From Movement Control to National Recovery Plan: Malaysia’s Strategy to Live with COVID-19

With COVID-19 vaccination gaining momentum, strict lockdowns have been perceived as no longer necessary due to their far-reaching socioeconomic impacts. This overview aims to provide insight into Malaysia’s strategy in preparing to live with COVID-19 through stage-wise transition. This overview examined scholarly articles, news articles as well as official government announcements and data pertaining to the National Recovery Plan (NRP) which replaces COVID-19 lockdowns officially known as Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia. NRP, which presents a stage-wise relaxation of lockdown leading ultimately to conditional reopening of all sectors and lifting of travel restrictions, adopts three major indicators for transitions of phases. The indicators are daily new COVID-19 cases, occupancy rate of intensive care units and full vaccination rate. Domestic travel initiatives have been initiated during the NRP, allowing domestic visits to certain tourist spots in the nation. Interstate travel in most parts of the nation has also been permitted without needing to show a negative COVID-19 test. On 28 October 2021, six states and three federal territories of Malaysia were already in phase 4 of NRP, which is the ultimate phase of lockdown relaxation, while all other states were in phase 3. This has resulted in a positive outlook on the gross domestic products of Malaysia in quarter 3, 2021. This overview highlights that a different approach to COVID-19 is necessary as total elimination of COVID-19 is not yet in sight. It sheds light into the use of pertinent indicators or indices to capture the status of COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19; indicators; Malaysia; MCO; National Recovery Plan;Vaccination.

General principles of uncomplicated cystitis therapy during pregnancy

Urinary tract infections during pregnancy are associated with severe complications. Earlier initiation of antibiotic treatment for acute uncomplicated cystitis, reduces the various complications.Objective. To assess the effectiveness of fosfomycin in the treatment of acute uncomplicated cystitis during II and III trimester of pregnancy.Material and methods. The study included 74 pregnant women who had acute uncomplicated cystitis in II or III trimesters. All patients received fosfomycin trometamol 3.754 g (equivalent to 3 g fosfomycin) as antimicrobial therapy for acute uncomplicated cystitis. The drug was prescribed to 24 pregnant women in the II, and 50 in the III trimester of pregnancy.Results. After treatment with fosfomycin signs of acute cystitis gone in all patients. At the same time, regression of clinical symptoms was noted during the next days after therapy in 95.9% (n = 71) of cases. Repeated microbiological test of the middle portion of urine was performed 7 days after the end of antibiotic therapy. In 94.6% (n = 70) cases, total elimination of the pathogen was achieved. In 5.4% (n = 4) cases, there was a significant decrease of colonization Follow-up for three months showed the absence of recurrence of acute cystitis in all pregnant women who were included in the study.Conclusion. Fosfomycin is a highly effective drug in the treatment of uncomplicated cystitis during pregnancy.

Silver Nanoparticles Functionalized with Sodium Mercaptoethane Sulfonate to Remove Copper from Water by the Formation of a Micellar Phase

This work presents a novel procedure for the removal of Cu2+ from water, an essential element in human nutrition considered toxic in high concentrations, based on a microextraction technique involving the formation of a micellar phase. To achieve the total elimination of copper from aqueous samples, a Cu2+-complexing reagent based on silver nanoparticles functionalized with sodium mercaptoethane sulfonate (AgNPs@MESNa) was used. The complex formed by Cu2+ and the reagent was extracted into a micellar microphase formed by Triton X-114, a harmless surfactant. Volumes of 200 µL of the 10−4 mol L−1 suspension of AgNPs@MESNa and 100 µL of a solution of Triton X-114 at 30% m/m were employed to successfully remove 10 mg L−1 of Cu from 20 mL of water samples. The time and temperature needed to achieve 100% microextraction efficiency were 10 min and 40 °C, respectively. The procedure is considered environmentally friendly due to the low volume of the extracting phase and the simple experimental conditions that achieve total removal of Cu2+ from water samples.

Transnational Organised Crimes: An Assessment of Human Trafficking and the Challenges Militating against a Total Elimination in Nigeria

Transnational crimes have remained one of the menaces that has continued to threaten global security, peace, and tranquillity, hence requiring a multilateral and multilevel approach in effectively curtailing them. One among these transnational crimes is human trafficking, which has been estimated to be generating $150.3 billion annually (IMF, 2018), with the Asia-Pacific region ranked as the most lucrative .It is against this background that this paper examines the crime of human trafficking in Nigeria, tracing the evolution of human trafficking in general, the efforts at tackling the crime in Nigeria, as well as some of the challenges hampering the total elimination of the crime in Nigeria. Using secondary sources of data for analysis, the paper identified some of themajor drivers of the crime in Nigeria to include but not limited to, poverty and underdevelopment, weak laws and inadequate enforcement, systematic corruption, stigmatization, sophistication and financial war chest of cartels, influence of the social media, traditional and cultural practices, among others. To mitigate the crime of human trafficking in Nigeria, the paper proffers: the addressing of social in equality, creation of more employment opportunities, awareness campaigns at all levels, and the use of ―triangulated nexus of human-trafficking enforcement‖ among countries, among others.

The Statistical Analysis of Criminality in Podkarpackie Voivodeship in the years 2010–2019

There is no society free from a criminality. There is also no level of social and economic development, level of affluence or philosophical and ethical system which may ensure total elimination of criminality from the social life. The aim of this article is presentation of the scale of criminality phenomenon in Podkarpackie Voivodeship in the years 2010–2019 with the consideration of criminality among minors on the basis of data included in the reports of The Regional Police Headquarters based in Rzeszów and The Metropolitan Police in Warsaw concerning security situation as well as public order in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, taking into account the juvenile delinquency in this area. In this article the sociological theories explaining the reasons and factors that influence criminality are discussed.

Influence of compressive strength and maturity conditions on shrinkage of ordinary concrete

The paper presents results of investigations of compressive strength and shrinkage of concrete samples made on the basis of the Portland cement CEM I 32.5R, after 2, 7, 14, 28, 90, and 365 days of maturation in four different maturation conditions. It was shown that after 28 days the samples cured according to the standard in the cuvettes with water achieved the highest compressive strength, although the early-age compressive strengths after 7 and 14 days were lower than those for the samples cured in building film and in dry conditions. A determined correlation between the compressive strength and shrinkage of the concrete proves that wet curing also allows a total elimination of the shrinkage in the first 28 days. Along with the growth of the compressive strength, the drying shrinkage reduces. Obtained results confirmed that the best way of concrete curing, among the analyzed methods, from the point of view of both compressive strength and volume changes is the wet curing.

Optimisation of the rational proportion of intelligent technologies application in service organisations

Background and Purpose: The growing role and involvement of Artificial Intelligence in modern digital enterprises leads to a considerable reduction of personnel and reorientation of the remaining staff to new responsibilities. However, in many areas like services and support the total elimination of the employed human resources still remains impossible. It is proposed to study the organisational problem of finding the optimal proportion of computer agents and human actors in the mixed collaborative environment. Methods: Using the technology of semantic and statistical analysis, we developed an original model of computer agents’ and human actors’ cooperative interaction and an optimization method, which is novel in considering the focus of the executors while calculating the compliance indicators. Results: The problem was studied by an example of service desk automation. Considering the semantics of the problem domain in the form of ontology introduces the logic for better distribution and automation of tasks. Conclusion: In a modern digital enterprise there exists and can be estimated a rational balance between the computer agents and human actors, which becomes a significant indicator of its performance. In general, human actors are preferable for processing unpredictable events in real time, while agents are better at the modelling and simulation.

Curbing Examination Malpractices through Information Literacy Programmes

Examination is a driving force for determining the future of schooling and learning. The future of education in Nigeria is being endangered by examination malpractices which seem to have defied solutions, as all measures applied so far have been undermined by fraudsters. The purpose of this paper therefore is to bring to light the various ways and means by which Librarians in Nigeria could enhance a seamless transition from academic dishonesty/misconduct to honest work that leads to great success. The paper thus discusses examination malpractices in its various dimensions. The devastating effects of examination malpractices on students’ educational growth and development, educational institutions and the society as a whole are also highlighted. The roles of libraries and librarians in curbing this societal menace are also discussed while recommendations for its alleviation, if not total elimination from the Nigerian educational system are proffered from a librarian’s point of view.

Separation of Diethyl Phthalate From Water by Pervaporation

Seventeen different kind of membranes - based on Matrimid, Ultem polymers and DAM/DABA - were prepared and applied for pervaporation of diethyl phthalate from water. They were compared to the commercial materials like PDMS, PP and PS. The components of active layer played a crucial role on membrane process. Newly prepared membranes showed an exceptional sorption capacity (up to 100 %) comparing to the commercial membranes (around 20 %), all by reaching equivalent pervaporation results of all tested membranes (close to 40 %). The fastest permeation was achieved by raising the temperature to 50 °C with PDMS membrane, reaching total elimination of DEP. Diethyl phthalate was preferentially passing through the membranes due to dissimilar affinity of the separation materials.