Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the main cause of morbidity and mortality in ... more Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the main cause of morbidity and mortality in Malaysia and worldwide. This is mainly due to an increase in the prevalence of CVD risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, and obesity. Increased physical activity has been recommended as a modality to improve CVD risk. Pulse wave velocity (PWVCF), augmentation index (AI), and finger photoplethysmography fitness (PPGF) index have been introduced to assess the vascular functions related to CVD risk factors. The effects of long-term exercise on PPGF index are not established.Materials and Methods: A total of 70 young men who were sedentary with two or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) (n = 34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n = 36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). PWVCF and AI were measured via the Vicorder system. The PPGF index was obtained via the finger photoplethysmography method. All parameters were measured at baseline and after 6 and 12 weeks.Results: After intervention, the PG had significant increased step count from 4,996 ± 805 to 10,128 ± 511 steps/day (p < 0.001). The PG showed significant improvement in anthropometric variables, lipid, PWVCF, AI, and PPGF index (time and group effect p < 0.001). No changes were observed in CG.Conclusion: This signifies that pedometer-based walking program is beneficial in improving markers of vascular functions among young working sedentary men with CVD risk factors. Pedometer-based exercise should be encouraged to improve cardiovascular health.
Please note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the text and/or graphics, which... more Please note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the text and/or graphics, which may alter content. The journal's standard Terms & Conditions and the Ethical guidelines still apply. In no event shall the Royal Society of Chemistry be held responsible for any errors or omissions in this Accepted Manuscript or any consequences arising from the use of any information it contains.
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, Jun 1, 2017
A new digital filter, AMARS (aligning minima of alternating random signal) has been derived using... more A new digital filter, AMARS (aligning minima of alternating random signal) has been derived using trigonometry to regulate signal pulsations inline. The pulses are randomly presented in continuous signals comprising frequency band lower than the signal's mean rate. Frequency selective filters are conventionally employed to reject frequencies undesired by specific applications. However, these conventional filters only reduce the effects of the rejected range producing a signal superimposed by some baseline wander (BW). In this work, filters of different ranges and techniques were independently configured to preprocess a photoplethysmogram, an optical biosignal of blood volume dynamics, producing wave shapes with several BWs. The AMARS application effectively removed the encountered BWs to assemble similarly aligned trends. The removal implementation was found repeatable in both ear and finger photoplethysmograms, emphasizing the importance of BW removal in biosignal processing in retaining its structural, functional and physiological properties. We also believe that AMARS may be relevant to other biological and continuous signals modulated by similar types of baseline volatility.
Makerspace is a recent strategy in introducing disruptive technology innovation among students an... more Makerspace is a recent strategy in introducing disruptive technology innovation among students and adults. This study introduces a movable Makerspace for knowledge society building activities in rural areas with limited technology and facilities access. The objective of the study is to adapt service robot mechanism and biometric security system in designing Makerspace for society knowledge building activities that is approached through experiential learning supported by Kolb's Theory. The service robot mechanism, biometric security system and the movable mechanism of the Makerspace expected to contribute by increasing the commitment of users in gaining knowledge in a shorter time and effectively as individuals and as group members. The study contributes to the development of interest and engagement of the rural society towards society knowledge building activities through movable Makerspace. It offers operational and pedagogical ecosystem that can assist to create learning environments where society knowledge building is fostered.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures due to spontaneous change... more Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures due to spontaneous changes of chemical synaptic coupling within the central nervous system. Numerous studies have been done in order to increase the level of cognition in epilepsy. Electroencephalography (EEG) as a non-invasive technique with the ability of presenting potentials on the head surface due to neural activity is widely used in epilepsy studies. The signals have been analyzed by brain signal processing techniques which mainly are categorized in feature extraction, feature dimensionally reduction and classification. The limitations such as inapproachability to intracranial in vivo and few seizure occurrences during sampling led to investigate on a model of signals and neural activity. This paper reviews the fundamentals of epilepsy toward using brain signal processing and neuronal modeling in three major branches; detection, prediction and source localization. It resulted a rare number of investigations on seizure epilepsy prediction due to the lack of long-term epilepsy EEG recording ending to the seizure. Subsequently, this review paper suggests to consider brain signal processing techniques in sub-branches of epilepsy detection; status, type, markers and surface localization, whilst it plays a remarkable role targeting to the source localization by neuronal modeling.
Data gathering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is vital for deploying and enabling WSNs with t... more Data gathering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is vital for deploying and enabling WSNs with the Internet of Things (IoTs). In various applications, the network is deployed in a large-scale area, which affects the efficiency of the data collection, and the network is subject to multiple attacks that impact the reliability of the collected data. Hence, data collection should consider trust in sources and routing nodes. This makes trust an additional optimization objective of the data gathering in addition to energy consumption, traveling time, and cost. Joint optimization of the goals requires conducting multiobjective optimization. This article proposes a modified social class multiobjective particle swarm optimization (SC-MOPSO) method. The modified SC-MOPSO method is featured by application-dependent operators named interclass operators. In addition, it includes solution generation, adding and deleting rendezvous points, and moving to the upper and lower class. Considering that...
3D printing technology has breakthrough many long pending medical challenges. In this study the r... more 3D printing technology has breakthrough many long pending medical challenges. In this study the researchers are addressing epilepsy, a disability that limits mobility freedom, that can appear at any age but usually start in childhood or people over 60 years old. Diagnosing epilepsy quickly can be challenging due to the fact other conditions such as migraines, panic attacks and fainting possess similar symptoms. Regularly, it cannot be confirmed until seizure is detected. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is the most common test used to diagnose epilepsy. Epileptiform brain activity presence is used as a change seen on an EEG recording among epilepsy patients. The availability of EEG device for epilepsy diagnosis is currently limited to clinical settings which restricts the treatment process. The objective of this study is to offer an option for personalized home-based EEG device for epilepsy diagnosis and monitoring. A customized 3D printed EEG headset with 8 channel dry electrodes device ...
2017 7th IEEE International Conference on System Engineering and Technology (ICSET), 2017
Epileptologists use interictal epileptic discharge (lED) as a marker for epilepsy. The present co... more Epileptologists use interictal epileptic discharge (lED) as a marker for epilepsy. The present conventional method to distinguish normal and I ED by an epileptologist's visual screening is tedious and operator dependent. The focus of this paper is to distinguish normal and IED in clinically recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) using discrete wavelet transform. Wavelet multiresolution analysis has been adopted in this study looking into wavelet energy, wavelet entropy and amplitude dispersion in every sub-band. The extracted features were classified using support vector machine (SVM). EEG data were obtained from both online database and Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM) Neurology database. The ability of the proposed algorithm in detecting the presence of IED is 96.5% of accuracy, 100% of sensitivity and 95.5% of specificity. The algorithm has good potential to be used in clinical practice for IED detection with validation against the present clinical detection method.
INTRODUCTION Inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular events. The ... more INTRODUCTION Inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular events. The lack of exercise among Malaysians and the increasing cardiovascular diseases among young men are of concern. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reducing of inflammation by measuring C-Reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 70 young men (20 - 40 years) who were sedentary, achieving less than 5,000 steps/day in casual walking with 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited in Institute of Vocational Skills for Youth (IKBN Hulu Langat). Subjects were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) (n=34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n=36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). All parameter was measured at baseline, at 6 weeks and after 12 weeks. RESULTS At post intervention, the CG step counts were similar (4983 ± 366vs 5697 ± 407steps/day). The PG significant increased step count from...
2021 Second International Conference on Electronics and Sustainable Communication Systems (ICESC), 2021
Foot ulcers in Diabetic Mellitus patients are a serious concern as they could lead to amputation ... more Foot ulcers in Diabetic Mellitus patients are a serious concern as they could lead to amputation of the foot if not detected at early stages. Routine monitoring of the foot using reliable diagnostic tools is essential to assess the risk of developing the ulcer. As ulcers exhibit high vascularity in ulcer-affected areas in the foot, this temperature can be captured and analyzed using image processing techniques. In this paper, 50-foot thermograms are considered for the study. The grey level texture features are calculated in the form of a matrix from the intensity values of normal and diabetic foot thermogram, and they are given as input vectors to the support vector machine classifier. The study performed well in classification and resulted in 96.42 % of accuracy.
Malaysian Journal of Sport Science and Recreation, 2021
Community-based health programmes at workplace involves planning, implementation and evaluation w... more Community-based health programmes at workplace involves planning, implementation and evaluation with the aim of empowering employees to gain control over their health. Brisk walking was a form of exercise that was acceptable to most people and may be integrated easily into daily routine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the improvement of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) through a pedometerbased walking programme at the workplace. A total of 70 young men who were sedentary, achieving less than 5,000 steps/day in casual walking with 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned to a control (CG) (n=34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n=36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). Blood lipid profile, anthropometric and CRF were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. At post intervention, the PG increased step count and results for lipid and anthropometrics variables were significantly improved for time and group effect (p<0.001). In PG, the CRF was significantly increased for time and effect (p<0.01) for VO2peak from 31.54 ± 9.66 to 40.15± 9.55(ml/kg/min but no change in CG (31.46 ± 6.15 vs 31.60 ± 8.99 ml/kg/min). The walking programme improved health status in terms of improving biophysical profiles and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Dua petanda kesihatan salur darah baru yang dihasilkan daripada gelombang fotopletismografi jari ... more Dua petanda kesihatan salur darah baru yang dihasilkan daripada gelombang fotopletismografi jari (PPG) telah diperkenalkan berdasarkan populasi rakyat Malaysia iaitu indeks kecergasan PPG (PPGF) dan indeks jangkaan risiko salur darah (VRPI). Antara objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji hubungan antara PPGF dengan petanda penyakit jantung (CVD) yang lain seperti halaju gelombang denyutan karotid femoral (PWVCF), untuk membandingkan PPGF antara mereka yang sihat dan mempunyai faktor risiko CVD dan untuk menentukan sensitiviti VRPI dalam mengenalpasti mereka yang mempunyai faktor risiko CVD. Seramai 114 lelaki berumur antara 20 hingga 40 tahun yang sihat atau mempunyai mempunyai faktor risiko CVD telah diambil. Faktor risiko CVD termasuk hipertensi, merokok, dislipidemia, obesiti abdomen dan sejarah keluarga berpenyakit CVD pramatang. Subjek dibahagikan kepada kumpulan sihat, mereka yang mempunyai satu faktor risiko dan mereka yang mempunyai dua atau lebih faktor risiko. Berat, tinggi, tekanan darah (BP) periferi dan pusat, PWVCF dan PPGF mereka diukur dan sensitiviti VRPI dalam mengenal pasti mereka yang berisiko CVD dikira. Data dianalisis dengan menggunakan SPSS versi 15 dan nilai P<0.05 adalah signifikan.
Journal of Clinical Research & Bioethics, 2016
Lack of exercise among Malaysians and the increasing cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortali... more Lack of exercise among Malaysians and the increasing cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality among young men are of concern. In response to the wide use of pedometers, daily targets of 10,000 steps/day have been recommended. In Malaysia, data on workplace exercise intervention is scarce. A programme was designed to enable subjects to increase their level of walking as part of their daily work routine and self-monitored by using pedometers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the improvement of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) through a pedometer based walking programme at the workplace. A total of 70 young men (20-40 years old) who were sedentary, achieving less than 5,000 steps/day in casual walking with 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited in IKBN Hulu Langat. Subjects were randomly assigned to a control (CG) (n=34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n=36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). Blood lipid profile, anthropometric and CRF were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. At post intervention, the CG step counts were similar (4983 ± 366 vs 5697 ± 407 steps/day). The PG increased step count from 4996 ± 805 to 10,128 ± 511 steps/day (P<0.001). Results for lipid and anthropometrics variables were significantly improved for time and group effect (p<0.001). In PG, the CRF was significantly increased for time and effect (p<0.01) for VO 2 peak from 31.54 ± 9.66 to 40.15 ± 9.55(ml/kg/min but no change in CG (31.46 ± 6.15 vs 31.60 ± 8.99 ml/kg/min). The walking programme improved health status in terms of improving biophysical profiles and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Engineering, Technology and Applied science research/Engineering, Technology and Applied Science Research, Feb 8, 2024
Traditional product design learning is inefficient, costly, and limited by safety concerns in phy... more Traditional product design learning is inefficient, costly, and limited by safety concerns in physical and smaller-scale school workshops. The Secure Collapsible Makerspace is a mobile makerspace with smart sensors and an expandable work area facility. This study aims to develop a smart mobile makerspace platform using edge computing architecture and the biometric security model to compare real-time learners' engagement time and design performance. The developed platform consists of four blocks that provide service as a makerspace for the learners and monitor their utilization in a secure environment. The edge computing architecture allows real-time analysis of the users' makerspace utilization. A total of 750 learners were accessed for their product design outcome which presented a positive correlation of 0.72 between the engagement time and the design assessment with a corresponding p-value less than 0.001. This study concludes that makerspaces can be a platform that improves students' performance in hands-on activity-related learning.
Difficulty of understanding speech in noise among the elderly community necessitates the need for... more Difficulty of understanding speech in noise among the elderly community necessitates the need for Auditory Training which has made a renewal of interest in the last decade with the auditory training applications. This interest is perhaps spurred by advances in computer-based technology. In computer-based training, speech signals are considered as training stimuli where input speech signals need to be verified prior to training as the speech signals are mixed with noise signals in real-life acoustic environment. Computer-based Auditory Training System can be embedded with input speech verifying module. Input speech verifying module is employed with speech and noise separator simulator. This simulator needs to guarantee accurate separation of speech from noise signals. Therefore, in this research, Projection Pursuit (PP) algorithm under Blind Source Separation (BSS) method is intended to separate the speech source signals which are mixed with speech babble. This article uses Malay language based sentences which differ in word length and hence number of sample values. The experimental simulation considers two-channel random and linear mixing of speech sources and speech babble as noise signal. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of the anticipated PP algorithm for various sample values of speech signals which varies in time duration due to word length dissimilarity. Simulation results show that PP algorithm is feasible for source separation. As a consequence, high correlation value of r ≥ 0.99 is obtained between extracted speech signal and original speech signal for all categories of speech signals. It is further verified by the maximum nongaussianity of extracted speech signal which has high kurtosis value of 32.
Introduction: Hearing acuity, central auditory processing and cognition contribute to the speech ... more Introduction: Hearing acuity, central auditory processing and cognition contribute to the speech recognition difficulty experienced by older adults. Therefore, quantifying the contribution of these factors on speech recognition problem is important in order to formulate a holistic and effective rehabilitation. Objective: To examine the relative contributions of auditory functioning and cognition status to speech recognition in quiet and in noise. Methods: We measured speech recognition in quiet and in composite noise using the Malay Hearing in noise test on 72 native Malay speakers (60-82 years) older adults with normal to mild hearing loss. Auditory function included pure tone audiogram, gaps-in-noise, and dichotic digit tests. Cognitive function was assessed using the Malay Montreal cognitive assessment. Results: Linear regression analyses using backward elimination technique revealed that had the better ear four frequency average (0.5-4 kHz) (4FA), high frequency average and Malay Montreal cognitive assessment attributed to speech perception in quiet (total r 2 = 0.499). On the other hand, high frequency average, Malay Montreal cognitive assessment and dichotic digit tests contributed significantly to speech recognition in noise (total r 2 = 0.307). Whereas the better ear high frequency average primarily measured the speech recognition in quiet, the speech recognition in noise was mainly measured by cognitive function.
Introduction: The dynamic nature of dengue fever demands rapid and repeated clinical detection ba... more Introduction: The dynamic nature of dengue fever demands rapid and repeated clinical detection based on the vital signs variables, blood profile, and symptoms for providing timely clinical treatment. Patients with or without warning signs are at risk of contracting the severe dengue; thus, this study aims to identify the vital signs and blood profile variables that would differentiate the severity levels of dengue fever among dengue patients. Methods: The patients were aged between 15 and 60 years and diagnosed with dengue infection. The infections were confirmed through laboratory tests positive either for the NS1 antigen or the dengue IgM antibody. The patients had no premorbid conditions. Results: Our results show that dengue fever without warning signs and severe dengue can be differentiated using the pulse rate on day 3 (p = 0.008), day 4 (p = 0.004), day 5 (p = 0.005), and day 6 (p = 0.011) and the white blood cell count (p = 0.008) on day 7 of illness. Statistically significa...
Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the main cause of morbidity and mortality in ... more Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the main cause of morbidity and mortality in Malaysia and worldwide. This is mainly due to an increase in the prevalence of CVD risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, and obesity. Increased physical activity has been recommended as a modality to improve CVD risk. Pulse wave velocity (PWVCF), augmentation index (AI), and finger photoplethysmography fitness (PPGF) index have been introduced to assess the vascular functions related to CVD risk factors. The effects of long-term exercise on PPGF index are not established.Materials and Methods: A total of 70 young men who were sedentary with two or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) (n = 34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n = 36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). PWVCF and AI were measured via the Vicorder system. The PPGF index was obtained via the finger photoplethysmography method. All parameters were measured at baseline and after 6 and 12 weeks.Results: After intervention, the PG had significant increased step count from 4,996 ± 805 to 10,128 ± 511 steps/day (p &lt; 0.001). The PG showed significant improvement in anthropometric variables, lipid, PWVCF, AI, and PPGF index (time and group effect p &lt; 0.001). No changes were observed in CG.Conclusion: This signifies that pedometer-based walking program is beneficial in improving markers of vascular functions among young working sedentary men with CVD risk factors. Pedometer-based exercise should be encouraged to improve cardiovascular health.
Please note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the text and/or graphics, which... more Please note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the text and/or graphics, which may alter content. The journal's standard Terms & Conditions and the Ethical guidelines still apply. In no event shall the Royal Society of Chemistry be held responsible for any errors or omissions in this Accepted Manuscript or any consequences arising from the use of any information it contains.
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, Jun 1, 2017
A new digital filter, AMARS (aligning minima of alternating random signal) has been derived using... more A new digital filter, AMARS (aligning minima of alternating random signal) has been derived using trigonometry to regulate signal pulsations inline. The pulses are randomly presented in continuous signals comprising frequency band lower than the signal's mean rate. Frequency selective filters are conventionally employed to reject frequencies undesired by specific applications. However, these conventional filters only reduce the effects of the rejected range producing a signal superimposed by some baseline wander (BW). In this work, filters of different ranges and techniques were independently configured to preprocess a photoplethysmogram, an optical biosignal of blood volume dynamics, producing wave shapes with several BWs. The AMARS application effectively removed the encountered BWs to assemble similarly aligned trends. The removal implementation was found repeatable in both ear and finger photoplethysmograms, emphasizing the importance of BW removal in biosignal processing in retaining its structural, functional and physiological properties. We also believe that AMARS may be relevant to other biological and continuous signals modulated by similar types of baseline volatility.
Makerspace is a recent strategy in introducing disruptive technology innovation among students an... more Makerspace is a recent strategy in introducing disruptive technology innovation among students and adults. This study introduces a movable Makerspace for knowledge society building activities in rural areas with limited technology and facilities access. The objective of the study is to adapt service robot mechanism and biometric security system in designing Makerspace for society knowledge building activities that is approached through experiential learning supported by Kolb's Theory. The service robot mechanism, biometric security system and the movable mechanism of the Makerspace expected to contribute by increasing the commitment of users in gaining knowledge in a shorter time and effectively as individuals and as group members. The study contributes to the development of interest and engagement of the rural society towards society knowledge building activities through movable Makerspace. It offers operational and pedagogical ecosystem that can assist to create learning environments where society knowledge building is fostered.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures due to spontaneous change... more Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures due to spontaneous changes of chemical synaptic coupling within the central nervous system. Numerous studies have been done in order to increase the level of cognition in epilepsy. Electroencephalography (EEG) as a non-invasive technique with the ability of presenting potentials on the head surface due to neural activity is widely used in epilepsy studies. The signals have been analyzed by brain signal processing techniques which mainly are categorized in feature extraction, feature dimensionally reduction and classification. The limitations such as inapproachability to intracranial in vivo and few seizure occurrences during sampling led to investigate on a model of signals and neural activity. This paper reviews the fundamentals of epilepsy toward using brain signal processing and neuronal modeling in three major branches; detection, prediction and source localization. It resulted a rare number of investigations on seizure epilepsy prediction due to the lack of long-term epilepsy EEG recording ending to the seizure. Subsequently, this review paper suggests to consider brain signal processing techniques in sub-branches of epilepsy detection; status, type, markers and surface localization, whilst it plays a remarkable role targeting to the source localization by neuronal modeling.
Data gathering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is vital for deploying and enabling WSNs with t... more Data gathering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is vital for deploying and enabling WSNs with the Internet of Things (IoTs). In various applications, the network is deployed in a large-scale area, which affects the efficiency of the data collection, and the network is subject to multiple attacks that impact the reliability of the collected data. Hence, data collection should consider trust in sources and routing nodes. This makes trust an additional optimization objective of the data gathering in addition to energy consumption, traveling time, and cost. Joint optimization of the goals requires conducting multiobjective optimization. This article proposes a modified social class multiobjective particle swarm optimization (SC-MOPSO) method. The modified SC-MOPSO method is featured by application-dependent operators named interclass operators. In addition, it includes solution generation, adding and deleting rendezvous points, and moving to the upper and lower class. Considering that...
3D printing technology has breakthrough many long pending medical challenges. In this study the r... more 3D printing technology has breakthrough many long pending medical challenges. In this study the researchers are addressing epilepsy, a disability that limits mobility freedom, that can appear at any age but usually start in childhood or people over 60 years old. Diagnosing epilepsy quickly can be challenging due to the fact other conditions such as migraines, panic attacks and fainting possess similar symptoms. Regularly, it cannot be confirmed until seizure is detected. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is the most common test used to diagnose epilepsy. Epileptiform brain activity presence is used as a change seen on an EEG recording among epilepsy patients. The availability of EEG device for epilepsy diagnosis is currently limited to clinical settings which restricts the treatment process. The objective of this study is to offer an option for personalized home-based EEG device for epilepsy diagnosis and monitoring. A customized 3D printed EEG headset with 8 channel dry electrodes device ...
2017 7th IEEE International Conference on System Engineering and Technology (ICSET), 2017
Epileptologists use interictal epileptic discharge (lED) as a marker for epilepsy. The present co... more Epileptologists use interictal epileptic discharge (lED) as a marker for epilepsy. The present conventional method to distinguish normal and I ED by an epileptologist's visual screening is tedious and operator dependent. The focus of this paper is to distinguish normal and IED in clinically recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) using discrete wavelet transform. Wavelet multiresolution analysis has been adopted in this study looking into wavelet energy, wavelet entropy and amplitude dispersion in every sub-band. The extracted features were classified using support vector machine (SVM). EEG data were obtained from both online database and Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM) Neurology database. The ability of the proposed algorithm in detecting the presence of IED is 96.5% of accuracy, 100% of sensitivity and 95.5% of specificity. The algorithm has good potential to be used in clinical practice for IED detection with validation against the present clinical detection method.
INTRODUCTION Inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular events. The ... more INTRODUCTION Inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular events. The lack of exercise among Malaysians and the increasing cardiovascular diseases among young men are of concern. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reducing of inflammation by measuring C-Reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 70 young men (20 - 40 years) who were sedentary, achieving less than 5,000 steps/day in casual walking with 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited in Institute of Vocational Skills for Youth (IKBN Hulu Langat). Subjects were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) (n=34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n=36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). All parameter was measured at baseline, at 6 weeks and after 12 weeks. RESULTS At post intervention, the CG step counts were similar (4983 ± 366vs 5697 ± 407steps/day). The PG significant increased step count from...
2021 Second International Conference on Electronics and Sustainable Communication Systems (ICESC), 2021
Foot ulcers in Diabetic Mellitus patients are a serious concern as they could lead to amputation ... more Foot ulcers in Diabetic Mellitus patients are a serious concern as they could lead to amputation of the foot if not detected at early stages. Routine monitoring of the foot using reliable diagnostic tools is essential to assess the risk of developing the ulcer. As ulcers exhibit high vascularity in ulcer-affected areas in the foot, this temperature can be captured and analyzed using image processing techniques. In this paper, 50-foot thermograms are considered for the study. The grey level texture features are calculated in the form of a matrix from the intensity values of normal and diabetic foot thermogram, and they are given as input vectors to the support vector machine classifier. The study performed well in classification and resulted in 96.42 % of accuracy.
Malaysian Journal of Sport Science and Recreation, 2021
Community-based health programmes at workplace involves planning, implementation and evaluation w... more Community-based health programmes at workplace involves planning, implementation and evaluation with the aim of empowering employees to gain control over their health. Brisk walking was a form of exercise that was acceptable to most people and may be integrated easily into daily routine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the improvement of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) through a pedometerbased walking programme at the workplace. A total of 70 young men who were sedentary, achieving less than 5,000 steps/day in casual walking with 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned to a control (CG) (n=34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n=36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). Blood lipid profile, anthropometric and CRF were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. At post intervention, the PG increased step count and results for lipid and anthropometrics variables were significantly improved for time and group effect (p<0.001). In PG, the CRF was significantly increased for time and effect (p<0.01) for VO2peak from 31.54 ± 9.66 to 40.15± 9.55(ml/kg/min but no change in CG (31.46 ± 6.15 vs 31.60 ± 8.99 ml/kg/min). The walking programme improved health status in terms of improving biophysical profiles and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Dua petanda kesihatan salur darah baru yang dihasilkan daripada gelombang fotopletismografi jari ... more Dua petanda kesihatan salur darah baru yang dihasilkan daripada gelombang fotopletismografi jari (PPG) telah diperkenalkan berdasarkan populasi rakyat Malaysia iaitu indeks kecergasan PPG (PPGF) dan indeks jangkaan risiko salur darah (VRPI). Antara objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji hubungan antara PPGF dengan petanda penyakit jantung (CVD) yang lain seperti halaju gelombang denyutan karotid femoral (PWVCF), untuk membandingkan PPGF antara mereka yang sihat dan mempunyai faktor risiko CVD dan untuk menentukan sensitiviti VRPI dalam mengenalpasti mereka yang mempunyai faktor risiko CVD. Seramai 114 lelaki berumur antara 20 hingga 40 tahun yang sihat atau mempunyai mempunyai faktor risiko CVD telah diambil. Faktor risiko CVD termasuk hipertensi, merokok, dislipidemia, obesiti abdomen dan sejarah keluarga berpenyakit CVD pramatang. Subjek dibahagikan kepada kumpulan sihat, mereka yang mempunyai satu faktor risiko dan mereka yang mempunyai dua atau lebih faktor risiko. Berat, tinggi, tekanan darah (BP) periferi dan pusat, PWVCF dan PPGF mereka diukur dan sensitiviti VRPI dalam mengenal pasti mereka yang berisiko CVD dikira. Data dianalisis dengan menggunakan SPSS versi 15 dan nilai P<0.05 adalah signifikan.
Journal of Clinical Research & Bioethics, 2016
Lack of exercise among Malaysians and the increasing cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortali... more Lack of exercise among Malaysians and the increasing cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality among young men are of concern. In response to the wide use of pedometers, daily targets of 10,000 steps/day have been recommended. In Malaysia, data on workplace exercise intervention is scarce. A programme was designed to enable subjects to increase their level of walking as part of their daily work routine and self-monitored by using pedometers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the improvement of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) through a pedometer based walking programme at the workplace. A total of 70 young men (20-40 years old) who were sedentary, achieving less than 5,000 steps/day in casual walking with 2 or more cardiovascular risk factors were recruited in IKBN Hulu Langat. Subjects were randomly assigned to a control (CG) (n=34; no change in walking) and pedometer group (PG) (n=36; minimum target: 8,000 steps/day). Blood lipid profile, anthropometric and CRF were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks. At post intervention, the CG step counts were similar (4983 ± 366 vs 5697 ± 407 steps/day). The PG increased step count from 4996 ± 805 to 10,128 ± 511 steps/day (P<0.001). Results for lipid and anthropometrics variables were significantly improved for time and group effect (p<0.001). In PG, the CRF was significantly increased for time and effect (p<0.01) for VO 2 peak from 31.54 ± 9.66 to 40.15 ± 9.55(ml/kg/min but no change in CG (31.46 ± 6.15 vs 31.60 ± 8.99 ml/kg/min). The walking programme improved health status in terms of improving biophysical profiles and cardiorespiratory fitness.
Engineering, Technology and Applied science research/Engineering, Technology and Applied Science Research, Feb 8, 2024
Traditional product design learning is inefficient, costly, and limited by safety concerns in phy... more Traditional product design learning is inefficient, costly, and limited by safety concerns in physical and smaller-scale school workshops. The Secure Collapsible Makerspace is a mobile makerspace with smart sensors and an expandable work area facility. This study aims to develop a smart mobile makerspace platform using edge computing architecture and the biometric security model to compare real-time learners' engagement time and design performance. The developed platform consists of four blocks that provide service as a makerspace for the learners and monitor their utilization in a secure environment. The edge computing architecture allows real-time analysis of the users' makerspace utilization. A total of 750 learners were accessed for their product design outcome which presented a positive correlation of 0.72 between the engagement time and the design assessment with a corresponding p-value less than 0.001. This study concludes that makerspaces can be a platform that improves students' performance in hands-on activity-related learning.
Difficulty of understanding speech in noise among the elderly community necessitates the need for... more Difficulty of understanding speech in noise among the elderly community necessitates the need for Auditory Training which has made a renewal of interest in the last decade with the auditory training applications. This interest is perhaps spurred by advances in computer-based technology. In computer-based training, speech signals are considered as training stimuli where input speech signals need to be verified prior to training as the speech signals are mixed with noise signals in real-life acoustic environment. Computer-based Auditory Training System can be embedded with input speech verifying module. Input speech verifying module is employed with speech and noise separator simulator. This simulator needs to guarantee accurate separation of speech from noise signals. Therefore, in this research, Projection Pursuit (PP) algorithm under Blind Source Separation (BSS) method is intended to separate the speech source signals which are mixed with speech babble. This article uses Malay language based sentences which differ in word length and hence number of sample values. The experimental simulation considers two-channel random and linear mixing of speech sources and speech babble as noise signal. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of the anticipated PP algorithm for various sample values of speech signals which varies in time duration due to word length dissimilarity. Simulation results show that PP algorithm is feasible for source separation. As a consequence, high correlation value of r ≥ 0.99 is obtained between extracted speech signal and original speech signal for all categories of speech signals. It is further verified by the maximum nongaussianity of extracted speech signal which has high kurtosis value of 32.
Introduction: Hearing acuity, central auditory processing and cognition contribute to the speech ... more Introduction: Hearing acuity, central auditory processing and cognition contribute to the speech recognition difficulty experienced by older adults. Therefore, quantifying the contribution of these factors on speech recognition problem is important in order to formulate a holistic and effective rehabilitation. Objective: To examine the relative contributions of auditory functioning and cognition status to speech recognition in quiet and in noise. Methods: We measured speech recognition in quiet and in composite noise using the Malay Hearing in noise test on 72 native Malay speakers (60-82 years) older adults with normal to mild hearing loss. Auditory function included pure tone audiogram, gaps-in-noise, and dichotic digit tests. Cognitive function was assessed using the Malay Montreal cognitive assessment. Results: Linear regression analyses using backward elimination technique revealed that had the better ear four frequency average (0.5-4 kHz) (4FA), high frequency average and Malay Montreal cognitive assessment attributed to speech perception in quiet (total r 2 = 0.499). On the other hand, high frequency average, Malay Montreal cognitive assessment and dichotic digit tests contributed significantly to speech recognition in noise (total r 2 = 0.307). Whereas the better ear high frequency average primarily measured the speech recognition in quiet, the speech recognition in noise was mainly measured by cognitive function.
Introduction: The dynamic nature of dengue fever demands rapid and repeated clinical detection ba... more Introduction: The dynamic nature of dengue fever demands rapid and repeated clinical detection based on the vital signs variables, blood profile, and symptoms for providing timely clinical treatment. Patients with or without warning signs are at risk of contracting the severe dengue; thus, this study aims to identify the vital signs and blood profile variables that would differentiate the severity levels of dengue fever among dengue patients. Methods: The patients were aged between 15 and 60 years and diagnosed with dengue infection. The infections were confirmed through laboratory tests positive either for the NS1 antigen or the dengue IgM antibody. The patients had no premorbid conditions. Results: Our results show that dengue fever without warning signs and severe dengue can be differentiated using the pulse rate on day 3 (p = 0.008), day 4 (p = 0.004), day 5 (p = 0.005), and day 6 (p = 0.011) and the white blood cell count (p = 0.008) on day 7 of illness. Statistically significa...
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Papers by Kalaivani Chellappan