Penilaian Guru Sekolah Rendah Terhadap Peranan Guru Besar Sekolah Sebagai Pemimpin Teknologi Maklumat Dan Komunikasi (ICT)(Teachers Perception Towards Head Teachers’ Role As An ICT Leader In Primary Schools)

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk mengetahui tentang peranan guru besar sebagai pemimpin ICT di sekolah rendah. Sampel kajian adalah seramai 238 orang guru yang mengajar di sekolah rendah dan soal selidik telah digunakan sebagai instrumen utama kajian. Analisis statistik deskriptif telah digunakan untuk mengenalpasti peranan guru besar dalam menyediakan infrastruktur ICT yang lengkap di sekolah; peranan guru besar dalam menggalakkan guru-guru menggunakan ICT di sekolah; peranan guru besar dalam mengimplementasikan penggunaan ICT dalam kalangan guru berdasarkan aspek pengurusan sekolah; peranan guru besar dalam mengimplementasikan penggunaan ICT dalam kalangan guru berdasarkan aspek pengajaran dan pembelajaran di sekolah. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa peranan guru besar dalam pelaksanaan ICT di sekolah rendah adalah pada tahap yang sederhana iaitu nilai skor min 3.59. Hasil kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan berdasarkan aspek jantina, umur, dan pengalaman mengajar guru dalam penilaian peranan guru besar sebagai pemimpin ICT di sekolah. Bagaimanapun, tidak terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan berdasarkan aspek kelulusan akademik guru dalam penilaian peranan guru besar melaksanakan ICT di sekolah. Sebagai penutup bicara, penyelidik mengemukakan beberapa cadangan untuk mempelbagaikan lagi peranan guru besar sebagai pemimpin dan pemangkin ICT di sekolah

Predictors of poor glycaemic control in older persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus

INTRODUCTION: We assessed the predictors of poor glycaemic control among older patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Malaysia. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used the data of 21,336 patients aged ≥ 60 years with T2DM from the Adult Diabetes Control and Management Registry 2008-2009. RESULTS: Predictors of poor glycaemic control were: age groups 60-69 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.66-2.33) and 70-79 years (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.20-1.71); Malay (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.41-1.66) and Indian (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.19-1.46) ethnicities; T2DM durations of 5-10 years (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.35-1.58) and > 10 years (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.59-1.91); the use of oral antidiabetic agents only (OR 5.86, 95% CI 3.32-10.34), insulin only (OR 17.93, 95% CI 9.91-32.43), and oral antidiabetic agents and insulin (OR 29.42, 95% CI 16.47-52.53); and elevated blood pressure (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.20), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.38-1.59) and triglycerides (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.51-1.73). Hypertension (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.64-0.80), hypertension and dyslipidaemia (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.61-0.75), pre-obesity (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.82-0.98) and obesity (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70-0.84) were less likely to be associated with poor glycaemic control. CONCLUSION: Young-old and middle-old age groups (i.e. < 80 years), Malay and Indian ethnicities, longer T2DM duration, the use of pharmacological agents, and elevated blood pressure and lipid levels were associated with poor glycaemic control. The presence of comorbidities, pre-obesity and obesity were less likely to be associated with poor glycaemic control

Control and treatment profiles of 70,889 adult type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Malaysia - a cross sectional survey in 2009

Background: Understanding the current diabetes care in Malaysia is the first step towards successful control. Many local studies have contributed toward knowledge of diabetes control and treatment profile but none had reported from such a large cohort of patients as in this registry. Aim & Objectives: To describe glycaemic control, risk factors, and treatment profile for quality assessment of diabetes care in Malaysia. Methods: This is a descriptive study based on secondary data from the online Adult Diabetes Control and Management (ADCM) looking into the control and treatment profiles of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients aged 18 years old and above from 1st January until 31st December 2009. Clinical characteristics included were age, sex, diabetes duration and treatment, glycaemic control, blood pressure, body mass index, and treatment for co-morbidity. Results: A total of 303 centres contributed a total of 70889 patients. Fifty-nine percent was female. The study population included 61.9% Malay, 19% Chinese and 18% Indian. The mean age at diagnosis was 52.3 years old (SD 11.10) and the mean duration of diabetes was 5.9 years (SD 5.56). The mean of HbA1c was 8.3% (SD 2.10); only 18.1% attained HbA1c < 6.5%. There were 61.8% diabetic hypertensive patients based on blood pressure measurements and about one third were treated to target BP ≤ 130/80 mmHg. The mean of low density lipoprotein-cholesterol was 3.2 mmol/L (SD 1.10); one-third achieved the target of ≤ 2.6 mmol/L. Eighteen percent was on more than two anti-hypertensive agents and 41.6% were on anti-lipid agents. Metformin (83.2%), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (63.9%) and statin (89.8%) were the mostly prescribed anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive and anti-lipid agents respectively. Conclusion: Diabetes and its co-morbidities (hypertension and hyperlipidaemia) were less satisfactorily controlled. The choice of drugs was appropriate but probably inadequate. More effort and resources are needed to improve diabetes care in this country especially in the primary healthcare

Poor glycemic control in younger women attending Malaysian public primary care clinics: findings from adults diabetes control and management registry

Background: Women of reproductive age are a group of particular concern as diabetes may affect their pregnancy outcome as well as long-term morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to compare the clinical profiles and glycemic control of reproductive and non-reproductive age women with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in primary care settings, and to determine the associated factors of poor glycemic control in the reproductive age group women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using cases reported by public primary care clinics to the Adult Diabetes Control and Management registry from 1st January to 31st December 2009. All Malaysian women aged 18 years old and above and diagnosed with T2D for at least 1 year were included in the analysis. The target for glycemic control (HbA1c < 6.5%) is in accordance to the recommended national guidelines. Both univariate and multivariate approaches of logistic regression were applied to determine whether reproductive age women have an association with poor glycemic control. Results: Data from a total of 30,427 women were analyzed and 21.8% (6,622) were of reproductive age. There were 12.5% of reproductive age women and 18.0% of non-reproductive age women that achieved glycemic control. Reproductive age group women were associated with poorer glycemic control (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.2-1.8). The risk factors associated with poor glycemic control in the reproductive age women were being of Malay and Indian race, longer duration of diabetes, patients on anti-diabetic agents, and those who had not achieved the target total cholesterol and triglycerides. Conclusion: Women with T2D have poor glycemic control, but being of reproductive age was associated with even poorer control. Health care providers need to pay more attention to this group of patients especially for those with risk factors. More aggressive therapeutic strategies to improve their cardiometabolic control and pregnancy outcome are warranted

Change in hippocampal theta oscillation associated with multiple lever presses in a bimanual two-lever choice task for robot control in rats.

Hippocampal theta oscillations have been implicated in working memory and attentional process, which might be useful for the brain-machine interface (BMI). To further elucidate the properties of the hippocampal theta oscillations that can be used in BMI, we investigated hippocampal theta oscillations during a two-lever choice task. During the task body-restrained rats were trained with a food reward to move an e-puck robot towards them by pressing the correct lever, ipsilateral to the robot several times, using the ipsilateral forelimb. The robot carried food and moved along a semicircle track set in front of the rat. We demonstrated that the power of hippocampal theta oscillations gradually increased during a 6-s preparatory period before the start of multiple lever pressing, irrespective of whether the correct lever choice or forelimb side were used. In addition, there was a significant difference in the theta power after the first choice, between correct and incorrect trials. During the correct trials the theta power was highest during the first lever-releasing period, whereas in the incorrect trials it occurred during the second correct lever-pressing period. We also analyzed the hippocampal theta oscillations at the termination of multiple lever pressing during the correct trials. Irrespective of whether the correct forelimb side was used, the power of hippocampal theta oscillations gradually decreased with the termination of multiple lever pressing. The frequency of theta oscillation also demonstrated an increase and decrease, before and after multiple lever pressing, respectively. There was a transient increase in frequency after the first lever press during the incorrect trials, while no such increase was observed during the correct trials. These results suggested that hippocampal theta oscillations reflect some aspects of preparatory and cognitive neural activities during the robot controlling task, which could be used for BMI

Optical sensor for pH monitoring using a layer-by-layer deposition technique emphasizing enhanced stability and re-usability

Stable and reliable operation of an optical sensor for pH monitoring is important for many industrial applications of these types of devices. The layer-by-layer deposition technique is a simple and versatile method used to deposit a sensitive thin film on such an optical fibre-based device but creating a coating which can often be destroyed in use in highly acid or alkali solutions i.e. with very low or very high pH. It is thus important to create stable and durable sensors to meet the needs of users for operation under these extreme environments. The main aim of this study has been to prepare a number of such sensors and compare the performance of three different stabilization approaches used for the development of an effective wavelength-dependent pH-sensitive optical sensor. Techniques such as employing heat treatment, the deposition of two layers of a PAH/SiO2 thin film and the deposition of two layers of APTMS/SiO2 as topping layers have been studied to determine the optimum approach to creating a stable and reliable sensor – one yielding the same value of peak wavelength for a measurement of a known value of pH and to do so repeatibly. An improvement in performance and in shelf-life, stability and re-usability of the sensor has been achieved by the addition of two bilayers of APTMS/SiO2 (3-Aminopropyl-trimethoxy silane/Silica nanoparticle) in the work carried out and the results of the investigation undertaken are reported

Decoherence Effects in a Three-Level System under Gaussian Process

When subjected to a classical fluctuating field characterized by a Gaussian process, we examine the {purity} and coherence protection in a three-level quantum system. This symmetry of the three-level system is examined when the local random field is investigated further in the noiseless and noisy regimes. In~particular, we consider fractional Gaussian, Gaussian, Ornstein--Uhlenbeck, and~power law noisy regimes. We show that the destructive nature of the Ornstein--Uhlenbeck noise toward the symmetry of the qutrit to preserve encoded {purity and coherence} remains large. Our findings suggest that properly adjusting the noisy parameters to specifically provided values can facilitate optimal extended {purity and coherence} survival. Non-vanishing terms appear in the final density matrix of the single qutrit system, indicating that it is in a strong coherence regime. Because~of all of the Gaussian noises, monotonic decay with no revivals has been observed in the single qutrit system. In~terms of coherence and information preservation, we find that the current qutrit system outperforms systems with multiple qubits or qutrits using purity and von Neumann entropy. A~comparison of noisy and noiseless situations shows that the fluctuating nature of the local random fields is ultimately lost when influenced using the classical Gaussian noise

Fruit fracture biomechanics and the release of Lepidium didymum pericarp-imposed mechanical dormancy by fungi

Mechanical dormancy imposed by a hard fruit pericarp prevents premature seed germination. Here, the authors show that the pericarp of Lepidium didymum prevents germination by limiting water uptake and that dormancy can be released by fungal activity that weakens predetermined breaking zones in the fruit coat

PEMANFAATAN TEKNOLOGI KONFERENSI VIRTUAL UNTUK MEMBUAT KOLABORASI ANTARPROVINSI DALAM PENYUSUNAN MATERI AJAR

Kolaborasi antarprovinsi dalam penyusunan materi ajar merupakan suatu upaya yang penting dalam meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan dan aksesibilitas bagi masyarakat. Dalam era digital saat ini, teknologi konferensi virtual menjadi alat yang kuat untuk menciptakan kolaborasi yang efisien di antara para mitra pendidikan dari berbagai provinsi. Artikel ini membahas tentang pemanfaatan teknologi konferensi virtual dalam konteks kolaborasi antarprovinsi dalam penyusunan materi ajar. Artikel ini juga menyarankan beberapa solusi untuk mengatasi permasalahan yang mungkin timbul, seperti peningkatan infrastruktur internet, pelatihan dan dukungan teknis, penjadwalan yang disesuaikan dengan zona waktu, meningkatkan keterlibatan peserta, dan komunikasi yang efektif. Selain itu, metode pelaksanaan juga disajikan, termasuk memilih platform konferensi virtual yang tepat, mengorganisir pertemuan rutin, menetapkan agenda pertemuan, memfasilitasi kolaborasi dan diskusi, mendokumentasikan hasil pertemuan, menyediakan dukungan teknis, dan melakukan evaluasi dan refleksi. Kesimpulannya, pemanfaatan teknologi konferensi virtual dalam kolaborasi antarprovinsi dalam penyusunan materi ajar memberikan peluang baru dalam meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan dan aksesibilitas bagi masyarakat. Meskipun tantangan mungkin timbul, dengan menerapkan solusi yang tepat dan metode pelaksanaan yang efektif, kolaborasi antarprovinsi dapat terwujud secara efisien dan produktif. Teknologi konferensi virtual menjadi alat yang efektif dalam mewujudkan kolaborasi lintas provinsi yang bermanfaat dan relevan dalam penyusunan materi ajar