ABSTRACT
Introduction: Candida nivariensis, first described from Spain in 2005 is an emerging fungal pathogen. Malaysia has cap-tured a total of 11 cases since its first reported here in 2014. Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam are among South East Asia countries that reported its occurrence too. Objective(s): The occurrence and characteristics of Candida nivariensis in South East Asia are studied. We would like to highlight two cases from Selayang Hospital, Malaysia that occurred during pandemic COVID-19 in 2020 and 2022. Case Description: In July 2020, a 60-year-old lady underlying poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, CKD stage V approach-ing ESRD, congestivecardiac failure, hypertension, and dyslipidemiawas diagnosed as complicated MSSAbacteremia secondary to right gluteal carbuncle.Appropriate antibiotics were commenced.Aggressive source control including incision and drainage, cauterization of right gluteal carbuncle, and multiple wound debridement for the infected gluteal wound was performed. She underwent a trephine sigmoid loop colostomy.Tracheostomy was done following prolong ventilation.Anidulafungin as empir-ical fungal coverage was commenced in ICU as she further deteriorated. Candida nivariensis was isolated later from her blood culture. In February 2022, a 74-year-old man underlying Diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, ischemic heart disease with two vessels disease stented, post-Whipple's procedure due to necrotizing pancreatitis in 2014 complicated with chronic abdominal pain with hyperalgesia admitted to the ward for acute right lacunar infarct with failed swallowing test and neurogenic bladder.His general condition deteriorated with worsening of biochemical and septic parameters.His blood culture grew C. nivariensis following which anidulafungin was started. No distant seeding and no signs of endophthalmitis. He then required mechanical ventilatory support complicated with multiorgan failure, leading to ICU admission. Method(s): For both cases, yeast isolates were subcultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar and CHROMagar. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-T OF MS) with molecular testing was performed for confirmation of isolates.Phylogenetic tree among isolates from Malaysia was analyzed.Antifungal susceptibility test (AFST) to study the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) among treatment options was performed using the e-test method. Result(s): Wide use of MALDI-T OF MS with molecular testing increased the detection rate of the species. Isolation sites in Malaysia and South East Asia region include blood culture, peritoneal fluid, high vaginal swab, and oropharyngeal swab. Risk factors namely immunocompromised status, indwelling vascular catheter, abdominal surgeries, renal failure or on dialy-sis support, polymicrobial usage, and prolonged stay in ICU. AFST established susceptibility towards fluconazole, high MIC to itraconazole and low MIC against amphotericin B, anidulafungin and voriconazole for both patients who unfortunately succumbed to their illness. Conclusion(s): Diagnosing C. nivariensis is challenging due to its closely related phylogenetic with C. glabrata, and C. bracarensis, thus molecular testing is vital. Inadequate antifungal coverage or delay of treatment could be detrimental to pa-tient's outcome. Continuous epidemiological surveillance is crucial to address this potential invasive fungal pathogen and to observe emerging of drug resistance.
ABSTRACT
During the pandemic of COVID-19, the education sector has been heavily hit, forcing the educational institutions to close. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia’s education system placed heavy emphasis on online learning to substitute direct conventional instruction. The aim of the research is to determine student acceptability of e-learning implementation following COVID-19 in a Pondok school in Kelantan. This study intended to ascertain the implications of students’ characteristics and technology acceptance models on their future behavioural intentions to use e-learning continuously. This quantitative research included 100 students from a Pondok school in Kelantan. Self-administered questionnaires were used to gather data and Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used in the data analysis. Outcomes from this study showed that students’ characteristics are positively affected by students’ motivation, students’ mindset and computer competency. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness positively affect technology adoption. On the other hand, economic deprivation negatively affects technology adoption. Furthermore, students’ characteristics and technology adoption positively affect the behavioural intent to continuously engage in e-learning in the future. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
As the pandemic of Covid 19 has directly affected the business industry, the business model has changed, including the logistics industry, especially the courier company. Courier company has benefited the most during this pandemic situation as the e-commerce business flourished. Enhanced service by courier company is crucial as stiff competition in the industry. Therefore, this study explores the impact of customer service, insurance, and luggage delivery on logistics customer satisfaction. A quantitative method was employed to analyse the effects of enhanced services of customer services, insurance, and luggage delivery towards logistics customer satisfaction, where 384 responses were collected from respondents identified as active users of courier services for the last 12 months. IBM SPSS was used to analyse the response collected using descriptive, reliability and Pearson Correlation analysis. As a result, it is justifiable that customer service, insurance, and luggage delivery positively impact logistics customer satisfactio. © 2021 Karadeniz Technical University. All rights reserved.