yeap, Seng Yeap Kong

Student Works (2010-2019)

Environmental education (EE) for primary schools in Malaysia is often linked to abstract representation in a featureless classroom. What has often been overlooked is the potential use of physical environment to enrich the EE experience. Instead of focusing on what is taught and how it is taught, equal attention should be given to the physical environment in which EE occurs. With the increased recognition that EE should find a special consideration in educational facilities design, a small, growing literature about the subject is emerging. Practitioners and scholars attempt to bond architecture and EE by designing physical environment as a threedimensional …

Social Media Usage And Its Impact On Malaysian Organizations / Farzana Parveen Tajudeen, Farzana Parveen Tajudeen

Student Works (2010-2019)

The usage of social media among organizations is growing tremendously. Since investments in these technologies are increasing, it is important to investigate the impact of social media usage on organization. This study, using a mixed method approach investigates the factors that influence the social media usage, the various purposes of using social media, and its subsequent impact on organizational performances. The first phase of the research using web content analysis revealed that Facebook is the most popular social media presence among Malaysian organizations. It was also found that there are a higher percentage of organizations that use Facebook for interactivity …

Bank Risk Taking And Deposit Insurance Premium: Comparison Between Islamic And Conventional Bank / Sharifah Adlina Binti Syed Abdullah, Sharifah Adlina Syed Abdullah

Student Works (2010-2019)

Liquidity assistance is provided for under the lender of last resort facility for solvent banks. Nevertheless, deposit insurance is a depositors’ protection tool to sustain depositors’ confidence in the banking system and to ensure there is financial stability in the market. Similar to other types of insurance, deposit insurance suffers from the moral hazard problem. Aptly, a credible design feature of deposit insurance coupled with prudential regulation and supervision would limit this problem. For this reason, this thesis aims to investigate three objectives related to the moral hazard problem associated with deposit insurance. The first objective is, to investigate the …

Cooperative Multi Agents For Intelligent Intrusion Detection And Prevention Systems / Shahaboddin Shamshirband, Shahaboddin Shamshirband

Student Works (2010-2019)

Owing to the distributed nature of modern attacks (e.g. denial-of-service), it is extremely challenging to detect such malicious behaviour using traditional intrusion detection systems. In this thesis, we investigate the possibility of adapting an intelligent system to an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) by proposing a cooperative and intelligent detection and prevention system using machine learning approaches, and aim to facilitate the detection and prevention process in a distributed environment. Firstly, we review the state of the art of intelligent intrusion detection and prevention system (IIDPS), and highlight the security requirement of cooperative based-IIDPS. Adaptive optimization techniques such as fuzzy logic …

Induction Of Labour: Facilitation Of Labour Onset, Prediction Of Success And Improving The Induction Process / Tan Peng Chiong, Peng Chiong Tan

Student Works (2010-2019)

Labour is induced in about 25% of pregnancies demonstrating its importance in contemporary obstetric practice. The papers forming the thesis are grouped as follows surrounding the central theme of inducing labour: 1) Coitus as a home remedy and membrane sweeping as an office procedure to facilitate onset of labour The works on coitus provide important lessons about human studies. The initial promise from an observational study demonstrating an association of coitus with earlier labour onset was not supported by the findings of two subsequent clinical trials on coitus as an intervention. The secondary data analysis of the first trial also …

Information Quality Dimensions Of Farsi Web-Based Learning Resources For Instructional Use / Faegheh Mohammadi Ghazi Jahani, Faegheh Mohammadi Ghazi Jahani

Student Works (2010-2019)

The Ministry of Education Iran, in its fifth educational development plan has prioritized the use of web resources in school connectivity project among Smart Schools. The problem is, Iranian educators’ acceptance of using web resources in their classrooms remains low. The quality of the Farsi web-based learning resources (FWBLRs) might be taken into account towards the teachers’ motivation to use these resources. This research positions information quality as “information fit for use”, which implies that it is relative, as information considered appropriate for one use may not have sufficient attributes for another use. The objective of this study is to …

Content-Based Recommender System For An Academic Social Network / Vala Ali Rohani, Rohani Vala Ali

Student Works (2010-2019)

The rapid growth of Web 2.0 applications, such as blogs and social networks creates rich online information and provides various new sources of knowledge. The situation, however, leads to a great challenge in terms of information overload among social network users. Recommender systems (RSs) alleviate this problem with a technique that suggests relevant information from the abundance of Web data by considering the user’s previous preference. Collaborative and content-based are the recommendation techniques typically used in existing RSs. The content-based method is employed more widely though. Similar to the collaborative, the content-based technique suffers from the cold-start dilemma that is …

The Effects Of The Cla 1956 On Judicial Discretion, Quantum Of Damages And Interest On Damages In Personal Injury And Fatal Accident Claims Arising Out Of Motor Vehicle Accidents : A Critical Appraisal / Nazli Binti Mahdzir, Nazli Mahdzir

Student Works (2010-2019)

Sections 7, 8 and 28A of the Civil Law Act 19561 are enacted to regulate the assessment of damages for personal injury and fatal accident claims arising out of motor vehicle accidents. The provisions aim to control the quantum of damages being meted out by the courts. Despite the good intention of the legislature, the provisions have been viewed with disfavour by many as a legislative attempt to reduce the quantum of damages and/or fetter or worst still, to divest the judiciary of their discretion in the assessment of damages. The actual impacts on judicial discretion and the quantum of …

Training Program Evaluation For Educational Supervisors: Selected Training Programs In The Headquarters Of The Ministry Of Education, Sultanate Of Oman / Zayid Ali Khalfan Al-Hosni, Zayid Ali Khalfan Al-Hosni

Student Works (2010-2019)

Training is one of the major components of human resource development, but training is incomplete unless evaluation has taken place. Hence, this research aims to investigate the current practices in evaluating the training programs of educational supervisors (ES) carried out by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Oman. The objectives of the current study are: (1) to explore the participants’ perceptions regarding the practice in evaluating the training programs for educational supervisors by the MOE in Oman, (2) to identify the similarities and differences among the participants in their perceptions concerning the evaluation of the training programs, and (3) to …

Consumer Empowerment: The Framework, Sanam Akhavannasab, Danilo C. Dantas, Sylvain Senecal

AMTP Proceedings 2014

There is mounting evidence that consumers possess more power now than they ever have before. Stories such as “United Breaks Guitars” (Tripp and Grégoire 2011) are regularly reported in the press as illustrative examples of this phenomenon. In our era of user-generated content, consumer power is an important issue for any business. For instance, an increasing number of companies are using social media monitoring tools to keep track of online conversations. However, the marketing literature on consumer empowerment is limited (Hunter and Garnefeld 2008; Kucuk 2009; Pranić and Roehl 2012). Generally adopting a conceptual approach (e.g., Kucuk, 2009); consumer empowerment …

Comparison Of The Effect Of Two Human Milk Fortifiers On Clinical Outcomes In Premature Infants, Melissa Thoene, Corrine K. Hanson, Elizabeth Lyden, Laura Dugick, Leslie Ruybal, Ann Anderson-Berry

Journal Articles: Nebraska Medicine

The use of human milk fortifiers (HMF) helps to meet the high nutritional requirements of the human milk-fed premature infant. Previously available powdered products have not met the protein requirements of the preterm infant population and many neonatologists add powder protein modulars to help meet protein needs. The use of powdered products is discouraged in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) due to concern for invasive infection. The use of a commercially available acidified liquid product with higher protein content was implemented to address these two concerns. During the course of this implementation, poor growth and clinically significant acidosis of infants …

The Importance Of Institutional Culture At A Technical College, Sarah Adams

Dissertations (1934 -)

This is a qualitative study about the importance of institutional culture at a particular technical college in Wisconsin. It examines the administrators' understanding of their institution's culture, the importance they attach to the culture, and how they perceive they both manage and influence their institution's culture. Bergquist and Pawlak's (2008) work, Engaging the Six Cultures of the Academy, is used as the analytic framework. Key factors that emerged were the importance and role of the college's mission, the importance of the college's responsiveness to the community, and the necessity of administrators being purposeful in their involvement in the culture of …

Child Sexual Abuse, Attachment, Dating Behaviors, And Sexual Assault, Lucie Holmgreen

Dissertations (1934 -)

The current study used survey methodology to investigate the relationships among child sexual abuse, adult attachment, risky dating behaviors, and sexual assault. Specifically, it tested a model whereby attachment mediates a hypothesized relationship between child sexual abuse and risky dating behaviors, thus partially explaining sexual abuse survivors' risk of sexual assault (or revictimization). Results indicate that child sexual abuse relates to attachment anxiety but not to avoidance or the dating behaviors studied. While risky dating behaviors are associated with increased rates of sexual assault, most of them were not predicted by attachment. Attachment avoidance does relate, however, to some key …

Hypothalamic Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide: Impact On Energy Homeostasis And Glutamate Signaling, Jon Resch

Dissertations (1934 -)

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a member of the secretin-glucagon superfamily of peptide hormones, with homology to vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and activity at both the VIP receptors and the PACAP specific PAC1 receptor (PAC1R). Abundantly expressed in the hypothalamus, PACAP was recently discovered to regulate energy balance when central injections produced hypophagia and increased metabolic rate. However, the neurocircuitry mediating these effects in the hypothalamus are poorly understood.

To characterize how hypothalamic PACAP signaling affects energy homeostasis we microinjected PACAP site-specifically into the hypothalamic paraventricular (PVN) and ventromedial nuclei (VMN) and examined feeding behavior and metabolism. PACAP injected …

2013 Annual Report, Bank Of Canada/Central Bank Of Canada/La Banque Du Canada

Documents

No abstract provided.

Bhutan Rma Ar 2012-13, Royal Monetary Authority Of Bhutan

Documents

No abstract provided.

2014 Aasu Men's Basketball Guide, Armstrong State University

Armstrong Athletics: Men's Basketball Records (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Annual Report 2013, Federal Participations And Investment Company

Documents

No abstract provided.

The Economic Adjustment Programme For Cyprus Fourth Review - Spring 2014, European Commission

Documents

No abstract provided.

Educational Disparities' Impact On Risk Factors For Hypertension: National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2010, Priska Ursula Baker

All Master's Theses

The intention of this study is to explore if education attainment is an independent risk factor for hypertension when other risk factors related to hypertension are accounted for. It is hypothesized that education will be an independent risk factor for hypertension even when other risk factors are considered.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2003-2010 was used and analyses were conducted using SAS 9.2. Simple logistic regression analysis revealed that all education categories had significantly lower odds of having hypertension compared to < 9th grade education. Since hypertension risk was affected by gender, ethnicity, age, weight, abdominal obesity, smoking status, income and nutrient intake, these covariates were included in a multiple logistic regression model with educational attainment. In this model, hypertension only trended towards significance for educational attainment.

Although educational attainment may play a role in the prevalence of hypertension disparities, …