The Effect of Tropical Environment on Fatigue Failure in Royal Malaysian Airforce (RMAF) Aircraft Structure and Operational Readiness

The environmental condition in which the Royal Malaysian Airforce is currently operating its aircraft is prone to corrosion. This is due to the high relative humidity and temperature. With most of its aircraft being in the legacy aircraft era, the aircraft’s main construction consists of the aluminium 2024 material. However, this material is prone to corrosion, thus reducing fatigue life and leading to fatigue failure. Using the concept of either Safe Life or Damage Tolerance as its fatigue design philosophy, the RMAF adopts the Aircraft Structure Integrity Program (ASIP) to monitor its structural integrity. With the current problem of not having the structural limitation on corrosion-damaged structure, the RMAF has embarked on its fatigue testing method. Finite Element (FE) studies and flight tests were conducted, and the outcome is summarized. The conclusion is that the longeron tested on the aircraft can withstand the operational load, and its yield strength is below the ultimate yield strength of the material. These research outcomes will also enhance the ASIP for other aircraft platforms in the RMAF fleet for its structure life assessment or service life extension program.     

Predictive equations for the estimation of basal metabolic rate in Malaysian adults

In the field of human energy expenditure, the measurement of basal metabolic rate (BMR) is an essential element to derive energy requirement estimates for any given population. Besides basic anthropometrics data, this paper reports the generation of predictive equation for basal metabolic rates of healthy Malaysian adult from prospective measurements on 307 male and 349 females aged 18-60 years, using the Douglas bag technique. These new equations based on body-weight reveal that the current FAO/WHO/UNU (1985) predictive equations overestimate BMR of adult Malaysian by an average of 13% in males and 9% in female subjects while differences of between 4-5% were observed when compared to Henry and Rees (1991) equations for tropical people. There is a good reason to believe that the capacity to slow down metabolism amidst the hot and humid climate experience throughout the year as a genuine phenomenon for Malaysians. Similarly, these findings suggest that at equal energy intake recommendation for similar body weight, the lower energy needs of Malaysian could put them at greater risk for developing obesity. These observed deviations must be taken into account in formulating energy requirements of the population.     

Exploring the Barriers and Motivators to Dietary Adherence among Caregivers of Children with Disorders of Amino Acid Metabolism (AAMDs): A Qualitative Study

Dietary intervention is generally accepted as the mainstay of treatment for patients with disorders of amino acid metabolism (AAMDs). However, dietary adherence to a low-protein diet is always reported as a common challenge among these patients. This study explored the perception of barriers and motivators to dietary adherence among caregivers of AAMD patients in Malaysia. Twenty caregivers of children with AAMDs receiving ongoing treatment at the genetic clinic participated in an online focus group discussion from November to December 2021. Findings showed a total of five interrelated main themes identified from focus group discussion (FGD) exploring parents’ experiences related to the management of their child’s daily diet. The barriers to dietary adherence were burden of dietary treatment, diet and dietary behavior, parenting challenges, limited knowledge related to dietary treatment, and challenges in healthcare system delivery. Key factors facilitating good dietary adherence include good knowledge of dietary treatment, parental coping strategies, social coping, and dietary behavior. In conclusion, despite the existence of several barriers to the implementation of dietary treatment, caregivers managed to use a wide range of coping strategies to overcome some, if not all, of the challenges. The important next step is to develop, in conjunction with multidisciplinary healthcare professionals, feasible implementation strategies that could address these barriers and at the same time improve the quality of life of caregivers.     

Audit of trauma case load suitable for a day surgery trauma list and cost analysis

Background

Day surgery trauma lists are becoming an increasingly popular and widespread approach to address the inpatient trauma demand on NHS services. A ‘Rapid Access’ list initiative was set-up to book patients from an emergency pathway who require surgery and also fulfilled the standard day case patient criteria but for whom it was safe to wait for over 24 h before going to theatre.

Materials & Methods

We performed a prospective audit of the cases undertaken on the day surgery trauma list over a 12-month period and analysed the number of cases, spectrum of procedures, complications and the cost benefits.

Results

A total of 119 day surgery trauma cases were performed (42 lists; average of 3 cases per list; upper limb procedures accounted for 60%.). The overall cost benefit for day surgery was calculated as the difference between the tariff and the costs for day surgery and inpatient procedures. A cost benefit of £617 per case for day surgery over inpatient surgery was noted with a total saving of £67,450 for the performed procedures.

Discussion

We demonstrate day trauma surgery to be a safe and cost effective method of optimising the management of the appropriate trauma case workload. Further it reduces demand for inpatient beds, provides significant cost savings for the trust and improves patient satisfaction.     

Optimizing autocatalysis with uncertainty by derivative‐free estimators

A derivative‐free estimator was introduced to alleviate the drawbacks of the conventional Kalman filter when performing nonlinear analyses under different circumstances. In this work, the scaled Unscented Kalman Filter, Divided Difference Kalman filter, and Cubature Kalman filter (CKF) were selected to investigate the effectiveness of these filters in predicting the states of a complex semi‐batch reaction between propionic anhydride and 2‐butanol. The estimator's performance was evaluated under four different case studies, that is, under normal condition, under poor estimator initialization, under disturbances, and under parameter uncertainty. Results from the study show that CKF was the best option for an online dynamic optimization because of its highest degree of accuracy and stability under the normal and noisy conditions. Under normal condition, CKF yielded the lowest root mean square error of 0.61 × 10^?2. Under uncertain initial condition, disturbance and parameter uncertainty, the lowest error of 1.83 × 10^?2, 1.04 × 10^?2, and 0.81 × 10^?2 were obtained, respectively.     

The New Standardized Malaysian Healthy Eating Index

Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a diet quality measure that assesses the population’s compliance towards dietary guidelines. In Malaysia, diet quality measure, though existing, has some limitations in terms of application and relevance. This study aims to develop a new standardized Malaysian Healthy Eating Index (S-MHEI) that can measure the diet quality of all Malaysians regardless of their energy requirement level. The Malaysian Dietary Guidelines (MDG) 2010 and MDG for Children and Adolescents (MDGCA) 2013 were used as main references in developing the index components. In addition, the latest Malaysian Adults Nutrition Survey (MANS) and Adolescent Nutrition Survey (ANS) were also referred to ensure the relevance of the components selected. For adequacy components, the least restrictive method was used in setting the standard for the scoring system. Meanwhile, the scoring system for moderation components was built based on the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) 2017. The new S-MHEI comprises of 11 components with a maximum total score of 100. The least restrictive method allowed the index to be used across energy requirement levels. However, the index will not be sensitive towards adhering to the specific recommended amount of intake—which in effect, made the index focus on measuring diet quality rather than diet quantity.     

Administrative Stressors and Islamic Coping Strategies Among Muslim Primary Principals in Malaysia: A Mixed Method Study

Principals are school leaders who experienced stress while leading their schools towards excellence. However, principals stress experiences are always ignored and least studied. This mixed-methods study investigates primary principals’ stress experiences and their Islamic coping strategies used in incapacitating the stress experiences. A total of 216 Muslim primary principals across different gender, types of schools and years of experiences as school leaders responded to the administrative stress and the Islamic coping strategies items. In addition, seven primary principals were purposefully selected and interviewed in exploring their reasons of using Islamic coping strategies for their relieving process. Results discovered that primary principals experienced fairly stress level and they perceived managing students’ academic achievement was the most stressor followed by managing teachers’ capabilities. Although findings revealed that no significant differences in terms primary principals’ demographics; male primary principals, and experienced between 6 and 10 years and positioned in schools with least students (SLS) category have slightly higher level of stress. In terms of Islamic coping strategies used by primary principals, saying dhua to Allah, performing dhikir and reciting the Yassen are selected coping approaches employed in handling their stress. From interviews, primary principals also revealed that they used Islamic religious approaches as part of meaningful activities not just to overcoming their stress but also as part of religious approaches in remembering Allah, thinking back their past mistakes as part of the Muhasabah process. Therefore, we believed that religious approaches should be taken into consideration in principals’ training as it provides peaceful and treatment in managing principals’ stress issue.