Recommendation Systems help users search large amounts of digital contents and identify more effectively the items�products or services�that are likely to be more attractive or useful. As such, it can be characterized as tools that help people making decisions, i.e., make a choice across a vast set of alternatives. This research work has explored decision-making processes in the wide application domain of online services, specifically, hotel booking. This research work is a combination of collaborative filtering (Item-based) recommendation and knowledge-based recommendation system. In which collaborative filtering recommendation will work for user searching and knowledge-based recommendation will work as default recommendation system. In knowledge-based recommendation system it reads the user profile along with his activity of certain last time period as our main knowledge base where this work define the fact of user�s activity. Then this research work applies sorting and counting algorithm. Contextual data are temporarily stored in the knowledge base as the time user stay logged in. Each login will take an updated contextual database. In searching, using item-based k-nearest neighbor algorithm for prediction by collaborative filtering. This work proposed a new rating system which based on hotels performance. � Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019.

The holy Quran is the holy book of the Muslims. It contains information about many domains. Often people search for particular concepts of holy Quran based on the relations among concepts. An ontological modeling of holy Quran can be useful in such a scenario. In this paper, we have modeled nature related concepts of holy Quran using OWL (Web Ontology Language) / RDF (Resource Description Framework). Our methodology involves identifying nature related concepts mentioned in holy Quran and identifying relations among those concepts. These concepts and relations are represented as classes/instances and properties of an OWL ontology. Later, in the result section it is shown that, using the Ontological model, SPARQL queries can retrieve verses and concepts of interest. Thus, this modeling helps semantic search and query on the holy Quran. In this work, we have used English translation of the holy Quran by Sahih International, Protege OWL Editor and for querying we have used SPARQL. � 2016 IEEE.

This is a case of a 2-month-old infant who had suppurative lymphadenitis at left axilla after Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccination. She presented with a non-healing BCG wound and left axillary swelling associated with one-week fever at 2 months of age. Aspiration under general anaesthesia was done and pus sent for mycobacterium culture grew Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. The patient improved without anti-tuberculosis treatment.

The present case discusses about an elderly gentleman who contracted the disease following a visit to area reported to have chikungunya outbreak in Malaysia. He had severe, incapacitating arthralgia and swelling of both hands and elbow joint as well as rash and high grade fever. His serum was tested for both dengue and chikungunya fevers as the symptoms of both the cases were overlapping. In the present case some classical clinical features such as fever, arthralgia and rash were noted. Laboratory result revealed positive for chikungunya IgM on day 5 of illness. Laboratory confirmation is essential to ensure correct diagnosis of chikungunya.

This study was to observe clinical, serolgical and molecular diagnosis of chikungunya viral fever patients and its comparison with dengue viral fever. For that 49 serologically negative dengue patients but clinically dengue like symptomms were included. Clinical investigation was carried out recording different profiles of hospitalized patients. Serology was performed using the Onsite® Chikungunya IgM Combo rapid test and molecular test RT-PCR was performed to detect the virus in the patients sera. It was observed that out of them 19 (38.7 %) were serologically confirmed chikungunya infection. Interestingly molecular detection of the patients sera did not show the presence chikungunya virus but detected dengue virus from 9 patients's sera. Classical clinical features of chikungunya virus infected patients were recorded to differentiate chikungunya from dengue, which were fever, arthralgia, myalgia and rash. Detection of chikungunya IgM in these cohort means that this virus is circulating throughout the year although not as many as dengue. Laboratory confirmation is important to differentiate chikungunya fever from dengue fever. This study adds some information in local data and hopefully can help the clinicians to clinically and laboratory diagnosis and management of chikungunya infection in outbreak and non-outbreak setting. Serology was proven to be useful in confirming chikungunya infection.

Caring for stroke survivors is inevitably a burden to caregivers. It is not uncommon for stroke survivors who are discharged from the hospital and found themselves at home without any help and care from the supposed caregivers. However, in instances where there are available and willing caregivers, a sudden and unpredictable task of caring for stroke survivors require the stroke caregivers to apply their coping strategies due to the demanding nature of looking after a survivor. This study aimed to determine coping strategies undertaken by stroke caregivers in caring for stroke survivors. This was an exploratory qualitative study and data was collected from the caregivers of stroke survivor using a semi-structured guided questionnaire. A total of 18 caregivers were included in the study. The data were collected from November 2015 until June 2016 at a selected community rehabilitation centre in Kuching, Sarawak. The qualitative data analysis revealed that the coping strategies undertaken by stroke caregivers include change of role in life, self-motivation, sharing with other people, crying, trying to forget things that happen, hoping survivors will get better, emotion suppression and self-blame. The study highlighted the experiences by the caregivers for caring for stroke patients and focused on the coping strategies undertaken by the caregivers. Better ununder standing of these experiences does help the service providers to provide better support and resources for caregivers in caring for stroke survivors. � 2020 Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association.

Objectives: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotyping is important for treatment and epidemiological purposes. The objective was to determine HCV genotype and their associations with certain risk factors at University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). Methods: A total of 89 samples were collected from December 2009 to January 2011. Demographic data of patients were collected from medical record. Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) was performed and sixty-four samples yielded positive for HCV. Sequencing was performed and analyzed based on sequence information in GenBank. Statistical analysis were done using SPSS version 15. Results: HCV genotype 3 (73%) was the most frequent genotype, followed by genotype 1(27%). The distribution of HCV genotype/ subtype was as follows: 3a (64.8%), 1a (13.5%), 1 (10.8%), 3 (8.1%) and 1b (2.7%). Conclusions: HCV subtypes 3a, 1a, and 1b were identified in patients at UKMMC, Malaysia with subtype 3a being the most prevalent. No significant association was found between HCV genotypes and patients' demographic data.

Objective: Influenza is considered as an emerging disease until today. The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalent genotypes of Influenza A virus in Malaysia. Methods: Influenza A virus was identified from respiratory specimens by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). Phylogenetic analysis of the identified isolates was performed and genotypes were detected. Results: A total number of 505 throat swabs and nasopharyngeal aspirates were examined by rRT-PCR at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) in which 65(12.87%) were positive for influenza A. The identified isolates were successfully genotyped by phylogenetic analysis. The identified influenza A genotypes were: H1N1 (42), H3N2 (20) and H5N1 (3). Conclusion: The findings indicated that 3 genotypes were circulating in Malaysia during 2011 in which H1N1 was the predominant. Results added new genotype (H5N1) identification record in Malaysia that may be added in data base of WHO and CDC.

Objectives: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory illness in young children worldwide. Its detection by viral culture and immunofluorescent assay is time consuming and has low sensitivity. The objective of the study was to develop In House Light Cycler Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for Rapid Detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Methodology: In house developed Light Cycler Real-Time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (LC-RT-PCR) assay was standardized using designed primers for the rapid identification of clinical samples of RSV. Results: A total of 130 samples (throat swab and nasopharyngeal aspirate) obtained from University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, were efficiently tested and of which 54 (42%) were RSV positive. Conclusion: This study indicated that this newly developed in house rRT-PCR assay proved to be an excellent method for the rapid detection of RSV.

Objective: Respiratory infections represent a major public health problem worldwide. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of respiratory syncytial and influenza virus infections and analyzed in respect to demography and clinical perspective. Methods: The specimens were processed by cell culture and immunofluorescent assay (IFA) and real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (rRT-PCR) for detection of respiratory viruses. Results: Out of 505 specimens 189 (37.8%) were positive, in which RSV was positive in 124(24.8%) cases and influenza A was positive in 65(13%) cases. Positive cases for influenza virus A and RSV were analyzed based on demography: age, gender, ethnicity and clinical symptoms. There were no significant differences among gender, ethnicity and clinical symptoms in both RSV and influenza A virus infections. It was observed that children below 3 years of ages were more prone to RSV infections. On the contrary, influenza virus A infected all age groups of humans. Conclusion: RSV infects mostly child below 3 years of age and influenza virus infects all age group. No specificity of RSV and influenza infection in relation to demography.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of cell culture, immunoflourescence Assay (IFA) and real time polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) in relation to diagnosis of influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Methods: Total 2781 specimens of throat swabs and nasopharyngeal aspirates were obtained from patients suspected of respiratory viruses’ infections from January 2009 to December 2011 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre(UKMMC).The specimens were processed by cell culture and immunoflurescence assay (IFA) and (rRT-PCR). Results: Thirty three (1.19%) specimens were positive for influenza virus A and 42 (1.51%) were positive for RSV by cell culture and IFA. On the other hand, rRT-PCR was able to identify 189 of 505 (37.43%) specimens in which 65 were influenza A virus and 124 were RSV. Sensitivity of rRT-PCR was 100% for both influenza A virus and RSV and specificity was 88% and 77% for influenza A virus and RSV, respectively. Conclusion: rRT-PCR diagnosed respiratory viruses in shorter time with a high level of sensitivity in comparison to conventional assays - cell culture and IFA. These advantages help in managing patients by saving cost and hospitalization stay.

Objectives: Streptococcus pneumoniae causes acute otitis media, pneumonia, meningitis and bacteraemia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae oropharyngeal carriage in healthy children and the antimicrobial susceptibility in a daycare nursery and a government-managed orphanage in Kuala Lumpur during 2010.Methods: Throat swabs were obtained from 36 children of daycare nursery (open community) and from 84 orphans from orphanage (closed community) those did not receive any pneumococcal vaccine. Children were between births to 6 years of age. Antibiotic susceptibility of isolated strains was determined using disk diffusion method and Etest� (minimum inhibitory concentration). Results: Overall prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae of the children was 1.7% (2 out of 120). Prevalence of the bacteria in open community was 5.6% (2 out of 36) and no positive cases were recorded in orphanage (closed community, (p=0.161). Prevalence was 15.4% (2 out of 13) in children aged below 2 years in the open community. There was no association was found to exist between Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage with age (p=0.432) and gender (p=0.418). Serotyping showed serotype 11F for one isolate, while the other was non-typable. Both isolates were susceptible to penicillin, azithromycin, ceftriaxone and vancomycin. The serotype 11F isolate was susceptible while the non-typable isolate was resistant to erythromycin.Conclusions: The results demonstrated low prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae in healthy children. These findings may complement other studies to explore further risk factors for colonisation, antimicrobial susceptibility and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae to help for the planning of immunization strategies.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of acute respiratory tract infection in infants and young children. Phylogenetic analysis for RSV in Malaysia has not been reported before. We investigated the genetic features of RSV in respiratory specimens from March to August 2011 with molecular methods. From a total of 130 throat swab and nasopharyngeal aspirate specimens, 54 (41.5%) were positive with RSV, identified by in-house real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay. Thirty-four out of 54 (63.0%) RSV positive patients were children below two years old and two (1.4%) were adults. Phylogenetic analysis showed 39 isolates were genotype GA5, 13 genotypes GA2, one genotype GA1 and one genotype GA7. The findings indicated four genotypes of RSV circulating in the country and the predominant genotype is GA5.